Reviews
My first Pynchon. I enjoyed it, I'd probably go for 3.5 stars if I could. I'd say its length is perfect for his style, assuming this is representative of it. Honestly, I think any sort of "deeper" meaning got lost on me if there even was one, here. Maybe that's just postmodernism, for ya. I mostly found the book humorous, a fireworks show of eclectic characters with comical names living ridiculous lives in an emerging, not-yet-souled city. Characters going on unprompted political tangents, histories that pose little or maybe no relevance to anything. Ultimately, a lot of noise, yet I found it enjoyable. I thought Pynchon did a good job of balancing absurdity and tensity. Ramblings that begin to feel like fever dreams are soon scary as Oedipa may indeed be stumbling into something grand. A fun book, maybe something like "razor sharp pulp" would describe it. I look forward to reading more Pynchon in the future.
Don't you hate it when you can't tell whether or not your dead ex is just fucking with your head from beyond the grave?
Some of the best sentences and paragraphs, but for me less than the sum of its parts. Maybe GR is more my tastes.
This is the book I've waited my whole life to read. I read it in one day and will probably read it again tomorrow (and then probably once a year for the rest of my life). How did Pynchon get so much into such a short book? Dense, hilarious, exciting, crowded, surreal. This is the work of a master.
I decided to reread Lot 49 on a whim. Pynchon is certainly right that it is no good compared to V. and Gravity's Rainbow, but who cares? It's just as much fun as I remembered.
i have no idea what i just read but in a good way
After reading Inherent Vice a few months ago I felt the need to return to Pynchon. While still not quite ready to dive into Gravity's Rainbow, I was interested in checking out one of Pynchon's earlier works. As many people have said before, The Crying of Lot 49, while short, is far from simple. I don't think I've read a book that covers so much in so few pages. Mystery and entrigue are the focus of this book and are displayed through a vase background of W.A.S.T.E, an alternative postal delivery service that our main character, Oedipa Maas, comes across while being the executrix of a will. The plot is a typical Pynchon plot, one that moves from scene to scene and character to character without much reason as to why. This leads to a very taxing reading experience as you are constantly being dragged in a direction you aren't necessarily ready to go. For some this could be a huge turnoff but the way that Pynchon writes allows for many to be enthralled in the worlds he creates. The Crying of Lot 49 really feels like a bridge between the eras of the Beat Generation and the post psychedelic 70's. It offers a lot of great insight into how the world was in the mid 60's through the lense of Pynchon. While I enjoyed the characters in Inherent Vice more I do think that Pynchon offers a more authentic and interesting take on creating a narrative and world in The Crying of Lot 49. While I enjoyed The Crying of Lot 49 a lot I can't say I wasn't fully enraptured from start to finish. There were definitely moments I wasn't sold on the mystery or intrigue and wanted the plot to move further. I can't say I got everything on this first read (as if anyone really does). After reading the first chapter I reread it a few days later to a greater comprehension. This book definitely would benefit from multiple readings and due to it's length I can easily see myself going back to it. There were moments while reading that I felt completely lost, completely unable to figure out what what was going on or why it was. While I'm sure some of these moments I'll never understand I do think a revisit would benefit my overall enjoyment of this book; as I did like the mystery of this secret organization. The more I read of Pynchon the more I think Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson of the Illuminatus Trilogy! were influenced by Pynchon, even if they don't want to admit it. For as many moments that I felt lost I also experienced moments of clarity where I finally clicked with the flow of the writing and everything seemed to start to make sense. These moments are the ones that have me hooked on reading Pynchon and excited to explore his other works. Gravity's Rainbow will be next.
Wonderful. I was wary of Pynchon for a long time. A reputation for denseness or difficulty, obscurity, but this was like a burst of light. OK, I couldn't say what the story was about in every detail, but it enjoyable in it's self and also for the gap it filled in my literary education. Drugged up, psychotic conspiracy theories have never been written so well.
I have tried to get through this book three times now, and doubt I will ever succeed.
