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I've read them all but M&D and ATD. Just finished Inherent Vice and thought it was fantastic. I thought it nicely tied together a lot of the themes he discussed in V., 49, and Vineland. Favourite joke in the book: Doc throws his shoe to create a noise. He then has a shoot out. About 10 pages and several incidents later, he realizes he is only wearing one shoe. Just the deadpan way he slides it in there is really fantastic writing.
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| # ? Sep 14, 2011 02:51 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 00:49 |
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Reviving this thread to say that I just finished Gravity's Rainbow and I was surprised at how emotionally attached I became to certain characters, especially Roger and Jessica. For a novel with a reputation for being dense and unreadable, it hit hard in some places. The scene in particular where Roger and Bodine are at the dinner part and start grossing out the other guests with alliterative food names ("nose pick noodles" and so on) was simply heartbreaking. The image of Jessica "squirming only to get home and take another wad of Jeremy's sperm" and her being escorted "stiff armed... away forever" affected me in a way that I just wasn't prepared for. The scene with Pokler and the succession of Ilse imposters (or possibly the real Ilse) was, of course, a masterpiece as well, both in its emotional content and in the imagery it draws of Germany towards the end of the war.
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| # ? Nov 11, 2011 00:09 |
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Oh, this thread. I'm reading Vineland right now, and I disagree with all the criticism of it. I actually like his hippies in California sort-of-trilogy (Lot 49, Vineland, Inherent Vice) better than the rest of his stuff because it just feels like subject matter and setting that is very personal to him.
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| # ? Nov 11, 2011 01:05 |
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I also just, hesitantly, finished Inherent Vice. It was one of those books, typical of Pynchon (pbuh) that I didn't want to finish because then I'd have no more Pynchon to read. I really, really liked the errant hippies Doc continually encountered, from Shasta and her calculating seductiveness, to the amusing airheadedness of Jade, Cory's gradual maturation, etc. It's rare that I find myself enjoying characters so thoroughly in a book that I wish I could actually meet them. Since I've finished Inherent Vice, I guess I should probably retacking Against the Day. I made it about 1/2 way through before I began to start losing my place in that dense-rear end novel and realized I'd probably just have to start it all over again. The only Pynchon book I couldn't really get into was Mason and Dixon. Not that it wasn't written equisitely or anything, because it was, it was just a little *too* 18th century for me and the era seemed to just drag on and on.
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| # ? Nov 13, 2011 02:46 |
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Does anyone know if there's a reason why his books aren't available for Kindle? I loved AtD and would like to re-read it and try his other stuff when I have time but they're all really big books and I don't want to carry them around. 
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| # ? Nov 13, 2011 22:47 |
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Calde posted:I've tried to read Gravity's Rainbow twice. I find it hard to pick back up after a short break for some reason. Thanks for the reminder that I need to give it a third try now that I have some free time. These are my exact feelings. I've tried twice now to read Gravity's Rainbow, but I always start reading it in short bursts and I find it extremely hard to just pick it back up in the middle of some page. It has been sitting on my bookshelf for awhile now, I think I shall actually make an attempt to read this thing now that my job requires me to sit for eight hours doing nothing.
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| # ? Dec 2, 2011 05:29 |
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I remember there was a site entirely dedicated to Gravity's Rainbow and pretty much held your hand through the entire book, anyone know what I'm talking about?
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| # ? Dec 18, 2011 21:18 |
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z0331 posted:Does anyone know if there's a reason why his books aren't available for Kindle? I loved AtD and would like to re-read it and try his other stuff when I have time but they're all really big books and I don't want to carry them around. Probably either hates e-readers or isn't paid enough to allow his books for purchase on them.
