White Noise by Don DeLillo

Black humour on a catastrophic scale.

I’ve been reading Don Delillo’s book White Noise and have such a vivid view of the characters involved. Especially the lead, Jack Gladney – I’d cast Jeff Goldblum in a film version.   In fact, daily life in this family home transports me back to the heart of my US tribe in New York State. I’d even dare to infer that the College campus “one the hill” experience might reflect that of Cornell University up at Ithaca – without the bizarre Hitler Studies department however.

There’s some fantastic dialogue between husband and wife, father and children and academic and colleagues. It’s not often that I can hear the characters’ voices and want to respond by laughing out loud.

But it’s the black humour that really makes this book for me.

Both Jack and his wife Babette have a morbid fear of death. They know it’s inevitable but they feel real fear everyday of their lives. It gets in the way of enjoying anything and everything they do. Perhaps if they stopped watching news of catastrophic proportions on the TV they might learn how to enjoy the present more.

Having said that, I received a note from my financial advisor only yesterday asking how I’d like my pension funds to be distributed in the event of my death. And in the words of another famous character my view is: “frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”.

4 out of 5 stars