Mao II

2 more books left to reach my goal of reading 50 books this year. Tonight I finished book #48 Don DeLillo's Mao II.

Mao II (named after the Warhol painting of the same name) is not an easy book to explain. In the most basic sense it's a novel centered around a recluse author named J.D. Salinger...er I mean Bill Gray who lives in a secluded house with his assistant/ex-groupie Scott and reformed Moonie Karen. Bill has decided to come out of seclusion a bit allowing photographer Brita Nilsson to visit and take his picture. From there things get complicated. The plot wanders as we follow Bill out of his seclusion into New York, London, Athens and finally Beirut. Along the way DeLillo manages to stretch the story to work in themes of terrorism (more interesting given the book was written in 1991), imagery, and individualism, navigating around pitfalls that would easily trip up a less talented writer.

Having just finished the book, I'm not completely sure yet what I think of it. The story itself isn't super compelling, but it's been awhile since I've read a novel that's managed to pack so many ideas into so little space. I have a feeling this will be one of those books I look back on a few months from now and realize just how good it actually was. That or it will have faded into the oblivion of a hundred other decent books.

I haven't read any other Don DeLillo novels yet, but I will definitely be giving some of his other books a try. I think the next one I'll read is White Noise which seems to be everyone's consensus favorite.