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| # ? Dec 19, 2011 01:13 |
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I'm about a quarter of the way through V., and I'm quite liking it so far. I can definitely see why it might turn off some first-time Pynchon readers, though. The first part is pretty slow, especially the chapter in Egypt where Pynchon switches between like eight different viewpoints and uses a million old-timey Middle Eastern words. Also, Esther getting a nose job was pretty horrific, and I'm saying this as someone who got through that one scene in Gravity's Rainbow.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2012 18:23 |
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Does anyone have any insider info on the rumors of an Inherent Vice movie? I heard a while back that Robert Downey Jr. was being courted for Doc. I'm about 2/3 of the way through the book and I think this one would be the easiest to adapt out of Pynchon's ouevre. Also, it was kind of lame, but I laughed at P-DIDdies.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2012 18:45 |
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A dead thread requires a master's head. If there is a better one-sentence characterization in modern literature than the closing bit of this passage, I have yet to see it:Thomas Pynchon posted:Young Max Khäutsch, newly commissioned a captain in the Trabants, was here on his first overseas assignment, as field chief of “K&K Special Security,” having already proven himself useful at home as an assassin, an especially deadly one, it seemed. Standard Habsburg procedure would have been to put him out of the way at some agreed-upon point of diminishing usefulness, but nobody was willing to try. Despite his youth he was said to give an impression of access to resources beyond his own, of being comfortable in the shadows and absolutely unprincipled, with an abiding contempt for any distinction between life and death. Sending him to America seemed appropriate. From Against The Day.
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| # ? May 5, 2012 23:24 |
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It took me a few times to get through Gravity's Rainbow like many others in this thread. I kept getting "Toni Morrison-ed", too revolted to keep going due to seemingly gratuitous amounts of grossness. (Seriously, Slothrup, stop loving children.) But after a few month hiatus, I came back, powered through the repulsive scenes and got enough context and plot to make sense of them. It was all worth it just for the Kekule's dream, Happyville and Byron the Bulb scenes alone. Of course, I'm going to have to read it over again three more times to figure out just exactly what happened, but I'm more than game. I realize now that a year of organic chemistry and finishing up my BS helped me get a lot more of Gravity's Rainbow than I would have otherwise. I think the large amounts of scientific allusion contribute to the difficulty of his prose for the majority of readers. After all, many literary types seem to disdain hard science as much as many hard scientists seem to disdain the humanities. A former engineer turned author who combines extensive scientific knowledge with expansive literary and pop cultural influences is not going to take it easy on his readers of either bent. As Pynchon said himself, "Why should things be easy to understand?" Additionally, a recent revelation about the Baby Albert experiments casts a whole new light on Gravity's Rainbow. It seems likely that famous baby was mentally retarded, possibly due to iatrogenic infection. I'm interested in others' interpretations of this development in regards to Slothrup's IG Farben experiences. P.S. I want to support what others have said about The Crying of Lot 49 being the best introduction to Pynchon.
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| # ? May 6, 2012 15:02 |
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opinionslikekittens posted:I kept getting "Toni Morrison-ed", too revolted to keep going due to seemingly gratuitous amounts of grossness. (Seriously, Slothrup, stop loving children.) But after a few month hiatus, I came back, powered through the repulsive scenes and got enough context and plot to make sense of them. Just as a point of clarification, almost none of the scatological/sexual content is gratuitous. As a simple example (which also immediately comes to mind in this context, and essentially cost Pynchon the 1974 Pulitzer among other awards), consider poor Brigadier Pudding's discipline at the hands of Katje. If one misses or does not understand the Metatron reference and related imagery, such as the sacred texts of deviance, the entire purpose of Pudding's step-wise descent into "primordial, obsessive violence" (to quote Weisenburger) is lost. (Edit: I forgot to explicitly state: those images betray the fact that this entire scene is a perversion/inversion of the ascent to the Merkabah, or divine throne, from Kabbalah theory.) Continuing with Weisenburger's analysis (from Fables of Subversion, not his GR companion): "At stake are questions of control, of domination, of 'reality' itself as performance, and finally of the degradation of symbols as they are exchanged in each new 'script'. Pudding's very being is crisscrossed by messages that have positioned him, over and over, as victim. He knows it, but more importantly so does Katje, as actress in Pointsman's script. Indeed, Katje had played victim in analogous scripts composed by the Nazi Lieutenant Weissmann, one of the novel's most pathologically demonic characters. It is precisely that recognition of the whole exchange, and of her power within it, that spurs Katje to turn the tables on Pointsman and his ilk, in the last part of Gravity's Rainbow." As you mention in your post, Pynchon isn't making it easy for his readers, but only very rarely does he delve into deviance without a serious and necessary goal. After all, sexual deviance and the inversion of divinity at the hands of the avatars of death are going to be important themes in a story about Baby Tyrone's pre-cog penis, told in a novel structured in exquisite and nearly-opaque detail around the Christian liturgical calendar, with the goal of setting the paranoia of life against the technology of a culture of death. And for God's sake, re-read GR with the Weisenburger companion. (I fear I have become repetitive on this point, but it can't be emphasized enough.) mdemone fucked around with this message at May 8, 2012 around 15:46 |
