Ilse’s review of Zero K > Likes and Comments

What an eerie tale, the content of Zero K makes me shudder so lively is your review, thank you dear Ilse for having the patience to write this excellent review, although the novel didn’t particularly move you. Must have taken quite a lot of stamina to keep on going, well done ;-)

Jean-Paul wrote: "Thank you Ilse for this review. I don't think I will be reading the novel, but your powerful introduction combined with the beautiful T.S. Eliot quote will definitely entice me to rediscover Chorus..."
I love that almost every book leads us up to another, Jean-Paul. This one was quite a hard nut for me to crack, but feeling the need sometimes to read more contemporary writing, I was not disappointed in the poignant themes which left me with a lot to ponder on. His writing is outstanding, but perhaps I am just not the reader for this. Thanks, as always, Jean-Paul, for your ever generous comment, and I hope one day to be able to read more of Eliot too (Dolors wrote a wonderful review on his collected poems).

I haven't read this yet, Ilse but DeLillo has been disappointing for some time now. Underworld, however, is my favourite novel written in the last 50 years. It's not to everyone's taste but for me it was magical in the beauty of its prose and its scope.

Sabah wrote: "Ilse as always, huns, a wonderful review! It's definitely intriguing and reminds me, somewhat, in it's approach to embrace death and the tiredness of life of Hollebeque. Minus the nanobots : )
Thanks a lot, Sabah, for your ever insightful and kind comment! Interesting parallel you drew with Houellebecq's writing, it didn't occur to me, but the similarities are unmistakingly there! Jeffrey could have been a Houllebecq character. I enjoyed Houllebecq's novels more than DeLillo's, as they made me smile more, but I didn't read his La Possibilité d'une île yet, precisely because of the sci fi setting I honestly do not feel attracted to).

Those images really fit with the contents of the book as you describe them, Ilse - or as I understand them - a strange merging of technology and spirituality.

Even though I'm not sure this book is for me (not to mention the rating and the reasons behind it), I did enjoy your marvelous review, Ilse. Beautiful verses by T.S. Eliot, btw.

I had a random moment of inspiration last week when it occurred to me that I could and should begin attending author events (never have before) - and I bought a ticket at the time to see DeLillo speak on Tuesday at a release event for this book. I've never read him before but I've been hearing so much about Zero K that I'd put it on my list.

It's incredibly helpful to have your take on and framing of this going in - thank you for the insight. I do live for dark and unsettling in fiction so the atmosphere is intriguing but not so much the characterizations and lack of depth.

Heidi wrote: "What an eerie tale, the content of Zero K makes me shudder so lively is your review, thank you dear Ilse for having the patience to write this excellent review, although the novel didn’t particularly move you. .."
Thanks a bunch Heidi, for this so gentle expression of your understanding - this kind of setting and atmosphere is rather unlike what I spontaneously feel strongly drawn too, but I was curious about DeLillo's writing and decided to read it, and learned a lot (reading about cryonism as a kind of belief, and the phenomenon of the Manhattan Solstice).

Violet wrote: "I haven't read this yet, Ilse but DeLillo has been disappointing for some time now. Underworld, however, is my favourite novel written in the last 50 years. It's not to everyone's taste but for me it was magical in the beauty of its prose and its scope. ..."
Wow Violet, thanks a lot for this cogent praise on Underworld - I keep it in mind! It was about the first novel I purchased in English when it was published - I didn't want to wait until the Dutch translation was there, so I feel double embarrassed I still didn't get to it yet.

Haven't read a full-fledged DeLillo novel yet but I have 'White Noise' on the radar. Elegant analysis as always, Ilse. You make this uncanny combination of science fiction and spirituality sound appealing despite your reservations.

