/Pynchon/

Le juvenile xd

Who is your favorite Pynchon character and why is it Roger Mexico?

>>7710368
Wallace is a meme author. literally genre tier fiction. no discernible talent.

>>7710399
what

le wacky pomo man

>>7710396
I sexually identify as Doc Sportello.

>>7710393
>>7710442
healthy opinion you got there

>>7710444
Mr. Moral fucking turpitude himself?

>>7710368
i love me some pinecone!

Pynchon and Vonnegut are two mosy overrated hacks in history

>>7710449
Those aren't the same opinion. Know yer mem

>>7710462
Then mosey on out of this thread.

>>7710444
>tfw beta loser
>tfw i will never go on wild sexual odysseys like doc, profane, or slothrop
how do i into the pynchon lifestyle?

>>7710368
Just started Mason & Dixon, and, honestly, I was surprised by how much better is than all of his other work; in fact, if any of his works make him comparable to his contemporaries--Gaddis, Gass, and Hawkes being some of the big ones--it is Mason & Dixon.

>>7710468
Clever.

>>7710472
Sportello is not a loser. He gets her back.

>>7710501
thats my point, im wholly unlike these characters. doc could charm the pants off anyone, even bigfoot bjornsen. how am i supposed to yo yo up and down new york city when im too anxious to take the subway?

I remember there was this book I read a long time ago about the CIA and aliens and shit and it had a bunch of characters and was long as shit. But I don't remember if Pynchon wrote it or not. Did he write something like this or am I thinking of someone else's work?

>>7710516
You are going to have to be more specific. Pynchon never wrote of aliens though.

I just finished V last week
I think I' going to need a re-read
so the priest in Malta was the rat priest in the sewers of New York?
and V. was some kind of cyborg?
pretty fun read until THAT chapter
i used to wonder if the jews were exaggerating, but no the Germans were serious about their lebensraum

>>7710538
Then it wasn't Pynchon?

I remember they implied that there was something weird going on and that God may have had a hand in all of it (all the characters are connected somehow). Aliens or not, that just comes to mind for some reason.

>>7710509
I've yo yoed before I even knew that's what it was called. It's not fun and it's not a place you want to be.

>>7710482
Gassposter is recognizable by his use of "--"

>>7710848
M dash is patrician af anon, just like gassposter

>>7710848
He's recognizable by his use of "Gaddis, Gass, and Hawkes" in the same post because no one else here talks about them all at once, if at all.

>>7710848
I use -- and I'm not Gassporter.

>>7710437
newfag detected

>>7710540
V. is some sort of feminine spirit that pops up in areas of spiritual devastation

>>7710911
That's the original V. the second one was Victoria Wren after developing fetishes for espionage, decadence, and the inanimate.

>>7710482
I'm most of the way through it (less than 300 pages left) and it's good, but I don't understand why people say it's "better-than-everything-else-he-wrote" good, which it isn't to me.

>>7710933
You never realize the magnitude of a Pynchon novel until it's over. Check back in when you're finished.

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If you had the chance to sit down with Pynchon, what would you ask him?

>>7711213
what happened when you were in the military?

>>7711213
'Are you telling me you wrote all them fancy words but you never did the Kenosha kid?'

>>7711213
I'd ask him to describe in detail what happened in between Gravity's Rainbow and Vineland.

>>7711213
probably light up a doobie and ask if he wants to watch shrek

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I have not read any pynchon but have been planning to very soon. Do I need to read anything before hand? Or is this guide I found good enough? Can I really just jump into TCLO49 or V?

Thanks for help!

>>7711260
kek
>>7711265
probably a bunch of drugs tbhf. also i think i read somewhere that he had been working on mason&dixon and against the day since before GR was published, so he probably did a lot of that writing then.

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YWN meet a beautiful dancer just before saving her from a trained octopus.

>>7710368
dude weed lmao

>>7711289
No, you don't need to read anything beforehand. Lot 49 and V are both great places to start, though you could jump right into Gravity's Rainbow if you really wanted. Don't get too bogged down in the prose, especially on your first read through. It can be difficult, but it is 100% worth it.

>>7711289
V. is the best starting point, but you can read lot 49 first if you want to dip your toes in his writing since it's pretty short.

