Don Delillo

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

White Noise is fantastic but the books before it are not. Ratner's Star is too long, too boring and too weird. I also found it difficult to tie all 3 of my books together. I wouldn't recommend him simply because of the difficulty of finding an actual thesis. If you have some free time, read White Noise, but also be wary that it's his best novel.

Katie (Bennett) said...

I read White Noise, The Names, and Falling Man and I had no trouble finding a solid thesis. His books are all fairly short so if you are looking for an easy read, then Don Delillo would be a smart choice. I found all his books to be a bit repetitive and boring, however, the repetitiveness made it easy to create a common thesis between all the books. One mistake I made was reading The Names because that book is actually one of a series, so although it fit with my thesis, I would advise you not to chose that particular novel. White Noise and Falling Man were very interesting and I enjoyed reading them, so I would pick those two books for your essay. Overall, I think Don Delillo is a good author to pick.

Darian Dias said...

The books I read by Don DeLillo are Libra, Falling Man, and Underworld. I find Don DeLillo to be a difficult choice at first, but easy once you've formed your thesis. The reason for this is because his books are--although interesting--confusing. Don DeLillo has the tendency to jump around a lot so you are mostly viewing different perspectives than viewing the same one. However, his books are fairly simple to understand in terms of what the topic, or subject is. And once you've completed your flash cards you will find your topic thesis easily. I recommend Don DeLillo for those interested, or curious about some what recent American history--from the Cold War to 9/11.

Abbey said...

I chose my author because when I read the back of books, they sounded really interesting. The novels I read included: Mao II, Cosmopolis, Underworld, and Libra. In addition, I read a collection of shorts stories called The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories. The books were fairly hard to read because there tends not to be a narrative, but rather a collection of thoughts from all the characters. Writing about these books on the other hand, is much easier because the characters are often lost in thought, and there will be pages of a character’s thoughts about the world. I would not recommend DeLillo as your author unless you are really good at staying on a schedule. His books are easy to write about, but reading the books takes concentration and focus, and especially commitment. If you do choose DeLillo, I recommend that you take detailed notes as you read, and create a schedule for reading and writing, because with DeLillo’s works, you cannot procrastinate.

American Author Thesis

Now that you have written your essay, we ask that you reflect on the reading portion of the experience and write 100-150 words about your author.

Think of what you write as advice for someone next year and beyond, someone who (like you were doing last fall) is thinking about choosing your author - and maybe even the same three books - to read for the assignment.