Thomas Pynchon - V.

IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
I just read this book and I want to know what it was about. When I read his stuff I enjoy individual passages (though not all of them), some bits make me laugh, some bits amaze me with their cleverness, some fascinate me etc but on every page I feel that I am missing loads of references and on finishing it I somehow feel that the overall point or theme or whatever has escaped my grasp.
I guess I would really like it if someone could give me some insight in to what I might have missed or maybe just tell me what they see in it or whatever. I do get pleasure from his books and I would like to give Gravity's Rainbow a go next but I feel that I ought to equip myself to get more from what is there before I embark on it.
Any tips anyone?
 
jenks

jenks

thread death
I haven't read V but have read all of his other stuff. He can be head spinningly clever and he can seem to be gesturing to a whole heap of arcane knowledge that i don't have the key to. However, he is also a really funny story teller and whilst he has longuers - bits of both Mason and Dixon and Gravity's rainbow do drag - i think he is still always well worth the effort.

Vineland is very approachable - essentially a story of left wing dissent in America. As is Slow Learner - his collection of short stories.

I think, though that the Crying of Lot 49 may be his best work as it seems to distill all of his preoccupations into an incredibly tight story. i remember the first time i read it i was entirely spooked and convinced that the world was being run by a secret cabal.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
I've read Vineland and The Crying of Lot 49, both of which I greatly enjoyed. In fact the bit where they see that play in "The Crying" had me quite literally in tears of laughter, it even brings a smile to my face when I think about it now. That book seems to be easier (if just because it's shorter) than his others but I enjoyed Vineland a lot as well.
I guess that you hit the nail on the head with this bit

"he can seem to be gesturing to a whole heap of arcane knowledge that i don't have the key to"
Click to expand...
And I suppose I'm lazily asking for that key before I embark on Gravity's Rainbow so that I can the very most out of it.
 
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