Score

Feel free to opine

Mason & Dixon is, for me, Pynchon's best.

Having read all but Inherent Vice, I'd say M&D and ATD are by far my favourites. There is no denying the glory of GR though, its something else!

Pig wrote: "Having read all but Inherent Vice, I'd say M&D and ATD are by far my favourites. There is no denying the glory of GR though, its something else!"

Agreed. I told my good friend that I think ATD is the best, but M&D is my favorite, and GR is the most important (obviously).

I haven't read M&D yet, but after GR, I'd put V. Splitting hairs, though. The ranking shouldn't be 1, 2, 3, ..., it should be 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, ...

I don't know. Maybe I should try M&D again. Never did find it very good. ATD and GR are two of the best ever.

For me, it's a toss-up between M&D and V. I'd have to give GR another go because I read it while on vacation and probably wasn't paying close enough attention.

I read M&D this summer; I have to update my list. M&D is up there with the best of his. I like them all; but M&D, GR, V--along with ATD--make up his top tier.

Against the Day is the best!

While I'm saying Gravity's Rainbow is #1 now, I think Mason & Dixon has the potential to surpass it. I'd have to finish it, which I'm about 300 pages away from doing.

Right now, it's Gravity's Rainbow -> the first 500 pages of Maxon & Dixon -> Crying of Lot 49 -> V. All of which are awesome, of course.

1. M&D easily - coherent and moving in a way that is very satisfying
2. Gravity's Rainbow - pure white knuckle excitement
3. ATD - so, so much wonderful information
4. Inherent Vice - a strange fun treat
5. Crying of Lot 49 - nice and tight
6. V - odd in a compelling way. like a crash you can't help staring at
7. Vineland. Because it's last does not mean it's not enjoyable. It simply lacks the fireworks of the others, and I imagine that may be its strength. Next on my re-read list

Now that I've read all of Pynchon's novels (I'm sitting on Slow Learner), here's how I'd rate them...

1. Gravity's Rainbow
2. Mason & Dixon
3. The Crying of Lot 49
4. Against the Day
5. V.
6. Bleeding Edge
7. Inherent Vice
8. Vineland

Phil wrote: "For me, it's a toss-up between M&D and V. I'd have to give GR another go because I read it while on vacation and probably wasn't paying close enough attention."

Phil:

I agree with you. One has to be paying close attention to GR. I was struggling with health issues at the time, and thus, while I found GR to be a very good book I was constantly going back, wasn't reading too fast at the time either.

Cam

Just started Bleeding Edge, and have yet to get to M&D (though am glad to hear it's well thought of!)

but so far:

1: Against the Day
2: Lot 49/Gravity's Rainbow (tied in a close 2nd)
3: Vineland (I found this a very different flavour of Pynchon, but quietly devastating in a way none of his others were. Got the feeling it was coming from somewhere a bit more personal?)
4: Inherent Vice
5: V
6: Slow Learner (mostly terrible)

DB wrote: "Feel free to opine"
My favourites in order are:
1/ Mason & Dixon <-- absolutely love the character development
2/ Gravity's Rainbow <-- zany and intelligent
3/ Against the Day <-- loved this one end-to-end
4/ Bleeding Edge <-- a 40something Jewish female protagonist - wow!
5/ V. <-- classic
6/ Crying of Lot 49 <-- great but i was frustrated by the ending
7/ Inherent Vice <-- made a great movie
8/ Vineland <-- not his best
9/ Slow Learner: Early Stories <-- kernels of genius here

I don't think it's a complete coincidence that my ranking is almost exactly by book-length (AtD inbound in 2019).

With Pynchon I usually am just enjoying the ride so much that, regardless of which novel, the longer it goes on the better.

Which makes AtD pretty appealing. Will report back once I've completed the journey.

I read GR first, back in 1973. Then I went back and read 49 and V. Since then, I have read his books as they were published.

1/2. (tie) Mason & Dixon, Gravity's Rainbow
3. V.
4. Crying of Lot 49
5. Inherent Vice
6. Vineland
7/8. (tie) Bleeding Edge, Against the Day

Although GR has the most important message, M&D is definitely more life affirming. I especially like the historical sections of V. Having lived most of my life in California, the next three resonate the most, with their recognizable SoCal and NorCal characters. The last two I found to be slogs. ATD seems like an incoherent mess of leftovers, and BE is not exactly memorable or meaningful.