>>7710396
>best
seaman 'pig' bodine
franz pokler
tyrone slothrop
charles mason
byron the bulb
the mechanical duck
SHROUD
oedipa maas

>great
ned pointsman
victoria wren
benny profane
rachel owlglass
roger mexico
jeremiah dixon
gerhardt von goll
weissman blicero

>v good
herbert stencil
leni pokler
kit traverse
sauncho smilax
mike fallopian
paola majistral
fausto majistral
pierce inverarity
oberest enzian
bigfoot bjornson
katje borjesius
maskelyne
rebekah
lazlo jamf
LED
ploy

>good
kurt mondaugen
rev. cherrycoke
yashmeen halfcourt
frank traverse
webb traverse
fina
angel
jesus arrabal
jessica swanlake
geli tripping
pugnax
mucho maas
zoyd wheeler
mcclintic sphere
tchitcherine
saure bummer
blodgett waxwing
pirate prentice
brigadier pudding
tantivy mucker maffick
doc sportello

>ok
frenesi
darby suckling
lindsay noseworht
miles blundwell
chick counterfly
randolph st. cosmo
major duane marvy
clsyton bloody chiclitz
hector zuninga
teddy bloat
metzger
carroll eventyr

>weak
ludwig
greta erdmann
DL
zhang
brock vond
prarie
scarsdale vibe
isaiah
maxine tarnow
adrian prussia
sir marcus scammony

>>7710482
Agreed. It's our favorite work of his as well.

>>7711289
just dive straight into gravitys rainbow

any bible luvers want to offer any insight into all of the judeo-Christian memery that is in V. ?

The best Pynchon moment is in V., when Slothrop is hunting alligators in the sewers and he thinks about the priest who taught religion to rats.

>>7712589
*Profane

>>7710516
Might have been Vineland.

>>7710848
I slip and use "--" more often than everybody else here combined. Not Gassposter either, usually.

>>7712608
Vineland doesn't have aliens, and it's not that long.

>>7711490
>byron the bulb
Now seriously, what the fuck was all that about the light bulbs? I didn't get the point of that story.

>>7710848
Anti-Gassposter is recognizeable for using the term "Gassposter"

>>7710368
I think I'm going to read The Crying of Lot 49 now because I just finished Watchmen and I'm craving conspiracy-based fiction. I read GR before and enjoyed it, albeit also struggled with it, and this'll be my second foray into Pynchon.

How did you guys, in general, find TCOL49? We all know it's short, but wouldn't that be somewhat misleading since it's Pynchon? I suspect I should take notes.

>>7710482
I hear Mason & Dixon, despite its length, is also a very approachable and accessible read. How true is that in your experience so far?

>>7712656
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel

>>7711253
This, plus what happened when he was at Cornell and Boeing. All his classic early work appears to stem from those experiences and it would be fascinating to know just what set Pynchon down the road he took.

>>7712684
Thanks. I knew it had to be some interesting reference.

>>7712677
It's true for the most part but it does have some of Pinecone's usual metaphysical reveries, references to obscure bits of information, and due to the way it's written, archaic words and grammar.

>>7712689
there's a folk music biography book where pynchon actually talks quite a bit about himself and richard farina during their time at cornell and immediately after

>>7712641
Vineland has aliens, but it's not a large part of the story.

>>7712911
Which one? I'd love to read it. Sounds like his introduction to Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me by Farina.

>>7712672
Not true at all. I coined the term Gassposter after praising him for introducing me to one of my favorite books.

>>7713178
I'm glad you liked it. If only everyone could see how great it is.

So who else had fevee dreams during their reading of Gravity's Rainbow? Was it just me?

>>7713428
happened to me with V. (first Pynchon I read, blew me away)

>>7713094
I read Vineland less than a year ago, when were there aliens?

>>7711289
whats the deal with the upside down badger in the corner?

>>7713477
When Zoyd is on the plane playing in the band and they get hitched by aliens and he meets Takeshi.

I'm sure there were other alien references in it...

>>7712673
just stick to comics, kid

>>7710368
juvenile hack

>>7713612
Nice meme

>>7713614
>he fell for the pynchon meme

>>7713612
t. 19 year old

I loved Gravity's Rainbow. I lost interest in V. halfway through. TCOL 49 was forgettable and bad. I only finished Inherent Vice because I am a big PTA fan, but I thought the movie was boring and the book wasn't funny. I started Mason & Dixon and Against the Day, had a false start with both because I ended up moving to another country and didn't have time for either but they were both, from how far I got, really colorful, funny, great novels, but not Gravity's Rainbow (definitely plan on finishing both eventually).

>>7713633

Nice blogpost, reddit! Upvoted! XD

>>7713497
It's from The Crying of Lot 49.

>>7713624
not everyone on 4chins is above age 35 like yourself, anon

Can anyone think of any crossover characters besides Bodine and Mondaugen?

Do all the novels take place in the same universe?

>>7713617
>he fell for the Pynchon is bad meme
I can do this all day. My time has no value.

>>7713741
I think "bloody" Chiclitz appears in both V. and GR (or at least is mentioned there).

