This Wednesday we met to discuss Cosmopolis (2003) – a novel by Don
DeLillo. Our discussion revolved around the following questions: how to approach
this piece of literature? What is the message for its reader? The novel undoubtedly
escapes any rigid classification.
Some of us were left with the impression that
Cosmopolis is not a novel but a critique
of society and a lecture on technology, economy and the inextricable
relationship between capitalism and anarchy. It may be also a timeless novel
about a virtual and featureless reality where nothing really matters. Its
philosophical dimension, no narrative and characterless protagonists make the
novel feel obscure. Because of the sophisticated (verging on scribbling)
language, and the density of wisdom, the reader has difficulties establishing
what is actually important. However, there may be a rationale behind the lack
of action. The novel, devoid of climax, perhaps deconstructs the myth of
American liberation and mobility. One can also risk a statement that DeLillo is
a prophet who had foreseen the economic crisis and “Occupy the Wallstreet”
protests.
Indeed, the author usually publishes his novels after
significant events directly related to the lives of all Americans, for
instance, the 9/11 terrorist attacks. DeLillo is a detective who tracks the
roots of self-destructive contemporary system/culture. The novel may be a
tangible proof of this theory inasmuch as the work strives for self-destruction;
namely, it destroys itself as a genre. What is more, the main character wants
to destroy himself as well. Eric is surrounded by virtual reality; his life
boils down to numbers on the flat screen and the limo which seems to be the
centre of his universe. These numbers may be the metaphor of humanity dependent
on technology. The misshapen prostate, in turn, can stand for the inability to
find the symmetry in life. Eric has probably programmed his own doom: the
“accidental” meetings with his wife, the murder of the bodyguard, the loss of
money and, finally, confrontation with the assassin. He has to go there to
fulfill the grand design and encounter his destiny. This is why, Cosmopolis may be read as a contemporary
Puritan novel. Death seems to be a creative power, a substitute for reality and
the only way to escape from meaninglessness of life. Some of us saw here the
allusion to The Sound and Fury by
William Faulkner. Eric may be the incarnation of Quentin who by embracing death
finds consolation: the former escapes from numbers and the latter – from time.
by Marta Makoś
Next week, we are going to watch the adaptation
of Don DeLillos’s novel – Cosmopolis directed
by David Cronenberg starring Robert Pattison and Juliette Binoche. How come
such an un-cinematic novel found its way into the big screen?
