So look, back almost a year ago to the day I managed to land some work as a background actor in the upcoming film adaptation of this Don DeLillo novel of the same name, White Noise. Other than the basic premise that was described in the casting call, I didn’t know anything about this story. Thus, after filming, I decided to give this novel a try. And just in the nick of time I’ve finished it! The final film product is due to hit theaters (and Netflix) at the end of December!
Filming was very fun, and the scenes I did were very interesting, but let me tell you what. This book was boring as all hell. Truthfully, I got my hands on it towards the beginning of the year, reached the halfway mark, just past all the things I filmed for and then just stopped reading it. I found my head nodding each time I picked this book up. After finishing it, I can say it doesn’t get much better, but at least another interesting thing happened. Most of this book seemed to be about the inner struggle of one man.
What was that struggle you ask? The fear of death. A fear I believe everyone has, just in varying degrees. In this novel though, a Hitler studies professor, Jack, and his wife, Babette, are both so terrified of dying that it makes them both do some really odd things. I feel that Jack’s fear of death is a little more substantiated though, because pretty early in the novel he is exposed to some mysterious airborne toxic event. Then it was confirmed by doctors that it’s in his system and he’s already technically dying from it. Babette just seems to fear it because she’s never had the ability to suppress that fear.
Even though this book takes place in the mid-80s, all of the characters in this novel both speak and act very strangely. We are told the story through Jack’s perspective, so perhaps that style is intentional, but having not read any other works by DeLillo, I can’t say for sure. Not only are the characters strange, but they all eventually became annoying, as well. Jack’s co-worker Murray was enjoyable at first, but then became kind of a chore to listen to. Same thing goes for two of his children, Denise and Heinrich. That’s never a good thing. All I know is that this book has made me even more curious about the final film that’s coming. So far it’s premiered at a couple of film festivals to some really good reviews, but I have my doubts. Stayed tuned to hear how it ends up!