Jean-Paul wrote: I have become blasé about contemporary literature, as I have so often been disappointed. The market seems to be flooded with an endless number of contemporary authors. A certain number of them are mediocre and it's difficult to orientate oneself - I can't see the wood fro the trees! Your review and the ideas of mortality and humility have actually sent be back into the past and I have decided that I must finally better familiarise myself with Maeterlinck's essays. Thank you dear friend for your thought provoking reviews which always inspire me to plot new a course in my literary expeditions :-)
Dear Jean-Paul, it is such a joy to me to read your thoughts and explorations! Often, I feel rather ambiguous towards contemporary literature too - there are so many classics I long to read, knowing I would enjoy them greatly and time is so short - but sometimes I cannot resist giving in to some weird curiosity, the tempting promise to open up another unknown world, or searching for a poignant expression of our current zeitgeist.

Fionnuala wrote: "Those images really fit with the contents of the book as you describe them, Ilse - or as I understand them - a strange merging of technology and spirituality."
Thanks, Fionnuala, you wonderfully pinpoint the essence of the novel - DeLillo's musing on the blending of both, which we mostly don't link spontaneously. I inserted the pics because they both refer to Stonehenge (and its well-known spiritual appeal) and our current material world ruled by technology.

Florencia wrote: "Even though I'm not sure this book is for me (not to mention the rating and the reasons behind it), I did enjoy your marvelous review, Ilse. Beautiful verses by T.S. Eliot, btw."
Thanks a lot, Florencia for your kind words. I would like to read more of Eliot's poetry, but I humbly presume much of its power will be wasted on me at the moment, still have to get more experienced in reading in English before I even could imagine to comprehend some of his lines :).

Ioana wrote: "I had a random moment of inspiration last week when it occurred to me that I could and should begin attending author events (never have before) - and I bought a ticket at the time to see DeLillo speak..."
Thanks a lot, Ioana, perhaps you would like it anyway - it is a short read and the gloomy atmosphere reflects incisively the present dire state of the world :-). I would really like to read your thoughts on his presentation you will attend, I envy you :)) and hope it will be the first of other to come!

Beautiful review, Ilse! Love the opening quote and what follows it!

Samadrita wrote: "Haven't read a full-fledged DeLillo novel yet but I have 'White Noise' on the radar. Elegant analysis as always, Ilse. You make this uncanny combination of science fiction and spirituality sound appealing."
Thanks so much, Samadrita. I just read the (appealing) blurb and some reviews on White Noise, and it seems that death is again very present in it, but perhaps it is in all his novels? Violet wrote about White Noise 'not quite the masterpiece that is Underworld, is a brilliant achievement, his second best novel'. Underworld's pages yellowing during the 18 years I embarrassingly didn't get to it, I feel compelled to the trees it took to read Underworld before getting to White Noise :). And, despite I didn't enjoy Zero K as much as the novels I grant 5*, it was an interesting read!

Parthiban wrote: "Beautiful review, Ilse! Love the opening quote and what follows it!"
So kind of you, Parthi, to visit and leave this gentle words. I loved Eliot's memento mori too.

Elyse wrote: "IIse....I enjoyed reading your review. I also have 'image' envy....lol
Where in the world did you find those wonderful photos?
Not only that --I don't know how to 'insert' images like many of you in reviews".
Thanks a lot, Elyse! I love to look for pictures on the web which are linked to words occurring in my head while reading, so nice you liked them! I struggled with inserting pictures too, if you click on 'some html is ok' writing a review, you find short instructions how to do it - look for the source of the picture on the web pressing on the right button of the mouse, copy it and then start to experiment with some html preview on the web, where I insert the link, to check the result - who did say that girls stop playing when they are women :)?

amazing review as always Ilse

Ina wrote: "amazing review as always Ilse"
Thanks so much, as ever, Ina, for reading this and posting your gentle words. This novel gave me a lot to think about.

A wonderful review Ilse ! Loved those lines by Eliot too.

Thanks, Abubakar, so kind of you! I hope ever to get to Eliot's poetry - I couldn't resist to insert these lines, so close to the core theme in this novel.

nice triptych. that last scene was perhaps my favorite in the book.

Mike wrote: "nice triptych. that last scene was perhaps my favorite in the book."
Thanks, Mike. It surely brought a tinge of hope and light into the darkness.

