Sign in with Facebook
amber's Reviews > White Noise
White Noise
by
by
My first Don DeLillo. Not for people who use the word postulate. My experience was almost entirely ruined by the used copy I received which had notes in the margins. It says "Help" when Jack Gladney talks about Hitler on multiple pages (Has this person never heard of Hitler?), it says "sheesh" when his son, Heinrich, goes into a long-winded ramble about brain chemistry and how he couldn't know what he really wants. The best of all the marginal note stupidity from anonymous though, is the discussion the Gladney's have on the way to the mall, chapter 17. The family is making idle small talk, trying to remember the name of the "...surfer movie I saw once where they travel all over the world." They go back and forth incorrectly guessing the title, before getting swept away into another discussion. This reader wrote "never ending summer" underneath the last guess. YOU ASSHOLE. Who the hell were you trying to impress here? You knew the real name of the movie so you thought you would write it down in the margin? These are fictional characters, not your dumb-ass modern lit class. And the jackass got the name of the movie wrong - it's ENDLESS SUMMER, you dumb fuck. Good book.
1373 likes · Like
∙
flag
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
White Noise.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Started Reading
September 1, 2007
–
Finished Reading
October 8, 2007
– Shelved
Comments Showing 1-50 of 61 (61 new)
message 1:
by
Jessica
(new)
Feb 27, 2008 09:58PM
Hey, sounds like you bought my old copy!
reply
|
flag
Marginalia is often the ruin of a great many used books. Sadder still in College book stores where most were marked up by self-important students looking for a notch in the belt. My favorite line is still, "nostalgia is the product of dissatisfaction and rage."
lol @ the comments, i generally just stick to a highlighter so i can quickly go back and read my favorite sentences/passages, but i do admit i used the highlighter to write LOL over some of the things that made me laugh out loud :)
So other than your misplaced anger, what did you actually think of the book?
"Not for people who use the word postulate."All I had to read to know I'd trust your review.
And now you've gone and did the same damn thing, Mr. Margin/GoodReads spoiler! Thanks to you quoting the douche who wrote in the margin, I now know EXACTLY what you mean! Not only did you quote his misquote, but you corrected him. ...psh... I'll prolly still read it anyway.
I have a similar copy of "End Zone." All the markings make it impossible to read. The person underlined all of the "inspirational" lines about football very earnestly, as if trying to impress the coach.
I love my annotated commentary. There's a reason why I don't do loaners and just buy the damn book.
ha. where can I buy a book of reviews by Amber?
I just finished reading a used copy with the same problem! The previous owner seemed to highlight all the banal/obvious classroom fodder, until they got tired of reading after 50 pages and stopped entirely. Also, I just made the mistake of scrolling down below this and saw all the usual "I didn't finish reading this" 1 star reviews.I wonder if there's a connection there..
You must have got my copy.
Wow that was a great story. Kind of a spin off story to complement the book. I also bought a used copy with annotations. Mine aren't as interesting though.
Philip wrote: "I once got a book from the library where somebody had taken the time to cross out the u in every occurrence of the word colour."Must have been some crazy American with no sense of humour - umm, I mean humor.
I love this review. You're great.
I think this might be my favorite Goodreads review ever: a review of a dumbshit's notes in the margins.
Wow, amazing review lmao go off Amber!!!
I think Amber found Delillo's copy of White Noise. The marginal comments are those of another character in the novel.
Hay yayyay heavyweight deservingly emotions.
The review commentaries may be better than the book itself.
This review is amazing!
Oh my god I love you
I don’t understand why you got so worked up over notes in the margins of a used book that you purposefully bought. How does this make your review better?
That sounds like fun, actually.
i had a copy that had sorority girl notes all over every page in ink
This review is pure gold.
So, is this book OOP, that you had to buy a used copy? I, personally would never deface a book by writing in the margins. That is why we have notebooks and journals. I can also understand not being able to afford a new book, but the idiot defacer did mess up his own property. So, you know... And then he was bold enough to put his stupidity out there for all the world to see.
the fact that he got the title wrong, AMAZING!!!
I'm dying. Great review.
Some people get pissed at the smallest details of their lives. I wish I could "dislike" this review
Wait I need to know-did you borrow this out of the University of Tennessee's library...because I swear I saw those same notes in a copy I checked out from there a few years ago.
So instead of actually reviewing the book, you decided to take a Goodreads dump on a stranger who probably was taking a Modern Lit class when they marked up their copy in the margins. Pretty petty Like bait. I’d rather hear what you enjoyed about the book.
Why shame someone for interacting with the work? Isn’t that what it’s about? The gate keeping doesn’t exactly invite other people in to enjoyment of the story. Maybe let’s try appreciating them for focusing and interacting with the work. That’s something to celebrate.
LMAO this review is so funny!!! Go you for calling an idiot out
Awesome hipster review
If you don't like this review you write in books.
I actually am in the camp that holds marginalia can enrich a book. Please, not in pen, and gasp, please no highlighter - but even the random comments or even exclamation can give the suggestion of community between pages.
Lol. This makes me wish I could go back and reread all my marginal notes in books from high school and college lit classes… I’ll bet there are some howlers I’d have trouble living down! 🤷♂️ It also reminds me of my adolescence, having moved to a college town for high school, and browsing the used book bins at the library: I once found a copy of _The Joy Luck Club_ where on the last page, written in all caps, was “WHAT THE @#$%&! IS MAH-JONGG!??” I hope you made it to the age of Google, dear ‘80s Amy Tan reader!
OMG I’m literally 5 chapters in on a library copy and I’m about to quit because of the horrid annotations. Including “so fucking cool” and “so so so right” and “right?” Who are these people and why do they feel they have the right to affect the experience of everyone after them
you know I appreciated this book but I couldn’t put my thumb down on why I didn’t particularly like it until I read this review. I used postulate multiple times this morning