>>7713747
dude weed lmao
he fell in a toilet xd

>>7713741
Sometimes it's things or concepts that are repeated too.

YoYodyne (the defense contractor) appears in V. and lot 49.

Wicks Cherrycoke from M&D is probably a relative of the Cherrycoke from GR (he was a really minor character in Psi section of the white visitation).

The Ghastly Fop from M&D is basically a Thanatoid (Vineland).

Mucho Maas from Lot 49 appears in Vineland as an acquaintance of Zoyd's.

Zoyd's band "The Corvairs", is mentioned in Inherent Vice.

Maxwell's Demon is mentioned both in Lot 49 and GR.

Lothar Von Trotha comes up in V. and GR.

>>7713822
Pig Bodine gets mentioned in a number of novels too. And Porpentine is a recurring character in some of Pynchon's earlier short stories.

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>>7713822
>>7713741
Blooooooooooooooooody Chiclitz

Chick titz clit lix?

>>7713873
Is he? I remember Porpentine was in Under the Rose, but I didn't count that because that one chapter of V. he's in is a re-written version of that story (same setting, characters, names, events, everything, just expanded and adapted to fit V.)

Speaking of the stories, I know Pig Bodine is a character in Low Lands, and there's a kid named Hogan Slothrop in The Secret Integration.

>>7712656
It's a parody of revolutionary thinking.

>>7712656
then u a stupid mother fucker some ppl too dumb for reading stick to tv faggot

>>7713878
God models are annoying. Why is someone teasing me or acting disgusted supposed to be appealing?

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>>7714165
Stop being such a pussy.

>>7713663
Because Reddit reads Gravity's Rainbow, shit-for-brains? I don't have to love everything the guy's written, I'm entitled to not like V. despite the echo-chamber surrounding it. Most of the people I know who love V. couldn't handle GR. It's a much better book, by the way. If you need help hmu, faggoo

>>7711275
10/10

>>7711275

kek

>>7712673
This guy here: TCOL49 is pretty easy. I'm already halfway through it and I'm partially surprised. Pretty good so far, too. It's very engaging.

>>7713606
I don't read comics or graphic novels, usually, but a very close friend recommended Watchmen to me and I was curious. Who am I to dismiss something without giving it a fair chance by reading it?

>>7716330
How does the difficulty of Lot 49 compare to V? I wanna read the Pinecone but dunno where to start.

>>7716353
Lot 49 is the easiest one. Start with V. though.

>>7716353
I haven't yet read V. Sorry, anon. TCOL49 is definitely very accessible though, as long as you don't try to speed-read it. Take your time with it because it still has Pynchon's usual dense prose, but he takes a more casual approach rather than relying on his abstract meanderings. You'll manage fine with it, man.

>>7716403
I read 100 Years of Solitude, which is a weird mix of fluid and dense, so I should be able to get in the Pynchon saddle. Thanks.

>>7715497

I didn't like V that much either compared to his other works

>>7715497
Wehhhh it's all about me!!!!!

I like dis
I like dat
ooga booga
where da white wymmyn at?

So reddit

>>7712589
Just read that part!

What's the deal with the mention of Knights modern seamanship? He states its reason for being there and where it went are not know. Is this something to keep in mind for the book?

official V. character rankings:

Mondaugen, Kurt
Girgis
Dahoud
Yusef
Ploy
Mantissa, Signor Rafael
Zeitsuss, Mr.
Profane, Benny
Godolphin, Hugh, Captain FRGS
Sarah
MacBurgess, Ralph / Rowley-Bugge, Maxwell
Stencil, Herbert
Fairing, Father Linus, S.J.
Bodine, Pig
Porpentine
Foppl
Meroving, Vera
Mendoza, Angel
Eigenvalue, Dudley, DDS
Da Conho
Wedge, Duke
Goodfellow, Mr.
Owlglass, Rachel
Godolphin, Evan
Mendoza, Josefina ("Fina")
Bongo-Shaftsbury, Eric
Vogelsang, Hedwig
Chiclitz, Clayton "Bloody"
Maijstral, Paola
Weissmann, Lieutenant
Sphere, McClintic
Aïeul, P.
Hod, Robert ("Pappy")
Lowenstein, Margravine di Chiave
Stencil, Sidney
Wren, Victoria
Wren, Mildred
Wren, Sir Alastair

>>7718288
you didn't even rank the best character, Roony Winsome

>>7710472
I would assume doing a bunch of drugs is a prerequisite.

Started V today. Laughed my ass off a few pages in when he made the pun about Profane having "one foot in the Grave."