Beautiful review Ilse! I missed this during my Goodreads break but glad to have found it. DeLillo's "Underworld" also seems destined to stay on my "to-read" list forever, figured I'd start with "White Noise". After reading this review, "Zero K" will be the more likely candidate to get me acquainted with this author. Splendid write-up!

Matthias wrote: "Beautiful review Ilse! I missed this during my Goodreads break but glad to have found it. DeLillo's "Underworld" also seems destined to stay on my "to-read" list forever, figured I'd start with "Wh..."
Thank you so much, Matthias, for the kind words and for reading! As a lot of his major themes are purportedly to be found in this short novel, probably it would be a good start - btw, this one got a really laudy review in Knack Focus a few weeks ago :)(meanwhile it has been translated in Dutch already).

Beautiful review, Ilse !

Many thanks for reading and commenting, Gaurav! Sometimes one has to wander deliberately off one's comfy reading track :).

You ended up with the same rating as I did, Ilse, but clearly as a result of a more attentive reading. I was immediately struck by your first stunning photographic image—though possibly even more appropriate to Point Omega than this. Where did you get it? And Is "Manhattanhenge" your own coinage? Whatever, the Stonehenge metaphor throughout is a very good one. Roger.

Thanks a bunch, Roger, for reading and commenting. DeLillo mentions 'Land Art' in his novel, and that brought me to Nancy Holt's 1973 Sun Tunnels / Remembering Stonehenge, located in the Great Basin Desert outside of the ghost town of Lucin, Utah. The work is a product of Holt’s interest in the great variation of intensity of the sun in the desert compared to the sun in the city.
'Manhattanhenge', like Nancy Holt's work of art, is immediately linked to Stonehenge and a often described phenomenon ( it is also referred to as the Manhattan Solstice) — is an event during which the setting sun is aligned with the east–west streets of the main street grid of Manhattan. This occurs twice a year, on dates evenly spaced around the summer solstice - not at all something of my own coinage, thus :).(view spoiler)[This is exactly what the child at the end of the novel witnesses sitting on the bus. (hide spoiler)]

Thank you for the sources, Ilse; you might also put them as footnotes to your review. I of course recognized the reference to the end of the novel. R.

Excellent review, Ilse, for a rather strange book. It was well-written but disturbing on multiple levels.

Cheri wrote: "Excellent review, Ilse, for a rather strange book. It was well-written but disturbing on multiple levels."
Thanks very much, Cheri - I wholeheartedly agree on the disturbing character of this book, it was quite thought-provoking. Your musings on Jeffrey as a child reminded me that the moving chapter on Jeffrey's response to the divorce of his parents was published as a short story by DeLillo in the New Yorker, as 'Sine Cosine Tangent' - I wonder if I would have read that first, it would have been easier to sympathise with Jeffrey...

Excelente review. I agree with everything. Beautiful and appropriate pictures.
I like very much Don Delillo but I was disappointed with "Zero K".
I prefer "White Noise" or "Point Omega" in the same context.

João Carlos wrote: "Excelente review. I agree with everything. Beautiful and appropriate pictures.
I like very much Don Delillo but I was disappointed with "Zero K".
I prefer "White Noise" or "Point Omega" in the same..."
Thanks a lot for your words of appreciation, João - I do not conceal my disappointement either, but I am still determined to give DeLillo the credit he certainly deserves, heading for Libra first, and then probably White Noise...I check out your review White Noise when I have been able to read it myself.

Very nice review. One inquiry, thpugh. If the readers don't answer these questions for themselves, who is to answer them? Not finished yet, but reading it in light of historian/philosopher Hara ("Death Is Optional," inter with Kahneman, along with all the discussions of "transhumanism," which goes hand-in-hand with this. I welcome the questions, actually. This is rivetong, to me, at least, and if DeLillo chooses to answer them for me (not his habit), I will be disappointed.

