I found Delillo's Underworld to be extremely long. The first 100 or so pages were the most intriguing. After that the book became repetitive. I actually think he's a tad overrated.
Underworld is my next book after The Road. My girlfriend just read Falling Man and said it was very good, so I'm looking forward to that. Just finished today Douglas Coupland's Generation A. Anyone else read any Coupland? (and yes, there are lots of postmodern books.)
falling man messed me up...have read most of coupland...generally, i was disatisfied...preffered tom robbins and vonnegut
Many post-modern elements coincide with my personal style, I suppose: playful, ironical, arch. Very difficult for me to dislike those authors who write in that spirit. I suppose I begin to like it less when it more is directed to strictly aesthetic concerns and/or begins to respond to things - other books perhaps or esoteric schools or movements - that are beyond my ken.
I've read White Noise, and I think it's better than Underworld. I haven't read any of the stuff he's written in the past 10 years, though I've been meaning to. I read in an interview that he changed his writing style and now prefers to write shorter novels.
I guess in terms of the stylistic qualities of Postmodern lit, Delillo (and White Noise in particular) is probably the most important author, but I've never found him as entertaining or insightful as Bret Easton Ellis, especially if you compare their work over the past decade...Delillo was really at the height of his powers in the 80s and particularly since 9/11 his work has kinda fallen apart (for me anyway), where Ellis' last two novels have been some of his most interesting (and most Postmodern) work.
I'm more familiar with the early beginnings of postmodern literature, especially those authors associated with the "beat generation." - William S. Burrows, Jack Kerouac, Allen Gringsberg. Apart from that, there is no author I really follow other than David Markinson and Bret Easton Ellis. Can't say I've read any of Delillo's works.
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