 | |
| Author | Don DeLillo |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
Publication date | June 1976 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 438 pp (hardback first edition) |
| ISBN | 0-394-40083-6 |
| Preceded by | Great Jones Street |
| Followed by | Players |
Ratner's Star is a 1976 novel by Don DeLillo. It relates the story of a child prodigy mathematician who arrives at a secret installation to work on the problem of deciphering a mysterious message that appears to come from outer space. The novel has been described as "famously impenetrable". [1]
The novel has been described as a Menippean satire and akin to the works of Thomas Pynchon. [2] In critical reviews, the protagonist, Billy Twillig, was compared to Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist in Kurt Vonnegut's 1969 novel Slaughterhouse-Five . [3]
The novel is told in two parts; the first is a conventional narrative, the second is less so. The author has said that the structural model was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass . [4] The novel develops the idea that science, mathematics, and logic—in parting from mysticism—do not contain the fear of death, and therefore offer no respite.