AnnLoretta wrote: "Very nice review. One inquiry, thpugh. If the readers don't answer these questions for themselves, who is to answer them? Not finished yet, but reading it in light of historian/philosopher Hara ("D..."
Thank you very much, AnnLoretta, and thank you for referring to this thought-provoking interview (I read it here https://www.edge.org/conversation/yuv...), quite apposite in the context of DeLillo’s novel, also chilling pondering the consequences on the threat of a hyper-instrumentalist view on the lives of the majority of people. On the puzzling questions, you guessed right that DeLillo does not answer them, leaving it entirely open to the reader to ponder on them, in that sense he certainly will not disappoint you. As you seem to give this subject quite some thoughts, I’d be curious to hear your opinion on the novel once you finished it.

Ilse wrote: "AnnLoretta wrote: "Very nice review. One inquiry, thpugh. If the readers don't answer these questions for themselves, who is to answer them? Not finished yet, but reading it in light of historian/p..."

I will, Ilse, and thanks for responding. (Despite the typos from my cheap little phone.) Look forward to talking more. Especially glad you found Harari given the handicap of my mistakes!

Your review funneled through more feeling to me than the book did, Ilse. I had missed out on that note of hope! In fact I think the whole thing came through more clearly to you; my dulled-out or hazy view was a big part of my problem. I enjoyed your helpful and excellent review!

AnnLoretta wrote: "I will, Ilse, and thanks for responding. (Despite the typos from my cheap little phone.) Look forward to talking more. Especially glad you found Harari given the handicap of my mistakes!"
The pleasure to find this thought-provoking interview was entirely mine, AnnLoretta - thanks to you an interview with Harari on his latest book (in a Flemish newspaper) at least didn't escape my blurred attention:).

Jan wrote: "Your review funneled through more feeling to me than the book did, Ilse. I had missed out on that note of hope! In fact I think the whole thing came through more clearly to you; my dulled-out or ha..."
Thank you very much for dropping by and leaving this generous comment, Jan - I thought the theme interesting enough, and chilling in a social context, but like you, I found it hard to relate to the characters, neither Jeffrey, Ross nor Artis coming across as having a soul, not even a lost one.

Ilse, just read this with the care it deserved, should have responded here, but too many spoilers, so I talked some more to you on my review. Beautiful work.

i recommend "white noise".

Stacey wrote: "i recommend "white noise"."
Thanks a lot for for the tip, Stacey - I'll look for that, and also for 'Libra' ( I somehow seem to have missed your comment, sorry for that...).

Haven't read Zero K yet Ilse, but seriously recommend both White Noise & Libra - and The Names!

W.D. wrote: "Haven't read Zero K yet Ilse, but seriously recommend both White Noise & Libra - and The Names!"
Thanks, Bill! Those look more feasible than 'Underworld' at the moment :). Noticing you have read almost everything by DeLillo, I wonder what you would think of Zero K...

Ilse wrote: " I wonder what you would think of Zero K..
Well I was really disappointed with Cosmopolis, and underwhelmed by The Body Artist, so I am kinda 'afraid' of reading any more of his short ones! But I have it here, so will sooner or later :)

Excellent review, Ilse. Although I seldom appreciate dystopian novels (I tend to compare any of them to 1984, a great mistake of course - fo me no other dystopia has ever achieved its perfection) this book sounds more than interesting. You got me in the right mood, you know: I'll certainly check it out :)

W.D. wrote: "Well I was really disappointed with Cosmopolis, and underwhelmed by The Body Artist, so I am kinda 'afraid' of reading any more of his short ones! But I have it here, so will sooner or later :)"
There is no escaping in what we do to ourselves ;p

Thanks a lot, Fede! Looking at this list https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of... I have to admit I have hardly read any dystopian fiction (I'd rather read dystopian non-fiction, history :)) but I remember 1984 having impressed me greatly and so can imagine it a standard hard to match for you (and I doubt if this would come any way near to it for you :)). Thanks for the reminder I'd better give at least a few in this genre a chance....