| # ? May 7, 2012 19:31 |
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mdemone posted:Just as a point of clarification, almost none of the scatological/sexual content is gratuitous. Sorry, "seemingly" might have been the wrong word. I meant that it was so shocking to me at first that it obscured the deeper meaning. Thank you for the detailed explanation and recommendations all the same. I will get my hands on a copy of the Weisenburger companion ASAP. Since you are so knowledgeable about GR (no sarcasm intended), I'd be interested in your opinion about how the developments in the Little Albert case may cast a different light on the story.
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| # ? May 8, 2012 15:25 |
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opinionslikekittens posted:Since you are so knowledgeable about GR (no sarcasm intended), I'd be interested in your opinion about how the developments in the Little Albert case may cast a different light on the story. Other than being a sordid and unfortunate story about 1920s medical/psychological ethics (and a poke in the eye to those slavishly devoted to Pavlovian interpretations of human behavior), I'm not sure it means very much. In the GR universe, Dr. Lazslo Jamf had no reason to believe that the Baby Albert experiment performed that very year was somehow flawed -- and he certainly would have ignored such suspicions anyway, as a dedicated man of the Book. The text explicitly states that Jamf was inspired by the Albert experiment to repeat it with Slothrop's sexual reflex, of course, and the Baby Tyrone conditioning begins that very same year. If one wants to read it this way, it's a horrifying synthesis of the ways that a technology of control can completely pre-determine the path of a human life (in Slothrop's case), with the ways that biological/neurological forces dictate that same course (in the woeful case of the impaired Baby Albert). Dr. Watson's intentions were to find a way to remove fear, by understanding the means by which it dominates the mind. Jamf, however, wants to isolate the erectile reflex in order to remove it from the human context and instantiate it into a technology of death (the polymer which eventually will be known as Imipolex-G; note that Gottfried has also undergone a sexual conditioning during the process of preparing his sacrifice in Rocket 00000, the Oven where desire & ego & humanity will all burn). It's worth noting that Slothrop believes in his paranoia that the penile affliction is a self-oriented desire, when in fact it is desire for the other, for the director of the experiment -- he even dreams of an old German technical manual in which "JAMF" is translated as the English word "I". This is how the human condition will be exterminated by the technologies of control. Later on in the novel, Pynchon comes as close to an explicit statement of this paranoia as he will ever do: "The Man has a branch office in each of our brains, his corporate emblem is a white albatross, each local rep has a cover known as the Ego, and their mission in this world is Bad poo poo. We do know what's going on, and we let it go on. As long as we can see them, stare at them, those massively moneyed, once in a while. As long as they allow us a glimpse, however rarely. We need that. And they know it - how often, under what conditions..." It's no mere narrative device that Slothrop, the Rocketman, vanishes from the novel as the antagonism between Counterforce and Corporation takes form in Part 4. But humanity cannot win this War, because the enemy has the invincible power of death in its employ, and is determined to gain control over mortality itself: Mr. Information posted:Yesyes, Skippy, the truth is that the War is keeping things alive. Things. The Ford is only one of them. The Germans-and-Japs story was only one, rather surrealistic version of the real War. The real War is always there. The dying tapers off now and then, but the War is still killing lots and lots of people. Only right now it is killing them in more subtle ways. Often in ways that are too complicated, even for us, at this level, to trace. But the right people are dying, just as they do when armies fight. mdemone fucked around with this message at May 8, 2012 around 16:51 |
| # ? May 8, 2012 16:21 |
