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Title: Mao II
Author: Don DeLillo
Narrator: Michael Prichard
Format: Unabridged
Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-03-16
Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
Bill Gray, a famous, reclusive novelist, emerges from his isolation when he becomes the key figure in an event staged to force the release of a poet hostage in Beirut. As Bill enters the world of political violence, a nightscape of Semtex explosives and hostages locked in basement rooms, Bill's dangerous passage leaves two people stranded: his brilliant, fixated assistant, Scott; and the strange young woman who is Scott's lover - and Bill's.
An extraordinary novel from Don DeLillo about words and images, novelists and terrorists, the mass mind and the arch-individualist, Mao II explores a world in which the novelist's power to influence the inner life of a culture now belongs to bomb makers and gunmen.
Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award, Mao II is the work of an ingenious writer at the height of his powers.
Members Reviews:
The Individual vs the Masses
My third DeLillo book after White Noise and The Names. DeLillo seems to predict the future with this book in regards to group-think, terrorism, modern American culture etc. Throughout the book DeLillo puts together thoughtful sentences and ideas. I highlighted numerous sentences and passages while reading the book. Much to ponder and it is a book I will read a second time. This story has it's focus on a reclusive writer who seems similar to J.D. Salinger. The book opens with the the big 1980s "arranged marriage event" at Yankee Stadium presided over by the Rev Moon. It ends with our reclusive writer coming out of hiding for an "event" set to go down in Beirut. A good story, well told, with interesting characters, a tale full of insights on the state of our modern culture. If you have not read DeLillo you are missing out. Excellent, thought-provoking writer. I am now reading Libra.
Review - Mao II by Don DeLillo
This book explores a panopticon of themes, among them being Maoism, the phenomenon of the reclusive author, and the idea that the growing population of people in the world, collectively, are starting to have a large effect on how we as a society see individual identity. The book starts with Bill Gray, a reclusive author living in upstate New York, his assistant, Scott, who plays a large part in keeping Bill isolated in their shared house, and their relationship with Karen, a 24-year old convert to the Unification Church. The novel moves forward when Brita, a photographer, takes pictures of Bill, and carries to Bill a message from Billâs old publisher. After hearing the message, Bill leaves and heads to London, where he plans to take part in a press conference, to help secure the release of a hostage being held by a terrorist group in Lebanon. Mao II is often categorized as a postmodern novel, and the denouement is where we see the trueness of this description. The press conference doesnât happen, and it keeps getting postponed until it doesnât happen at all. It seems that the terrorists win.
I live in Southern China and find the undercurrent of Maoism in the book to be relevant today, even though the book was written over twenty years ago. The novel has multiple settings: the United States, London, and Cyprus, and this feature along with the Chinese influence gives the book a very worldly feel.
