Falling Man - post I

There is something about picking up a book that is so clearly linked with the terrorist attack of the two towers being attacked in New York. What you worry about is the raking up of the past and the details. Although there are hundreds of stories that are no doubt let to tell you wonder about the merits of telling them.

So it is with those sorts of feelings running through your head that you start this story that kicks off with the towers coming down and the dust and destruction. But what makes it possible to enter into events is the focus on an individual family. An estranged wife and husband Lianne and Keith are brought back together as a result of his direct involvement working in the two towers.

He acts as a physical reminder of what has been lost, with his poker nights gone forever and his former life in tatters, and the family by extension fulfil the role of a sounding board reacting to the fear and the anger following the attacks.

DeLillo is dropping little concurrent stories throughout which are all symptoms of the same collective response to the horrific events. They all add to the noise as the story goes forward.

More tomorrow…