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A Fistful of Dicks posted:I also just, hesitantly, finished Inherent Vice. It was one of those books, typical of Pynchon (pbuh) that I didn't want to finish because then I'd have no more Pynchon to read. One of these days, he's bound to die, and although he will be remembered as possibly the greatest American novelist, it's still going to be really hard to get used to the idea that there will never be any more Pynchon to read. I'm actually thinking we've already reached that point. Inherent Vice seemed like one of those things that had been kicking around in his head since the 80s, and he just banged it out one summer without hardly trying. Otherwise, after the three major novels (discounting V.), I'm not sure how much work he has left to do, in the sense of explicating his major concerns and themes. (Hell, if I'd written GR, I would have stood back and just said, "gently caress it, I'm retiring. Nobody's topping that one," which is why it's never been really surprising to me that it was nearly 20 years until his next book. How could anyone expect themselves to live up to that?) quote:Since I've finished Inherent Vice, I guess I should probably retacking Against the Day. I made it about 1/2 way through before I began to start losing my place in that dense-rear end novel and realized I'd probably just have to start it all over again. I find that the third try is usually the one that gets people through it. Don't feel even slightly bad about that. I still haven't grokked that one, and I'm currently on my third reading. Criticism of AtD also seems to be a bit immature and grasping at the present day, so I think this must be a common feeling. Maybe after another decade or so, some folks will have hacked away at it more deeply and produced some interesting perspectives. quote:The only Pynchon book I couldn't really get into was Mason and Dixon. Not that it wasn't written equisitely or anything, because it was, it was just a little *too* 18th century for me and the era seemed to just drag on and on. Also not surprising. That one was the hardest for me to get a little momentum going, and for the same reasons. It's wound up being a cherished favorite of mine, though it is neither his greatest work nor his most far-reaching. Read it as a story of a great friendship, and take it in small doses without worrying too much about where things fit. Sometimes a Mechanical Duck is just a Mechanical Duck.
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| # ? May 8, 2012 16:47 |
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mdemone posted:One of these days, he's bound to die, and although he will be remembered as possibly the greatest American novelist, it's still going to be really hard to get used to the idea that there will never be any more Pynchon to read. I'm not trying to sound combative, but I'm just curious if this is a personal opinion or if you think this is reflected in more general opinion, specifically among academics?
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| # ? May 8, 2012 16:50 |
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z0331 posted:I'm not trying to sound combative, but I'm just curious if this is a personal opinion or if you think this is reflected in more general opinion, specifically among academics? Well, it's clearly my personal opinion, but I think there is a serious and imposing argument to be made. If you ask 100 literary academics, you'll get maybe 50 different answers; obviously this is so hugely subjective that no consensus could ever truly be reached. Find an old-guard critic, and they'll come at you with Twain or Melville or Steinbeck or Hemingway or Faulkner. Find someone with more recent sensibilities, and they'll say Vonnegut or McCarthy or any number of others who have written serious and important and lasting Great Works that deserve the immortality they will achieve. But I'm damned if I can think of an author who has better captured the essence of the horrible 20th-century (as in GR), or of capitalism's domination of America and the human condition (as in AtD), while simultaneously showing us so beautifully and hilariously the little moments that are good and joyful and funny in life. Many works can do one or the other, only a very few can do both (and these usually struggle to synthesize them), but Pynchon manages to spin all the plates at the same time, and so effortlessly. I do also think the depths of his prescience have yet to be plumbed, because his concerns have been so far-sighted. Their profundity is obvious, but many of us have yet to find out the things that Pynchon has already been trying to show us about ourselves. His timeliness will increase with time, to borrow a phrase from a critic of Atwood, and that is the definition of greatness in literature. Edit: vvv Oh, I didn't mean to give the impression that I think badly of Inherent Vice; in fact I think Pynchon's California novels in general present some of his finest characterization and storytelling abilities. vvv mdemone fucked around with this message at May 8, 2012 around 18:19 |
| # ? May 8, 2012 17:08 |
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mdemone posted:I'm actually thinking we've already reached that point. Inherent Vice seemed like one of those things that had been kicking around in his head since the 80s, and he just banged it out one summer without hardly trying. I completely disagree about Inherent Vice. It may actually be my favorite Pynchon book. There's a lot more going on than people seem to think (does Pynchon really seem like the type to toss off a beach read at this point in his career?) I found reading Brendle's blog about it very helpful in noticing some of the ways he used the form of the novel to convey its meaning (for instance, the connection between the constant presence of fog in the book's world and the constant use of pop culture references in the book's text) http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com...ice/ba-p/474455 I agree with you that Pynchon is one of major writers of this century, although I have nothing to back that up with except that I read constantly and have never read anyone who can write quite like him.
