Max’s Comments (group member since Nov 15, 2015)

Max’s comments from the "Against the Day", Thomas Pynchon - 2015 / 2016 group.

Abebooks is another great resource, although often these are the same exact sellers/copies as on Amazon Marketplace. But hey $4 or $5 USD ain't bad.
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Searc...

Haha!

I usually find Pynchon to be more difficult than DFW. I think mostly because with DFW you end up looking up a bunch of word definitions, but with Pynchon it's more like entire scientific Wikipedia pages. Personally, sometimes I think it's awesome but other times I'm just like "ugh can't I just read the damn book?"

I usually find Pynchon to be more difficult than DFW. I think mostly because with DFW you end up looking up a bunch of word definitions, but with Pynchon it's more like entire scientific Wikipedia pages. Personally, sometimes I think it's awesome but other times I'm just like "ugh can't I just read the damn book?"

I'm on page 374. Mind is starting to wander. I've got some time off coming up- hopefully I'll be able to blaze through a lot more then.

I'd say if you like AtD you'll love GR.

Sounds about right, Dave. Pynchon sure can change plotlines/voices/subjects at the drop of a hat, can't he? Often in mid-paragraph.

Overall comprehension - whatever that even means for a Pynchon novel

My best Pynchon advice is to enjoy the weird detours and rabbit holes he sends you down, but don't get bogged down in the details too much. Enjoy the kaleidoscopic freakiness but keep moving. No single reference or character name is the holy key that will unlock grand understanding of the book. I personally will check the wiki notes and Wikipedia episode summaries occasionally but, for me, trying to catch every single thing as it rushes past is a sure fire way to suck out the fun and hamper overall comprehension.

That image is a bit G.I. Joe, at least compared to how I was picturing them. I see them a bit more like Lyle Lanley: http://i.imgur.com/AE5KDwP.png

This is the last of his books I haven't read and so far so good. I'd say its closest relative would be Mason & Dixon in that it tends to be a crazy combination of zany madcap comedy and often dark paranoid alt-history. So in other words it's very... Pynchon-y!

[I should note, however, that I'm only on page 175. Pynchon could easily shift gears completely at any time.]

Renato wrote: "I'll be starting this tomorrow. Anyone else starting this week? :-)"

I started a week or two ago. I was between books and had to pounce while still motivated!