Book #243 of 2021:
Zero K by Don DeLillo
Theoretically, this is the story of a man saying goodbye to his ailing stepmother before she undergoes assisted suicide and cryogenic freezing (in the hope of being reawakened and cured at some unknown future date), and then later to his father when he follows in her footsteps. In actual practice, it’s a bizarre string of half-baked navel-gazing, in which the characters wander around issuing pseudo-intellectual declarations that don’t feel tied to any particular personalities and reflect on unrelated matters. A few things do happen, but not in a way that forms any coherent larger plot. And the limited action is secondary to all the empty dorm room philosophizing and random flashback memories, anyway.
One critical lens which I find valuable is to ask, what is the apparent intent of this work, and how does it succeed or fail towards that aim? What is the best possible version of the project, and what tweaks might help bring that in line? But I’d be flummoxed as the editor of a novel like this. Passages have no clear relation with one another or purpose in the narrative, the protagonist doesn’t really seem to be driven by anything or to ever interact with anyone interesting, and the questions that get raised aren’t generally treated as important enough to require answers. As a reader I hoped it would all tie together or build to some grand point by the end, yet it just never does. I don’t say this about too many books, but this feels like it’s been an utter waste of my time.
★☆☆☆☆
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