re:mote voices: literature

Title: Americana
Author: Don Delilo
Publisher: Penguin

Something about Americana strikes me that it is a very American novel, and it is more than just the title. Something about the tone and settings just strikes me so much that this must be what people mean when they talk about "the American novel". With that it strikes me that do not seem to have read a lot of that type, most of the recent literary fiction that I have approached falling into a split between Scottish and Japanese for some reason.

Don Delilo is one of those authors I have been hearing a lot about, particularly with the response to Underworld. Curiosity leads to a certain exploration, Underworld striking as something of a slab, and not a cheap one at that, for initial exploration. Going through his work to date, something about Americana catches my imagination. So this is the starting point I opt for, only later realising that of his 11 novels to date that this is his first. In fact with the realisation that this is Delilo's first novel, comes the realisation that this was also published before I was born.

Published in 1971 Americana is dated to some degree, but is surprisingly contemporary in others. Even some of the commentary which dates the narrative to the largest degree is what ties it to now the most. The main character David Bell works for a television network, and while the technology may have changed one suspects the principles are the same. This also seems to be the case with Bell's father who works for the advertising industry, commentary relating to that being as prominent as that related to television, going hand in hand as they do. Background detail includes references to war, which I assume was the Vietnam war, but contextualising it these references could just as easily be to the preparations for war with Iraq of the moment. There are also comments relating to race, which seem naive in a modern pc culture, and yet telling.

The basic plot is that David Bell is a network executive, rising faster through the ranks than anyone before him. However he is growing bored and restless, slowly going off the rails. When an opportunity comes up to go across the country to make a documentary he decides to turn it into a road trip. Accompanied by a sculptress he is infatuated by and a drunk veteran and failed novelist, he sets out in a motor home travelling across country. As they travel David becomes inspired to make his own film, corralling people in a middle of nowhere town to take part in the increasingly obscure endeavour.

Americana is told in four parts. The first part covers David Bell executive. Introducing us to this man he seems to be a combination of petulance and belligerence. A self confessed liar we watch as he fabricates every conversation he has with anyone he meets. During this section we get an impression of this character, which strikes me as being part Catcher In The Rye part American Psycho. It is with mounting eagerness that Bell approaches the proposed road trip, maximising his meddling in office politics just to get him through the day.

The second part starts as the group have just hit the road. This is the most difficult part of the book, flashing back and forth through the life of David Bell. Covering the period from him being about sixteen to graduating from college. This covers the relations with each member of his family. The key people he met at university, and the growth of his relation with his ex-wife. The narration wanders around, to some degree at random, one passage we have a youngster at home, while the next we have an adult. The topic of a passage seems just as variable, one moment the relationship with his mother is in the spotlight, then we shift to a casual acquaintance in college. For me this becomes tedious, I start to lose interest, and only the hope that some of the detail here will prove to be relevant keeps me from skipping ahead.

The third section sees things get back on track, coming back up to date and dealing with the groups arrival in a small town. The idea that blossomed in David's head at the end of the first part has taken hold. With that David seems almost to behave like a man possessed as he recruits actors. It is clear that the film that he is weaving together is a retelling of his life, trying to find meaning and wilfully rewriting and assigning meaning. This section works well, in keeping with the first section and demonstrating the spark that is present in Americana.

The last section of the book in some ways sees David Bell hit bottom. In the first and third part we saw a descent take place. A melodramatic but also understated break down. This last section deals with that.

In the end the second section makes little difference. Perhaps it reflects to some degree the mood and feel of the film that David is working on. However one gets the impression that anything of worth from the second section could be surmised from the others. Even a little fleshing out here and there as it became relevant would have changed the feel of the novel. With the bottleneck of this section Delilo doesn't make the best first impression. The first and third sections are what do make Americana readable though. The characters that appear in David's life are also a strong point in the work. While there could have been more time spent on a number of these people, contact with these characters is enough to give us at least an impression of their potential.

RVWR: PTR
April 2003