Written by Don DeLillo
Released in 1988
Language: English
There was no certainty in the outcome. Oswald, vacillating between the two great powers of the 20th century, is vague even to himself. Pulled between the capitalist empire of the US and the communist bloc of the USSR, the CIA and the KGB wrestle for control over his destiny. DeLillo's fictive history of Lee Harvey Oswald and the Kennedy assassination depicts a network of chance and manipulation, what could or could not have happened to cause JFK's death. Oswald's motivations are vague and contradictory even to himself and the reader, but the magical effect of this book is the final sensation that all of these coincidences had to play out exactly as they did. I first tried to read Libra back in 2023 but bounced off it because I lacked background on the assassination. I am extremely happy that I picked it back up in 2024, because on my second attempt, Libra instantly became my favorite new read of the year. It's masterfully written, leaning into an unsettling ambiguity that haunts all our understandings of the Kennedy assassination. It's also a great case study of the primary political engine of the 20th century, which was the question of capitalism and communism. The communists of the USSR and Cuba may have believed that communism and capitalism could co-exist, but capital demands infinite growth. The US viewed communism as an inherent threat, and nearly all of 20th century American politics were driven by anti-communism. Libra exemplifies one battle in the long "cold" war of this period of history. And now, capitalism appears to have reached total subsumption. The 21st century is the century of global capitalism. There are no longer any living alternatives. Was this outcome certain? Did it have to be this way? (January 6, 2025)