Cosmopolis by Don Delillo is a book that I would never have imagined myself reading. However, after watching the movie, even though many have criticised it, I found it extremely intelligent and much more complicated then the already superficial and predictable movies in the present day.
After seeing the movie, I discovered that there was a book, and as in many cases the book is much better then the movie due to detail and more dialogue, there is much more depth and understanding of what the main character is going through.
The main character, Eric Packer a twenty-eight multibillionaire man that travels most of his time in his sleek white limo filled with the latest possible technology, all of them fitted to the shape of the limo. It is an entirely spacey car, bullet proof and very carefully cork-lined to keep the outside street sounds outside. The limo is a very important detail throughout the book because Eric Packer spends most of his time inside it.
He is visited by various employees that work for him, to which he discusses about the rise of the yen. He loses incredibly large amounts of money from himself and his clients as he bets against the currency. He has meetings with his wife, and some other women, showing the carefree life the young philanthropist leads. Throughout the book Eric's voyage is obstructed by traffic jams by a visit from the president through the city, as well as a massive anti-capitalist riot, that ends up redesigning his limo in propaganda graffiti art. The last of the traffic jams is the large funeral procession of a sufi rap star. (Presented in the film as K'naan the rapper in present day).
As he loses such large amounts of money, he starts relishing in this loss, and along the way on his final meeting with his wife, he makes sure that he loses part of her fortune as well, so that he makes sure that no one can ever say that his fall was stupid and unpredictable, that it could not have been caused by himself.
Eric is followed and then attacked by two stalkers, one of which is a professional "Pastry assassin" that throws a plate of whipped cream in his face. He is then attacked by a second one, who is a former employee of the business-man and dedicated his life to be the one true assassin of Packer, this being the last meaningful thing in his life. Packer's story ends radically after a very impressive end conversation with the attacker, where he is murdered.
This was a very interesting book, it was not filled with much action, but with engaging and intelligent conversations regarding the economy and the true meaning of present day capitalism. I found the book edgy, yet it showed a different side to present day society. Eric Packer is a peculiar character, an only child that matured far too early after his father's demise, his marriage being set up with another peculiar and insanely rich person. This strange edge created a capturing environment of the book.
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