The Angel Esmeralda

The Angel Esmeralda by Don DeLillo is a book of beautifully written and sometimes poignant short stories. What they lack in strong, story driven plots, they make up for in masterful prose and DeLillo's incredible insight into the darker sides of human behaviour.

Each story has little in common with the one before or after, they jump from astronauts drifting through space in a time of war to a jogger witnessing a chance abduction, and everything in between, but they are all explored in the same way. Nuns, students, prisoners – all are placed under a scrutinous gaze, and all treated equally. DeLillo's understanding of his characters, and of people in general, is his greatest asset. He brings them all to life in an understated and wholly realistic fashion that is always accurate and often unnerving.

It is a shame, then, that despite this glimpse into humanity, and despite the often brilliant prose and dialogue, the stories of The Angel Esmeralda never really grip the reader. They are interesting but never moving, insightful but never exciting. DeLillo seems to have focussed so greatly on people, and the mundane thoughts that cross their minds, that he has almost ignored the fantastic stories these characters have to tell.