I've been reading this for the past few weeks, and it's a really beautiful book. I had read White Noise before this and liked it a lot, but Underworld is a true delight. I read a few chapters last night while I was high, and the prose achieved a fluidity in my mind that was simply amazing. Everything fits so nicely, and I really love the more intimate scenes like Manx in Harlem and Klara's rooftop summer. It's great.

He's one author I plan on diving into, just do not have the time right though with all of my Lit. classes.

Must-read DeLillo:

Libra (DeLillo's rendering of the day Kennedy was shot is truly amazing)

Players (another interesting experiment w/ language -- couples and terrorists = good stuff)

Actually, I recommend everything this man has set to paper except for his last two novels which were, um, interesting but not as compelling as his other work.

Beware: Ratner's Star may be more enjoyable if you have a sound knowledge base in mathematics...

I've been attempting to read White Noise for the longest time now, but the dialogue is so terrible that I can't read any large portion at any time. Other than that, it seems like a good book.

The dialogue does seem really odd at first, but in my experience I just had to keep reading and I became accustomed to it.

This is because DeLillo doesn't write dialogue for characters in the conventional sense. His books are novels of ideas and so his characters aren't as much representations of people as they are different notes to play in the symphony of ideas in the novel.

well stated. i loved white noise, and i thought the dialogue, considering how awkward it was, was so critical to that story.