The Names (novel)

The Names (novel)
Name	The Names
Author	Don DeLillo
Country	United States
Language	English
Publisher	Viking Press
Pub date	1982
Media type	Print
Pages	295
Isbn	9780670415604

The Names (novel) is a 1982 novel by American author Don DeLillo that examines language, identity, and geopolitical networks through the experiences of an expatriate businessman and his circle in 1970s Athens and the wider landscape of international terrorism. Combining elements of thriller, literary modernism, and metafiction, the work places its protagonist amid intersections of corporate life, travel, and clandestine violence, drawing on cultural touchstones from the Cold War to postcolonial movements. The novel engages with figures and institutions across continents and eras to interrogate meaning-making in an era shaped by events such as the Vietnam War, the Iranian Revolution, and rising transnational insurgencies.

Plot

Set primarily in Athens and across sites in Turkey, Lebanon, Thailand, and Spain, the narrative follows expatriate Englishman and corporate employee James Axton, who manages a circle of American executives, Greek associates, and international consultants involved in petroleum, shipping, and hospitality enterprises. Axton's life is disrupted when a series of seemingly random murders and a mysterious group targeting proper names emerges, intersecting with the activities of characters tied to CIA proxies, KGB operatives, and mercenary networks linked to conflicts such as the Vietnam War and the Greek junta (1967–1974). The plot weaves through archaeological sites, hotel bars, and diplomatic salons, invoking references to Homer, Herodotus, and Thucydides while following investigations that involve diplomats from United States Department of State missions, journalists from outlets like The New York Times and Time (magazine), as well as academic specialists affiliated with institutions such as Oxford University and the American University of Beirut. As murders escalate, the novel relocates to remote enclaves, encountering émigrés from Chile and veterans of insurgencies influenced by figures like Che Guevara and organizations comparable to International Committee of the Red Cross observers. The resolution resists closure, ending with ambiguous revelations about motive and the inscrutability of naming practices amid globalized violence.

Characters

Principal figures include James Axton, his wife, and a network of colleagues such as a Greek shipping executive, an American expatriate scholar of ancient languages, and a journalist investigating terrorist patterns. Secondary characters are drawn from diverse milieus: diplomats from United States Embassy in Athens, intelligence officers reminiscent of CIA and MI6 personnel, Greek policemen connected to the aftermath of the Greek junta (1967–1974), Lebanese militiamen echoing the complexities of the Lebanese Civil War, and guerrilla veterans invoking Fidel Castro-era revolutionaries. Literary and historical allusions populate character identities, referencing Homeric heroes, classical historians like Thucydides, and modern novelists such as James Joyce and T.S. Eliot, who inform the protagonist’s reflections. The ensemble also includes archaeologists influenced by figures associated with the British Museum and the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, corporate figures linked to multinational firms described in the tone of Standard Oil-era conglomerates, and academic critics from journals akin to The New Yorker and The Paris Review.

Themes and style

DeLillo foregrounds the politics of naming, exploring how appellations function within networks connected to Cold War intelligence, postcolonial insurgency, and global capital. The novel interrogates language through intertextual references to Homer, Herodotus, Plato, and modernist writers like James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Samuel Beckett, while stylistically blending journalistic detachment with lyrical description reminiscent of T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. Themes include alienation amid multinational corporate culture (echoing concerns raised by commentators on multinational corporations), the erosion of narrative authority in the wake of events like the Iranian Revolution (1979) and the Soviet–Afghan War, and the ritualistic quality of naming as a locus for political violence comparable to incidents involving international terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s. The prose alternates between forensic detail and philosophical digression, invoking scholarly debates found in works issued by publishers such as Cambridge University Press and Harvard University Press.

Publication history

First published in 1982 by Viking Press in the United States and subsequently issued by UK publishers including Picador and Bloomsbury, the novel quickly entered academic and critical discourse, appearing on syllabi in departments at institutions like Columbia University, Princeton University, and University of California, Berkeley. Subsequent editions included paperback releases and translations into languages spoken in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Japan, disseminated through houses analogous to Gallimard, Suhrkamp Verlag, and Editorial Anagrama. The book’s copyright and publishing trajectory intersected with debates about international rights managed by agencies operating similarly to William Morris Endeavor and literary prizes overseen by bodies like the National Book Award committees, though the novel did not secure major awards immediately upon release.

Reception and critical analysis

Contemporary reviews in venues akin to The New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, and The Washington Post praised DeLillo’s linguistic precision while noting the novel’s elliptical plotting and moral ambiguity. Critics associated with journals such as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Partisan Review analyzed its intertextuality, aligning it with modernist projects pursued by T. S. Eliot and James Joyce and situating it within late 20th-century American letters alongside authors like Philip Roth, Thomas Pynchon, and Don DeLillo’s contemporaries John Updike and Saul Bellow. Academic commentary has read the book through lenses drawn from scholars at Yale University, Harvard University, and Princeton University departments, applying theories influenced by thinkers like Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida to its treatment of signification, sovereignty, and secrecy. Debates continue about its portrayal of terrorism relative to historical episodes such as the Munich massacre and airline hijackings of the 1970s.

Adaptations and influence

While the novel has not been adapted into a major studio film or television series, its themes and narrative strategies influenced later works exploring transnational crime and language, including novels by Thomas Pynchon, Salman Rushdie, and Martin Amis, and filmmakers addressing geopolitical paranoia akin to Roman Polanski and David Lynch. Scholars trace its impact on studies of globalization and literature in conferences at institutions such as Modern Language Association annual meetings and on panels at Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) events. Its engagement with ancient texts has prompted interdisciplinary projects bridging classics departments at Oxford University and comparative literature programs at Columbia University.

Category:1982 novels