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| # ? May 8, 2012 17:20 |
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Thanks again, Mdemone. I was leaning towards that view myself; though I do think it highlights how little the physical truth often matters in both the real world and GR version of science. After all, it's ruthlessness, not honesty for which the system tends to select.
opinionslikekittens fucked around with this message at May 8, 2012 around 17:45 |
| # ? May 8, 2012 17:43 |
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I have a...history with Gravity's Rainbow. I heard about it at some point during my sophomore year of college, I think through these forums, and looking into it became absolutely fascinated by the idea of it. I went and checked it out of the library shortly thereafter, eager to dive in. And...I dove. And held up pretty well, given that I Was going in cold to the most notoriously/irreducibly complex work of 20th century lit known to most. But as soon as I put it down I was hosed. I lost my place and dreaded returning to the grind of the early sections. This happened not once, not twice, but three times, each time reaching further and further into the novel before some inevitable distraction sidetracked my attention and left me back at square one again. Lately, I found myself back in the swing of reading, and with a more voracious appetite than in years. So of course I picked up my (ironically) battered copy of Gravity's Rainbow and dove in headfirst. That was three days ago. I finished it today. Maybe it's the benefit of repeated exposures to large swaths of the first half of the novel; maybe it was my willingness to truck on in spite of the occasional confusions; maybe it's my utter awe of the elaborate structure, awe-inspiringly deft prose, or the rich characterization; maybe it's my adoration of Pynchon's genuine sentiment combined with a wicked, juvenile, profane sense of humor; whatever of these factors came into play, I found myself absolutely in awe of what I'd just experienced upon finishing. I can't think of a more impressive work of art, one so able to encapsulate such a depth of rich, elaborate themes, to reach every possible human emotion in so many different contexts and combinations, inspiring deep pangs such as in the Roger/Jessica chapters or the tragedy of Franz Pokler; the horrors of the final sequence, the pedophilia, S&M fecal play, et al; or the gut-busting humor of Byron the Bulb, Roger's dinnertime outburst, Major Marvy's pie fight...and that's just a small sampling of what a ridiculous breadth of style, content, attitude, so on so forth, that Pynchon has to offer here. And this is with an amateur's appreciation of the material within. The prospect of diving back in this equipped with Weisenburger's companion is simultaneously thrilling and overwhelming. What a monster of a work.
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| # ? May 20, 2012 05:40 |
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Here's a question; I'm in the home stretch of Against the Day, and while I've kept most of the principals and important events fresh (enough) in my mind, it'd be nice to have a guide to look through afterwards. Wiki has an incomplete chapter listing that only covers the first section, and I haven't really found much else. All the better if anybody has one that doesn't spoil future events, as it'd be nice to check in on a couple of characters as I read. Also, with so many major historical events littered throughout the novel, I was wondering if anybody could help me flesh out a list for further historical research. This would include, off the top of my head: Chicago World's Fair, events leading up to World War I, the electricity wars between Tesla and Edison, union-busting and westward expansion in the U.S., the anarchist movement, the Tunguska event...anything else I'm missing? Of course, if there's any scholarly research already done here, that makes the whole thing a lot easier...