>>7718436
hes one below evan and mafia is one above

he's a non-fiction author

>>7711289
I loved Vineland, I think it was better than a lot of his other books. Certainly it's better than inherent vice and bleeding edge, at least

>>7713497
You mean that furry animal, or DFW?

>>7710848
I too slip and use "--" and am not nor have I been Gass poster. That being said -- Pynchon ain't shit when compared to Gass and if you don't think so you're an ass.!

I like to write. Every day if I can - but there are two writers that if I even consider the complexity and beauty of their work, I am immediately discouraged and consumed with awe. Pynchon (obviously) and Shakespeare.

They're so good that they just leave me with that post-coital sentiment of "why even bother?"

>>7713531
Those weren't necessarily aliens though
the flight attendant describes them as ufo's that are slightly too familiar to be deemed "unidentified", or something like that. I also concluded that they were aliens, but that might have been a suggestion that they weren't

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>>7710472
>ywn spend days and days having sexual escapades with mysterious ladies, using tons of drugs and meeting wacky people like Pinecone's characters

>>7720876
Gassposter doesn't uses spaces (lorem -- ipsum), instead the dash being connected to its adjacent characters (lorem--ipsum).

So why is Crying Lot rated so low, is it because it is a very short book? I enjoyed it a lot surprisingly, found all the historical stuff about the German postal system pretty interesting and I get an Eyes Wide Shut vibe from the book, I feel like it's one of Pynchon's novels that are pretty underrated..

>>7710472
hey anon,
you should into the travellers lifestyle. i am the kind of druggy that accepts drugs from other people but doesn't seek them out, and you always meet really vibrant characters and strange people. I also like Pynchon alot. I heard he travelled a bit too when he was younger and I think that's why his books are so genuinely bizarre, unlike alot of late 20th century avant-garde writers where it seems forced.

I really like Eastern Europe. It's cheap as hell with beautiful women and you meet people from all over the world.

>>7720990
It's not rated low (it's like a 6' person, which almost everywhere is considered tall), it's just that his other works feel as tall as Enkidu (16' tall)

>>7720990
Who praises it lowly??

I've only ever seen high praise for it - on par occasionally with GR - though occasionally topped by Mason. Crying of Lot 49 is an incredible book.

>>7721222
What's so incredible about it?

>>7721227
A lot of people praise the book on its themes that live on tangents to the main story. The conspiracies, the paranoia, the drugs, etc etc. They see the work as a testament to theme rather than a development of character to things that happen around them.

I thought it had one of the most innovative narrations ever. Most of what I had read up until Pynchon had been really easy to read. I'd spend about a minute at most on a page, because the syntax was in a language that I could just tear information out of.

Pynchon decided in this work that he was mainly, well, I say mainly but... No, mainly works. Mainly Pynchon decides to write in dialect, and what that means is of course strange commas and question marks and exclamation marks, and then I mean that takes a while to get used to you know. And it's not just the tempo or the rhythm of Pynchon that you've got to get used to but, the dense storyline, the compact pieces of information that go whoosh in and out of your head.

Oh and the end of chapter 2 made me laugh so hard that I couldn't not love it.

>>7721222
>Who praises it lowly??
Pynchon himself actually. He called it a short story with a glandular problem, or something to that effect.

Pynchon is the greatest living writer

>>7722223

He better not die this year.

I want him to write another Mason & Dixon, V.,Against the Day or Gravity's Rainbow.

>>7722236
Don't forget the rule of threes...
Do you think he has another tome in him? Bleeding Edge makes me doubt it.

>>7722223
I think you meant to say Gass.

>Pynchon

He'll be fine

>>7720990
>>7721222
i feel like it is just not that well put together, pynchon has to literally type out that oedipa may or may not have imagined everything because its not built up well enough in the actual story. the themes are too heavy handed as well.

compare oedipa to stencil, the implication that stencil is imagining / making up the stuff about Vs in his stories is implied and can be read but Pynchon never goes 'yeah also stencil might be making this up'. the stuff about animate / inanimate is also a beautifully well handled theme that is done better than any of this shit about communication in col49. only time he does something high tier with his themes in CoL49 is the maxwell's demon bit.

ALSO i think his prose was very weak in places in col49

>>7711289
What's wrong with the penguin classics version of gravity's rainbow?

>>7722969
Apparently there is a line of text missing on some random page. This is the only copy I've ever read and I didn't notice any problems, but that's enough for /lit/ to swear off that edition forever. Personally I think it has the nicest cover art of them all.

>>7722969
The 'pens' problemo has been corrected, man. I just wish they would fix the racial stuff, it's rather problematic. It should all be redacted. Or they could make Enzian white. Just whitewash everything.

>>7711490
Underrated post