Thoughts on Mao II chapters 1-5

This is probably going to be my shortest blog post. The old adage "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" was drilled into my head almost daily in elementary school, as it probably was for many of us. And after five chapters, I honestly don't have a single positive thing to say about Mao II. I guess it's just not my cup of tea (why do Americans use this expression--I don't even drink tea!)

Actually, on second thought, there was one thing I appreciated: Bill's comments about photographs merely being an announcement of death. I've never pondered the nature of photography to such an extent (or any extent for that matter) but it's certainly something interesting to think about. Bill seems an incredibly pessimistic fellow, but I tend to agree with him in this regard. We (the public) generally know what living famous people look like. I mean, they're famous--almost by definition their appearances are well-known. So why bother taking pictures of people we all already recognize? Because the pictures aren't really for us, they're for future generations to associate with the names. In that sense, having your picture taken really is just preparing for your death. You're trying to make sure your persona doesn't die when you do. It really is a grave sort of thing, but treated so frivolously usually.

Another thing I can imagine people might appreciate about the novel, though I don't, is the way Don DeLillo makes the reader interpret things. His writing is incredibly fragmentary at times, as if he's trying to make the reading experience more interactive, giving the reader an opportunity to interject their own words and actions where DeLillo leaves them out. I can definitely see how some people would enjoy that, but personally I feel it hinders the reading experience a little, makes it feel a bit less cohesive. I'm just not enjoying it, or really anything about DeLillo's writing style to be honest. But I better stop now before I start venting all my complaints with the novel so far.

A couple parting questions: What's with Brita's sudden constant need for a cigarette after not smoking for 25 years, assuming she was being truthful about that? It's not like she just feels a need for a cigarette in a stressful moment once, she even took a second cigarette during her photo shoot with Bill pretty much immediately after finishing the first. That's what we call chain-smoking. So why does a non-smoker start chain-smoking almost immediately upon meeting Bill? And what's with the apparent randomness of the dialogue at times? It's especially difficult to follow during the dinner conversation. Hardly ever are two consecutive lines of dialogue about the same subject, it seems! Not only that, but it's not always even obvious who is speaking--to me at least. I hope the dialogue becomes easier to follow as the story progresses, but non-sequiturs and tangents seem an essential part of Bill's character, so I don't envision the dialogue becoming any less convoluted any time soon, unless Bill disappears from the story. Guess I'll just have to get used to the extremely non-linear conversations.