Thomas Pynchon

[ProjectX2]

I am not going to be able to contribute much to this thread as I haven't read any of his stuff but I am looking to change that. As far as I'm aware, only Zombipanda and Entropy have read his books, but this thread might bring out the freaks.

Where do I start? What book should I read first? What book should read second? What book shouldn't I read? Will I understand his writing? Is he insane? Give me information.

 

[J. Agamemnon]

I am not going to be able to contribute much to this thread as I haven't read any of his stuff but I am looking to change that. As far as I'm aware, only Zombipanda and Entropy have read his books, but this thread might bring out the freaks.

Where do I start? What book should I read first? What book should read second? What book shouldn't I read? Will I understand his writing? Is he insane? Give me information.

Mason/Dixon is a good book. Talking ducks. sort of. Just read it.

 

[Friday]

ZombiePanda keeps telling me I need to read some of his stuff. I keep meaning to get to it.

 

[Zombipanda]

I'd start with Vineland. The difficulty with Pynchon is that he picks an era, and then he writes like the book is from that era, meaning it's just chock full of miscellany from all over the stretch of time - everything from pop culture to world news.

Vineland is a perfect place to start because it's relatively close to the present in terms of time frame (the eighties) and much shorter than his other stuff.

 

[moonmaster]

I tried to read about some of his books on Wikipedia.

My brain hurts.

 

[ProjectX2]

Well, I got V reserved for me at the library since it was checked in.

 

[Entropy]

Panda and I have had this debate before, but I recommend starting with The Crying of Lot 49. It's short and (for Pynchon) fairly straight forward, touching on a lot of his perennial themes and giving you a good taste to how he writes, but keeping itself small, both in the amount of concepts it explores (global conspiracy (as always), the exchange of information, entropy and Maxwell's Demon, subcultures, etc.) and the geographic area it takes place in.

If I were to lay out my recommended reading order, it would probably be

The Crying of Lot 49
Vineland
Slow Learner
V.
Against the Day
Gravity's Rainbow
Mason & Dixon

Crying I just explained. Panda did a good job of explaining Vineland. Slow Learner is a collection of his early published short stories, and it's nice in that it not only shows you how he started writing, but he has commentary on each of the stories that give you some great insights into the man's mind. If you've made it through those three and are still interested you're now going to have to get into some heavy stuff so go for V. It was written around the same time as the stories in Slow Learner, so the commentaries he made on the short stories can be applied to the novel.

I'm not even going to talk about the last three. You've got to get there first.

 

[ultimatedjf]

I love when Pynchon guest stars on The Simpsons and makes fun of his reclusive image.

 

[Friday]

Panda and I have had this debate before, but I recommend starting with The Crying of Lot 49. It's short and (for Pynchon) fairly straight forward, touching on a lot of his perennial themes and giving you a good taste to how he writes, but keeping itself small, both in the amount of concepts it explores (global conspiracy (as always), the exchange of information, entropy and Maxwell's Demon, subcultures, etc.) and the geographic area it takes place in.

If I were to lay out my recommended reading order, it would probably be

The Crying of Lot 49
Vineland
Slow Learner
V.
Against the Day
Gravity's Rainbow
Mason & Dixon

Crying I just explained. Panda did a good job of explaining Vineland. Slow Learner is a collection of his early published short stories, and it's nice in that it not only shows you how he started writing, but he has commentary on each of the stories that give you some great insights into the man's mind. If you've made it through those three and are still interested you're now going to have to get into some heavy stuff so go for V. It was written around the same time as the stories in Slow Learner, so the commentaries he made on the short stories can be applied to the novel.

I'm not even going to talk about the last three. You've got to get there first.

I'm going to have to get Slow Learner then. I'm a big Short Story fan.

 

[ProjectX2]

My library doesn't have Slow Learner. I'll try and get through V. and then see what I can get after that.

 

[Entropy]

I'm going to have to get Slow Learner then. I'm a big Short Story fan.

I'll tell you, the stories aren't that good. There are only six stories in the collection (much of the books bulk is taken up by his commentary on these stories) and only two I would say are truly worth reading ("Entropy" and "The Secret Intergration" if I remember right, it's been about six years since I read the book) on their own. The rest are only interesting in that they a). provide a terrific view into his origins and growth as a writer, and b). give him a plausible springboard to share other details of his life in relation to these stories. In fact, Slow Learner functions and is read much better as a biography/essay collection than a short story collection.

Just my opinion :wink:.

 

[ProjectX2]

This morning, Carolyn Kellogg reported on web rumors about a new novel by Thomas Pynchon. Now, Penguin Press, Pynchon's publisher, confirms that there is, indeed, a new novel by the reclusive author, to be published in August 2009.

As for the other rumored details -- that it's a noir novel of about 400 pages, set in the world of 1960s psychedelia -- Penguin is remaining silent ... for the time being.

 

[Friday]

This morning, Carolyn Kellogg reported on web rumors about a new novel by Thomas Pynchon. Now, Penguin Press, Pynchon's publisher, confirms that there is, indeed, a new novel by the reclusive author, to be published in August 2009.

As for the other rumored details -- that it's a noir novel of about 400 pages, set in the world of 1960s psychedelia -- Penguin is remaining silent ... for the time being.

...so you're telling me that I have until August 2009 to catch up on everything he's written so that I can truly enjoy this book?

****ing done.

 

[Dr.Strangefate]

Been meaning to read some Pynchon for a while... Although after working through Ulysses, I doubt even Gravity's Rainbow could keep me down.

 

[ProjectX2]

A synopsis and brief extract from the novel, along with the novel's title, Inherent Vice, and dust jacket image, were printed in Penguin Press' Summer 2009 catalogue (Penguin 2008). The new book is 416 pages in length and is described in the catalogue as "part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon — private eye Doc Sportello comes, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era as free love slips away and paranoia creeps in with the L.A. fog".

The synopsis printed in the Penguin catalogue refers to the author "working in an unaccustomed genre" and promises a "cast of characters [which] includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, a tenor sax player working undercover, an ex-con with a swastika tattoo and a fondness for Ethel Merman, and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentists."

Sounds absolutely nuts.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

What type of style is this guy? Would I enjoy his writing Project, you usually are a good compass on that.

 

[ProjectX2]

What type of style is this guy? Would I enjoy his writing Project, you usually are a good compass on that.

I have barely read anything of his. What little I did read was complex and difficult.

 

[Zombipanda]

What type of style is this guy? Would I enjoy his writing Project, you usually are a good compass on that.

It's meandering, culturally encyclopedic. His style frequently wanders off into tangents, and is stuffed full of random cultural references to the era he's writing about. And characters sing a lot. It's also got a fairly steep learning curve. Or at least it did for me.