White Noise

De: Don DeLillo

Narrado por: Michael Prichard

Now a Netflix film!

Winner of the National Book Award, White Noise tells the story of Jack Gladney, his fourth wife, Babette, and four ultra­modern offspring as they navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. When an industrial accident unleashes an “airborne toxic event,” a lethal black chemical cloud floats over their lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent and visible version of the “white noise” engulfing the Gladneys—radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, ultrasonic appliances, and TV murmurings—pulsing with life, yet suggesting something ominous.

Funny, but odd

Much of the time, the story was just too metaphorical for me. As a story, it often felt out of control. Not my thing.

Sarcasm

Sarcastic and sardonic book. Interesting nonetheless. Narrator has vocal tics. I like that the story portrayed the messiness of life.

unique does not make for good

Unique story, if there is a story. I tried to find meaning. Found I was glad to be done with it.

very nice book

I loved it but it's a little confused, so pay attention while reading. The story is very interesting

Typical postmodernism.

Flat, dry, and boring. The narrator presents the story in such a way that it amplifies it's contrived nature.

its okay

the reader reads a little slow. I have the anniversarry edition and i was following along when i noticed the audio was missing a part from the hard copy of the book. three lines to be spesific on page 300

Prichard crushes it

Prichard’s performance is awesome, actually. His voice and delivery totally fits the book and the character: a direct, matter-of-factness that makes the details all the more crushing and beautiful. Great read.

Better than Pynchon

The narration is kind of sober and square compared to the content, but maybe that is the point.

I would compare this book favorably to the “other” entry-level postmodern text, Pynchon’s “The Crying of Lot 49.” I mean, I got what Pynchon was trying to say, but he came at it so obliquely, and the satire was often so over-the-top that I thought I was more lost than I actually was, and then I stopped paying attention and became truly lost. (Woah.)

The stakes are higher for Pynchon: death, and fear of death. The violent, mortal reality behind all our distractions, consumer conveniences and language games, in the form of terminal cancer, or an Airborne Toxic Event. What are we doing all day? When are we going to shut up for a second and get real? Or is it too late for that?

Forty years after its publication, one passage about national-nostalgia-as-incipient-fascism seems prophetic. So does the scene where the wounded narrator engages in a theocratic debate with an elderly atheist nun going through the motions of charity and devotion.

The financial and intellectual elite are too sophisticated to believe in God and Heaven, but the only thing worse than terror of death is the terror that perhaps there is no one left who still carries the torch of belief on our behalf. If charity and devotion can exist without faith, then what the hell have we been doing all this time? And what comes next?

Narrator is superlative - danke Herr Prichard

The combination of hard copy and audio copy brings the magic to White Noise. This book deserves a second read.

Love this story!

Such an interesting multi-genre narrative; filled with observations and facts about people, life, etc. it’s amazing how it very much applies to us still today. Whether it’s how we go about our lives, how we handle disasters, beliefs and/or mundane experiences, it’s accurate.

The only thing I had a problem with, is sometimes it does feel like it leans too much into the white noise theme of itself and can be a bit overwhelming when describing things. Sometimes it felt to be a bit dragged out.

And the performance could’ve been better. It was too robotic for me in some places. I understand this is being told from the point of view of a college professor, but still, I wanted a bit more heart and emotion.