A thriller, a mystery, and still a moving examination of family, loss and the amorphous and magical potential of language itself. ‘Compelling . . . strange and wonderful and frightening’ New Yorker DeLillo’s seventh novel is an exotic thriller. Set mostly in Greece, it concerns a mysterious ‘language cult’ seemingly behind a number of unexplained murders. Obsessed by news of this ritualistic violence, an American risk analyst is drawn to search for an explanation. We follow him on his obsessive journey that begins to take over his life and the lives of those closest to him. In addition to offering a series of strong precise character studies, The Names explores the intersection of language and culture, the perception of America from both inside and outside its borders, and the impact that narration has on the facts of a story. Meditative and probing, DeLillo wonders: how does one cope with the fact that the act of articulation is simultaneously capable of defining and circumscriptively restricting access to the self? ‘A serious and complicated novel which deserves praise . . . an outstandingly well-written and constructed book’ Guardian
Publication Year: 1982
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DeLillo ruminates on language, meaning, murder, patterns, the apocalypse, and America's position as the world's myth-maker, influencing and manipulating countries on the other side of the globe to position themselves better, all told through an American businessman in Greece, with his life in serious disarray. There are so many eye-opening ideas, so many ways DeLillo's light fractures, comes together and illuminates the world we're living in. It's incredibly ambitious and it doesn't completely come together, but that's DeLillo for you, and the ending is a great one-two punch of shock and awe and deep, existential terror.
I wouldn't recommend it as your first DeLillo, as it's very intellectual and subtle, but it has a power like only the very best novels do. And, of course, as usual his prose cuts like a knife, bringing forth blood you're certain must mean something but unsure of what it actually does. DeLillo is a master of the understated and the unmentioned, as you're being pulled deeper and deeper into whatever he has on his mind. For me, this book added up to something more. It might not do for you, and I'd understand that, but I will remain haunted by this story, its characters and its meanings for quite some time.
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