This @time writer liked author Don DeLillo’s new short story collection, The Angel Esmerelda, better than other DeLillo works including Cosmopolis.
But there’s a problem: DeLillo hasn’t been very good recently. As if in reaction to the bunker-busting Underworld, DeLillo’s 21st century work grew famished, starved of style and meaning. Thin works like The Body Artist, Cosmopolis and The Falling Man looked more like stocking stuffers than proper novels, and they read worse.
Have you read Cosmopolis, and if so, did you read it before Rob Pattinson was cast in the film or after?
(not judging!)
What was your take on the novel?
I read it after Rob was cast. Time writer has it right. It is more novella than novel. I disagree that he didn’t write it well. I think the writing was really good but the story itself is a non-starter. It doesn’t really go anywhere and at the end of it, you don’t really care about anyone. That was my impression.
Interesting perspective. Thanks for chiming in!