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Falling Man: A Novel

Don DeLillo

Last week, I mentioned that I’d started reading On Chesil Beach by Ian Mcewan, one of the 100 best books issued in 2007, according to the New York Times Book Review. Set in 1962, the overarching story is of a newlywed couple on their wedding night but much more, it’s a study in the interior lives of the two, neither of whom has done much if any exploring the other’s, never mind their own. I critiqued it a bit in my prior post so now I’ll simply add that the ending made me exclaim out loud, “oh wow.” It also resonated with me later that day and the next as a good book should, IMO. It’s short and a seasoned reader could knock it out in one evening (208 pages). For me, it was compelling enough to read over four evenings.

Now I’m on to another work of fiction which is firmly rooted in the the events of September 11, 2001. It’s called “Falling Man” and it’s by Don DeLillio. I haven’t seen any Hollywood versions of 9/11 and have only read and seen news and survivor accounts as well as one documentary that was by chance, filming at a firehouse near the World Trade Center on the day of the attacks. That probably stands out in my mind more than anything else because it caught a number of key players in the chaos who did not survive the event itself and of course, the documentary aspect versus placing the material into the hands of a Hollywood-type certainly made it a valuable piece.

That day and all that came after was horrible enough just as an observer so I had no intention of delving into it further. However, this book too is on the NYTimes best book list and I’d heard that DeLillio is a good writer so thought OK, I’ll give it a whirl. What I can say is that barely 50 pages in is that emotionally, this is a hard book to read. In a way it opens old wounds, causes flinching, if only in one’s imagination. DeLillio has hit the mark many times already so I have a pretty good idea of what I’m in for as I continue on with “Falling Man.”

(I wrote this for one of my blogs in which I sell my soul (do paid posts): The Love You Make