Book Review With My Dad! White Noise by Don DeLillo

[@saintdonoghue]

"Don't worry ... all my videos are awkward" - HAH!

[@agwriting]

No lies told haha

[@Gizmocialism]

You two are so similar in your mannerisms and subtle inflections, it's really funny and enjoyable to watch you talk about the book at length. Would love more dad-book-club reading series! (I might even read along with my father.)

[@agwriting]

This comment was so cool to read! Really appreciate it. We definitely plan on doing reading some more books together and I'll mention them in advance

[@michaelrutchik9906]

Great conversation. One of my favorite books. I’m so ready to read it again after listening to your conversation. 3 years ago I heard that Noah Baumbach was making a film of this book. My reaction was absolutely “Nooooo!” I assumed he would somehow turn it into some plot driven film and completely miss the characters, the humor, the voice of the book. I reluctantly went to see it when it was released and I was more than pleased. Baumbach clearly translated his experience of the book into an alternate version of the book. A worthwhile companion piece. And he proved that DeLillo can be made into a movie. The casting is perfect and each actor in the film will forever be their DeLillo role first in my mind. Which will be to their credit. Speaking of companions to the book, the audiobook version narrated by Michael Prichard is amazing. Prichard embodies DeLillo’s voice almost as if DeLillo created him just to perform this narration. I loved your dad’s comments about not marking his books. Same here. But I visited my daughter last year and randomly picked books off her shelf to find hundreds of gloriously highlighted sentences and paragraphs, often in different colored highlighter. I wanted to go back to the beginning and read everything all over again with highlighters in hand. (Hard to do with the many audiobooks I listen to though;-) Finally, I know you love Nabokov so you may know he said “One cannot read a book: one can only reread it.” Thanks so much for this.

[@perfildeestudiante3848]

Man I love this it brings me to tears you are truly blessed to have a dad to share a love of reading Not many have that (including myself ) Keep pushing man Nothing beats the love a father

[@annonymously1778]

I squeaked when i saw the thumbnail, heard great things about your dad and finally get to meet him, Thank you 😭❤

[@agwriting]

Ah! Thank you for watching!

[@heather1628]

I'm kicking myself - I went away for a few days and happened to find White Noise in a second-hand bookstore, but this video hadn't come out yet and I wanted to wait to hear the full review before a making a decision. And I'm wishing I'd just got the book haha. But alas, I shall find it again. I want to start off by saying that this video was so wholesome! It felt like sitting in on an in-depth conversation and not needing to add anything because simply listening is enough. It sounds like a book that is wonderfully funny yet equally thought-provoking. Character over plot is a preference for me, so I'm always keen to hear about recommendations of those types of books. I thought the part about banishing silence was really interesting because one realises that it's so true - we've come to live in a world with so much stimulation that it's almost unsettling to strip ourselves of that. I often think about something I was once told, that we're exposed to between hundreds and thousands of adverts every day, and a lot of it is unnecessary information that our brain is still having to process. For someone like me who is highly sensitive, my brain processes things deeply, so it ends up expending more energy than I am conscious of. Anyway, sorry, that's a tangent. The fear of death thing also piqued my interest because it's something I think about a lot. It definitely made me curious to see how it's depicted in the book. It was nice to hear that I'm not the only one who isn't too keen on science fiction, as well as being someone who doesn't re-read much. Although I realise that I still get pleasure from just dipping into parts of books on my shelf instead of re-reading the entire book. Another long ramble-y comment haha. Thanks, again, for a great video! It would be lovely to hear more discussions between you and your dad when you guys have the time. P.S. Thank you for all your thoughtful responses to my comments, by the way. I really appreciate it :)

[@agwriting]

Oh no! You'll find it again. Definitely worth the read, I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! You always leave the best comments. I find the part about banishing silence really interesting as well, especially with the book being written in 1985. To see someone having concerns about that issue in society in a time far more silent than the one we're living in is truly fascinating. And the fear of death is probably the the most prevalent topic in the book--so impressive how DeLillo navigates it. We're definitely going to do some more videos together. Thanks again for watching:)

[@BibBobBibOnVacation]

Awesome ☘️

[@leonardo.ginyun]

A lot of very interesting insights! Bring dad back some day

[@agwriting]

Thanks for watching! I plan to!

[@sshheell]

I also did not find the book exceptionally funny, as I was just in this slightly absurd world. As always love hearing about what others think about book, cool to see you and your fathers thoughts! Haha this could be a whole segment of its own.

[@agwriting]

Completely agree. Thanks so much for watching, we're definitely looking to do this more often.

[@ginabrown72]

dad reveal!!!

[@bedhead9975]

on rereading nabokov said you cannot read a book but can only reread one flaubert also said something about what a scholar someone would be if they new half a dozen works by heart!

[@agwriting]

So funny you said this! I'm taking a course on Nabokov right now and we're learning about his rules for reading. And I feel like I just read something similar to that second quote in Rilke.

[@PrimaryLateralSclerosis]

Your dad referred to the recording as “video taped.” That’s how we Gen Xers recognize eachother! I have a college aged kid and hope that he attributes some of his academic interests to me too. What did he study in college?

[@agwriting]

Haha exactly. He studied accounting in college, didn't get super interested in literature until he was older.

[@sarajosahine3163]

First one