The occasion for this review of Don DeLillo’s historical tour de force Libra, first published in 1988, is its beautiful reprinting in the Penguin Ink series. In a wise attempt to make books worth purchasing, as opposed to the ever-more-popular (and purportedly environment-friendly) e-book, Penguin has hired tattoo artists to create gorgeous, inspired covers for some of their classic novels. With an artfully drawn cover, sturdy, expensive and deckle-edge paper, this edition of Libra makes a convincing argument for purchase.
But this new edition’s physical beauty should not, ultimately, persuade you to purchase this novel. For judging this book by its cover would woefully underestimate its power and sheer aesthetic force.
The plot of the novel follows and reimagines the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, from his childhood in the Bronx, to his military service in Japan and his defection into Russia and finally to his fateful return to Texas, where he assassinates JFK. In alternating chapters, DeLillo also envisions possible members of the conspiracy, plotting toward the final moment of assassination, which DeLillo refers to as “the seven seconds that broke the back of the American century.” The novel has an eerie feel to it precisely because of this alternating structure. Throughout the novel, it becomes difficult to tell which moments, which images and which people have been invented, and which have not.
DeLillo, although strangely still obscure, is one of the greatest living American novelists. His other books explore a wide range of American themes, like road trips, Rock n’ Roll, football, the CIA, college, baseball, New York city taxis and 9/11. Among his 15 novels, four could easily be considered masterpieces: White Noise, Libra, Mao II and Underworld.
What is both odd and great about DeLillo’s corpus is that all of these novels concern themselves with a similar set of preoccupations and themes, including language, media, crowds, images, pictures, watching, history, names, secrets, conspiracies and connections. Somehow, DeLillo does this without ever seeming repetitious or obsessive. Libra discusses most directly the force of history and conspiracy and the inevitability of connections, but one can always spot the recurrent themes. For example, Carmine Latta, a casino owner, comes under surveillance by the FBI and suddenly discovers that he not only has FBI watching outside of his home, but, absurdly, “sightseers come to the street where he lives to watch the FBI watching Carmine.”
But mediation and watching, which were central points in his previous novel White Noise, only show up tangentially. This novel speaks of history, and connection: one character, a conspirator, informs the other, “I believe there are forces in the air that compel men to act. Call it history or necessity or anything you like.” Another character, plotting to use Oswald to assassinate the president, plans to create a “fabric of connections.” This belief in history as a connecting force seems to motivate the characters of the novel, who are all struggling to merge their lives “with the greater tide of history.” The reader watches in amazement as all of the different characters do indeed merge together in history, connecting in a single assassination plot.
DeLillo’s themes are only half of the equation. His oft-praised style, at once both musical and colloquial, represents some of the best writing in the English language. He focuses not only on the assonance and alliteration of words, but also on their “architecture.” One can find this even in a simple half-sentence: “Beautiful auburn glitter at the bottom of a glass.”
The precision within this single sentence imbues the language of the entire novel.
By itself, the plot of Libra should fascinate anyone interested in America and its history. Add in DeLillo’s preoccupations and nearly superhuman style, and one finds an awe-inspiring novel, one that not only demands to be read, but reread. In his new introduction to the novel, DeLillo writes that “some stories never end,” and that these stories seep into “the very texture of everyday life.” So long as this book remains in print, whether in Penguin Ink or e-book form this story will constitute the texture of everyday life for each of its readers.
Recommendation: Read it immediately. Let yourself slip into the “assassination aura.” It will be better than almost any novel or textbook you’ll need to read for class.
