Sometimes, things are just complicated… A lot of Point Omega, or, a good portion of the book, I feel I did not understand. Sure, I’ve only read it once, so I guess I sort of expected this, but at the same time, I quickly realized that this was a different sort of “I did not understand.”
Basically, Point Omega was challenging. I paid attention to what was being said (for the most part) and yes, I even took notes, but still, I don’t think I get Point Omega, or, I don’t think I get all of Point Omega. But this is a good thing because I like how I am feeling right now: dumb, confused and (for some reason) mediocre/inferior—all at the same time. Of course, this is (still) my (initial) reaction to Point Omega, since I have only read it once (though I’m not sure I will be reading it again anytime soon) but this, in general, is a new type of feeling for me. It’s a feeling of deep-rooted confusion, weakness and extreme anxiousness. Usually, I’m more into books that make me feel powerful and strong and happy but, sometimes, I guess I like the mind-fucks too. And I’d like to think I am able to understand most things, and conceptually, I (think I) understood most of what was going on in Point Omega but also, not really. But that’s the point I think! Let’s develop this.
The way I see it: Point Omega is about the things that are around us, and (then, also,) the things that aren’t. Or, the things that we can see and then, the things we cannot.
For example, here is how the book opens, more or less:
“There was a man standing against the north wall, barely visible. People entered in twos and threes and they stood in the dark and looked at the screen and then they left. Sometimes they hardly moved past the doorway, larger groups wandering in, tourists in a daze, and they looked and shifted their weight and then they left.”
read this book a couple years ago. Was only the second Delillo book I'd read (the first being Falling Man). I had a similar experience in that I set the book down when I was finished and felt small, enclosed. I wasn't sure what I'd just read. I remember picking out that same sentence you did, the one about having time to lose interest in things. I think that's maybe one of the most important sentences in this book which on the surface appears to not have much going on. Its like the 24 hour Psycho film--the main narrative is, I mean. Its gradual, creeping; the time out in the desert sort of blurring to nothing. Its so slow in fact, we don't even have enough time to reach the end, to find out where Elster's daughter went.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved this book when I read it, but I don't remember why. Time to reread...
ReplyDeleteYour review made me want to read a Delillo book. The excerpts you selected were good.
ReplyDeleteenjoyed your review. I remember reading the faux intro pages of this book in a bookshop, but alas I couldn't finish. it sounds like there are more openings in this book than white noise, more weight given to the unsaid, more meditative. I don't know.
ReplyDelete