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| # ? Jun 13, 2012 20:28 |
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Also, good news for the e-readers here...
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| # ? Jun 13, 2012 23:57 |
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Whoo, about time! Although, I think this may be the first interest where e-books are going to be more expensive. Not complaining though.
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| # ? Jun 14, 2012 00:04 |
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Hurray! (Now please get back to work, TRP...)
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| # ? Jun 14, 2012 00:12 |
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Slackerish posted:Whoo, about time! Although, I think this may be the first interest where e-books are going to be more expensive. Not complaining though. Assuming you mean "instance", then no, publishers price ebooks as more expensive than paper versions all the time because they hate ebooks and are trying to make them less attractive.
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| # ? Jun 14, 2012 01:24 |
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maxnmona posted:Assuming you mean "instance", then no, publishers price ebooks as more expensive than paper versions all the time because they hate ebooks and are trying to make them less attractive. Whoops, yeah I did. And not that I'm questioning you but do you have any specific examples? I mean, Freedom is $10 on Kindle and $16 in store, and we all know how Franzen and co. think of e-books.
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| # ? Jun 14, 2012 13:55 |
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Slackerish posted:Whoops, yeah I did. And not that I'm questioning you but do you have any specific examples? I mean, Freedom is $10 on Kindle and $16 in store, and we all know how Franzen and co. think of e-books. There are tons of examples. It seems to happen more often than not. A few random searches found these in a couple minutes: http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-The-...k/dp/0316038377 Paperback: 7.99 Kindle: 8.99 http://www.amazon.com/At-Home-Short...e/dp/0767919394 Paperback: 10.85 Kindle: 11.99 http://www.amazon.com/The-Grapes-Wr...k/dp/0143039431 Paperback: 10.88 Kindle: 12.99 It has nothing to do with the author's attitude towards ebooks (I'm not sure Steinbeck was particularly for or against the Kindle). Prices are set by publishers and the authors have no say at all. Until the industry collapses soon, at which point writers will have complete control. I can't wait.
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| # ? Jun 14, 2012 14:14 |
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mdemone posted:Hurray! (Now please get back to work, TRP...) Is there any indication at all that he's working on anything? Any rumors of long-gestating projects, like there were with Mason & Dixon around the time Vineland was released? Can't be too greedy, given that it's only been six years since Against the Day, but still.
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| # ? Jun 14, 2012 15:38 |
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Criminal Minded posted:Is there any indication at all that he's working on anything? Any rumors of long-gestating projects, like there were with Mason & Dixon around the time Vineland was released? Can't be too greedy, given that it's only been six years since Against the Day, but still. His last book was Inherent Vice and was only 3 years ago
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| # ? Jun 14, 2012 15:45 |
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Oh, no, I know, I just meant in the sense that he might have something else up his sleeve in the meantime. Like how he released Vineland, then bam, seven years later he comes out with this 800-page Revolutionary War-era opus that he'd been working in some form for two decades.
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| # ? Jun 14, 2012 16:01 |
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maxnmona posted:There are tons of examples. It seems to happen more often than not. A few random searches found these in a couple minutes: Thanks for the info. I didn't know how any of that worked, I just read the books. However, I checked it out and Gravity's Rainbow is 12.99 on Kindle, while my paperback copy of the book (same cover, too) was 18 bucks.
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| # ? Jun 14, 2012 20:55 |
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After trying to read Gravity's Rainbow several times and never getting past the first 70 or so pages I've started reading Mason & Dixon. I've just finished the Capetown part and I mus say I'm enjoying it much more. It just feels so much easier to read.
