I recently read Silence! I wonder if you can see it as a part of a harbinger of the incorporation of speculative physics/mathematics into literature—the last two books by Cormac McCarthy are like that
That’s a really good question! Physics really does haunt late DeLillo, and each of the books (Point Omega and The Silence in particular) seem to take the interrelation between advancing technology and entropy as their main concerns. I think the Silence might restage basically all his previous works in this light:
—The Super Bowl setting invokes End Zone and even the opening of Underworld
—There are numerous references to spies, clandestine activities ala Libra
—One of the characters (Jim I believe) disappears into a streaming “mass” of people, a clear nod to Mao II
—The aviation disaster directly recalls setting and conversations early in The Names
—There are references to chemical disasters blown up to cosmic proportions, recalling White Noise
etc etc
I’d be curious to hear more about your thoughts on the novella!
I admittedly thought it was weaker. I'd recently finished rereading Libra and was blown away by how good it was. I think maybe it's because in Libra, he has these fantastic monologues by his characters, but they're all various kinds of non-literary people and they have a unique voice. Silence also felt way too disconnected while Libra could create carefully the feeling of dissociation if that makes sense
I definitely agree that it's a weaker novel, especially when stacked up against a powerhouse like Libra or even his other late novels. The monologues in Libra are sublime—The Silence certainly trends to pure fragmentation. I do think the novel has merits that other commentators and reviewers are overlooking, but it's a pure puzzle. I honestly think he intends for it to be his last novel. Which makes sense, given his age, but also the way he finally foregrounds the hidden kernel that all his novels are fluctuating around in one way or another. The 'problem' for the reader is that this Thing is still never really disclosed or never can be perhaps?
I recently read Silence! I wonder if you can see it as a part of a harbinger of the incorporation of speculative physics/mathematics into literature—the last two books by Cormac McCarthy are like that
That’s a really good question! Physics really does haunt late DeLillo, and each of the books (Point Omega and The Silence in particular) seem to take the interrelation between advancing technology and entropy as their main concerns. I think the Silence might restage basically all his previous works in this light:
—The Super Bowl setting invokes End Zone and even the opening of Underworld
—There are numerous references to spies, clandestine activities ala Libra
—One of the characters (Jim I believe) disappears into a streaming “mass” of people, a clear nod to Mao II
—The aviation disaster directly recalls setting and conversations early in The Names
—There are references to chemical disasters blown up to cosmic proportions, recalling White Noise
etc etc
I’d be curious to hear more about your thoughts on the novella!
I admittedly thought it was weaker. I'd recently finished rereading Libra and was blown away by how good it was. I think maybe it's because in Libra, he has these fantastic monologues by his characters, but they're all various kinds of non-literary people and they have a unique voice. Silence also felt way too disconnected while Libra could create carefully the feeling of dissociation if that makes sense
I definitely agree that it's a weaker novel, especially when stacked up against a powerhouse like Libra or even his other late novels. The monologues in Libra are sublime—The Silence certainly trends to pure fragmentation. I do think the novel has merits that other commentators and reviewers are overlooking, but it's a pure puzzle. I honestly think he intends for it to be his last novel. Which makes sense, given his age, but also the way he finally foregrounds the hidden kernel that all his novels are fluctuating around in one way or another. The 'problem' for the reader is that this Thing is still never really disclosed or never can be perhaps?