Hey, it's actually pretty good, thanks for making me fall

Anybody read The Crying of Lot 49? How is it?

>>9299920
I don't know.

>>9299917
How far you into it OP? The first half of Part 2 is my favourite.

>>9299920
I love it. First time I read it was mindblowing but the second time I had just come from GR so it wasn't as powerful, but still good.

>>9299933
Thanks I was planning on checking it out since it's not too long but it's good to have another's opinion on it.

>>9299933
In page 90 something, I was completly lost in the first 60 or so. How does Pynchon know so much stuff?

>>9299992
He worked as technical writer for Boeing. He says in the intro to Slow Learner that he used guidebooks to inspire some of the short stories. He also says he knows less about scientific concepts, such as entropy, as many people think. GR also took 10 or so years to write. I guess he just loves research.

>>9300016
Guidebooks of what?

>>9300043
Like his story "Under the Rose" is set in Egypt. He says he read a book about Egypt and then wrote a story around it.
As with "Entropy", he learned about entropy and then wrote a story around it.
(He goes on to advise readers to avoid this method ; it's better to start with characters and plot before you get to the conceptual shit)

>>9300059
How did he manage to retain all the info while smoking weed and doing other drugs?

>>9300059
Entropy was kinda shit, but the rest are pretty good, The Small Rain is my favorite, i wish he would've made a novel out of it

File: pynchonToFriend_Cant_put_it_down_ness.jpg (1009KB, 3264x2448px) Image search: [Google]

1009KB, 3264x2448px

>>9300080
As someone who smokes a lot of weed and writes, I just take copious notes and reference them when I feel they are relevant to the story. I'm a programmer too. We live in a time and age where memory isn't as important a trait as it used to be. Keeping what is relevant at hand and not falling into analysis paralysis is much more important. The world's wealth of knowledge is always at hand, so as long as you are able to reference what is relevant to the point you are making, you are intelligent. You don't have to remember these things 100% of the time though admittedly you will *seem* fraudulent to people who expect this of you.

>>9300059
>He goes on to advise readers to avoid this method ; it's better to start with characters and plot before you get to the conceptual shit)

This is good advice. Once I started learning to plot and outline and cut the fat of my stories I did much better than when I basically just spazzed whatever I was currently thinking about into a word processor.

>>9300107
Who was he writing to?

>>9299920
i give it a hard "meh" the first couple chapters are captivating but i goes headfirst into its own ass pretty fast. GR & V are much better.

>>9299917
HEY CLIFF!

>>9300107
I really wish I could read more stuff like this letter, it's fascinating

>mfw /lit/ doesn't care about Pynchon anymore
What went so horribly wrong?