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| # ? Jun 15, 2012 14:42 |
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Slackerish posted:Thanks for the info. I didn't know how any of that worked, I just read the books. ebooks often seem more expensive on Amazon because their prices (I think) are often fairly static, unlike books where the price will ping-pong all over the place. If you put things in your cart and save them for later Amazon will tell you when the price changes, and I've had books in my cart for years that have fluctuated by over a third of the price.
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| # ? Jun 17, 2012 01:20 |
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Well, I started The Crying of Lot 49 last night, and finished it this afternoon. It was really enjoyable. I'm still digesting it but I figured it would be the best way to introduce myself to Pynchon's writing. I have Gravity's Rainbow and Inherent Vice, but think maybe I should read Vineland, Slow Learner, or V. (or something else) before delving into Gravity's Rainbow. I loved the names in the Crying of Lot 49. Oedipa Maas, Mucho Maas, Pierce Inverarity, Manny di Presso (manic depression?), Dr. Hilarius, et cetera. Each time a new character was introduced I'd try to find something to read into about the name, but I'm not sure if there is anything there at all. Anyway, my first experience with Pynchon was great. I tried to find some more post-modern literature (DFW is my favorite), and I had to put House of Leaves down about 1/3 of the way through it because while it had some good parts, it is just too gimmicky, and good writing/storytelling does not need that level of gimmickry. What are some other works I should check out, non-Pynchon or DFW? I'm looking at Mitchell's Cloud Atlas Levin's The Instructions Lots of stuff by Don DeLillo
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| # ? Jun 19, 2012 23:01 |
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escape artist posted:What are some other works I should check out, non-Pynchon or DFW? William Gaddis' The Recognitions is really hot stuff. Can't recommend it enough, beautiful writing, characterization and plot, and gimmick-free. Bit of trivia: he shared Pynchon's secretive nature and some presumed that they were the same person early on in Pynchon's career.
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| # ? Jun 19, 2012 23:18 |
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escape artist posted:Well, I started The Crying of Lot 49 last night, and finished it this afternoon. In terms of Mitchell, read Ghostwritten instead of Cloud Atlas. It's a similar structure, but done much better. In any case, David Mitchell is very worth reading. Vacation by Deb Olin Unferth doesn't do anything structurally bizarre, but it does a lot of other interesting stuff with the writing and I would highly recommend it.
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| # ? Jun 20, 2012 01:38 |
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Halfway through Mason & Dixon. After I finished Against the Day, I couldn't resist, even though I intended to take a breather from Pynchon (and massive tomes in general). Anyway, my initial intimidation at the prose was so totally unfounded that I'm thrilled. Not that I ever expected it to be anything less than gorgeous, but it's incredibly coherent and easy to digest. How much of that is due to a familiarity with Pynchon's style is hard to say, but either way, I'm having a blast with it. Reading it far more leisurely than any of the other Pynchons I've tackled so far, it lends itself well to a measured pace. The momentum of the plot is far less urgent than Pynchon tends to be, and the episodic nature of events makes it really easy to pick up and put down on a whim. Plus I just love spending time in this little universe, it makes me sad to think that there's no other Pynchon in this style. Hell, is there any other anybody in this style? I'm guessing no.
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| # ? Jul 3, 2012 13:53 |
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mdemone posted:A dead thread requires a master's head. If there is a better one-sentence characterization in modern literature than the closing bit of this passage, I have yet to see it: From chapter 41, Mason & Dixon: quote:Somehow this fearlessly independent Girl had then gone on to marry the ill-famed, the drooling and sneering, multiply-bepoxed Lord Lepton, an insatiate Gambler who failed to pay his losses, forever a-twittering, even as he tumbled to ruin in one of the period's more extravagant Stock-Bubbles, summarily ejected from Clubs high and low, advised by friend and enemy that his only decent course would be to step off the Edge of the World.— Thinking they meant, "go to America,"...
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| # ? Jul 3, 2012 14:12 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 00:49 |
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I'm tempted to read Vineland soon...I started V and I like it so far but I think I'm going to shelve it in favor of reading a couple of smaller books I've been meaning to read.
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| # ? Jul 8, 2012 01:36 |
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