Ohenrypacey’s
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(group member since Sep 16, 2011)
Ohenrypacey’s
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from the Thomas Pynchon group.
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The Recognitions is Gaddis, not Gass. Similarly dense, however, so your point is very valid.
I had been aware of TP for many years before being stuck waiting for a friend at his apartment, where I picked up his copy of Vineland and began reading. This was a quirky tradition I had begun years before when I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in one sitting waiting in the same manner.30 or so pages was enough to convince me to pick up my own copy. I read CoL49 next, followed by GR, and by then AtD was published so I grabbed it right away. I filled in the rest of the canon over the years, re-reading both Vineland and Lot49. I'm not much of a re-reader, but i will likely read M&D, AtD and GR again. V is my least favorite.
I was sure only Pierre Menard could have re-written TR.
Randy wrote: "I thought this was better than IV but that may be because i've spent some time in nyc but not LA. As usual the writing is amazing and a pleasure to read but as with Vineland and IV it all feels a ..."Just like the trajectory of a V2 rocket...
I bought the book day 1. I'm a medium speed reader, but I have to admit that it took me quite some time to get into the rhythm of this one, it being dialogue heavy and all. I also didn't have a lot of dedicated reading time, so I went at it a chapter at a time for a while.I think Pynch really hits his stride around chapter 19, which is pretty deep into a book IMO, but once it gets rolling it's pretty damn entertaining.
There are some standard Pynchon themes, and Maxine is a stock Pynchon protagonist, as well as the tidy V shaped narrative that begins and ends at the same place on the horizontal axis.
*possible spoiler?*
My take on the story is that it takes place entirely within cyberspace, that the characters are 'Second-Life' like and simply a manifestation of one or many users interacting. I came to this based on the way Maxine behaves in Deep Archer and after the revelation that lives can be resurrected deeper in the cyber world. Just my take, since we'll never know what Pynchon intended.
I might read it again to see if it holds up.
yeah one chapter down, trying not to rush
Yeah, I'm stretching out the book I'm reading right now so i finish on the 16th. I know damn well what i'll be reading the next day. I favor the nice, large paperback versions of books, but don't mind that the hardbound firsts of M&D, AtD and IV stand out on my shelf.
Just got my copy...thanks for the info
the world is so small and circular. I am currently watching Vikings on the history channel, and they use the sunstone in the very first episode, and now this.
we should talk about "The Bleeding Edge" in the rumors thread (though it's not clear that that's what it's about), if that's cool.M&D is a difficult place to begin with Pynchon, but, for instance, I have a friend who has read all of the Patrick O'brian novels, and loves them especially for the period language. For Him, I think M&D is the perfect place to start.
I started with Vineland and love it, and also recommend it as a gateway.
Pynch does such a good job of staying 'in character' the whole way through this book. it's a real treat once the rhythm of the language sinks in
I would submit that it's easier to talk about books that i am actually reading or have just finished. I have read the Pynchon canon. V was the last book i finished and that was last year. I am not a big re-reader, but am considering GR again since it's been years.As for AtD...I loved it when i read it because of its scope and tautness, and because i had read enough Pynchon before to expect dead ends and looniness interspersed with razor sharp prose.
it is definitely among his best
Yes AtD is awesome, but Phillip, you really must read Vineland. perhaps because it was the first Pynchon that I read, it has long remained my favorite (and i recently finished the canon by finally reading V.), but I think it's more because it takes place in a world that i can more directly relate to and therefore better understand Pynchon's awesome ability to warp reality and yet incorporate subtle details of the everyday world. Becky -- it took me two tries to get through the Island of the Day Before, but that book is truly mindbending in ways that Baudolino and his subsequent works have not been able to match. And don't give up on Eco's semiotics stuff, Kant and the Platypus is the only book i've read that comes close to Godel Escher Bach for completely altering my understanding of the human mind. save the first chapter to read at the end and it is an easier book to get through.
