The Silence is a short novel written by Don DeLillo. It is a quick, easy read with an eerie, strange feeling that captivates you throughout the book.
2022, Diane Lucas and Max Stenner are waiting in their Manhattan apartment for friends to arrive for their Super Bowl party. Tessa Berens and husband Jim Kripps are flying home to NJ from Paris to attend the party but don’t make it as their plane crash lands.
It is a miracle that all passengers survive and with minor scrapes.
Martin Dekker, one of Diane’s former students, is the only guest to arrive. Without warning the entire world’s technology systems shut down.
Silence begins as no one can use any electronics, are in complete darkness with no idea what is happening, and no explanation given. It is a pandemic which raises anxiety for those that are so dependent and rely so heavily on the internet and phones to function.
People are forced to look at their lives and have conversations with each other, reflect alone and separate from an online persona to who they really are.
This book will make you think about how you would react if technology shut down. Our smartphones, laptops, and other such gadgets have become a part and parcel of our lives, things that we somehow cannot live without.
For me it was a good reflection to look back on my childhood free of computers, mobile phones and all that generations have today, it made me appreciate my freedom, creativity and playing outdoors even more.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Pan Macmillan Australia
ISBN: 9781529057096 / Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading The Silence. You can read their reviews below, or add your own comments.
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.