We are all aware of how our world has changed since the 9/11 attacks. I wonder how many of us have ever considered how the events and their sequel could be presented in a novel.

The title of Don DeLillo’s novel, Falling Man, can be interpreted in many ways. The fractured structure of the narrative echoes the effect the 9/11 events have had on our shared psyche. The falling man of the iconic photograph is evoked several times in the narrative. Keith Neudecker, the central figure in the narrative, sees that falling figure through a window high up in Twin Towers, before he begins his long climb down to ‘Ground Zero’.

Lianne, Keith’s estranged wife, encounters a stunt-performing falling man as she goes about her daily pursuits, which involve encouraging Alzheimer patients to recall their responses to the 9/ll events. The man, in business clothes, suspends himself upside-down from public structures, in the pose of the man in Richard Drew’s famous photograph.

Perhaps the most chilling is the venturing into the consciousness of Hammad, one of the brain-washed terrorists. Or, even more harrowing, perhaps, is the reaction of the children who eternally scan the skies above their tower block with binoculars. They are watching for ‘Ben Lawton’ (Bin Laden) the danger they feel threatening them out there.

Do I recommend Falling Man? It is hard to take, as were the events that it recalls. Don DeLillo is certainly a remarkable writer. What can one say? This is not a Christmas stocking filler.

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