Just finished Pynchon's first two books. What am I

Pedophilia and literal shit-eating

>>9837799
If you made it through V. you'll probably be okay but it is his most difficult book. Read it multiple times and consider using a reader's guide

Tonnes and tonnes of fun. Basically a WW2 satire in the spirit of Underground Comix that posits capitalist conspiracy behind the whole of modern warfare and unfolds like a self-parodying picaresque.

>>9837876
my tactic for V. was to acknowledge that some of the passages had no readily apparent meaning and I should just try to enjoy them for their prose. Will that get me through GR? Also, is the main difficulty in pynchon just the sheer number of recurring characters and the way so many things happen on a single page? Because that was really my main struggle through V.

>>9837910
I think the struggle in Pynchon has to do with finding meaning in the events which is interesting because that's so often his protagonists' struggles too.
There's as much profundity as there is nonsense in his novels and it can be tasking to read him because you're constantly wondering "am I missing something?" At the same time there's no easy way to tell, sure you can write him off as a charlatan and a postmodernist or somebody trying only to convey the lack of meaning but then you stumble into some passage that works its magic of some esoteric resonance on you and you suddenly feel an absolute faith in Pynchon as author.

Pynchon xD!

>>9837799
Did you order that edition from Amazon?
>>9837910
I find your tactic interesting. I've only read the first novels as well, and while I agree finding meaning is difficult, I find that beyond the prose, I really am reading it for the story and the characters. Like in V, little things such as the guy in the loft that moves around everywhere and never comes out from under a blanket. So many of the moments are just fun and comfy. Maybe it's a result of characters that I am invested in, or maybe it's because I watch films that take a similar approach sometimes, but I find that I can read a chunk, find no meaning, but still be the furthest thing from bored

>>9838124
Yeah I found it on amazon. I had to use the Canadian site to get the isbn and then just search for that isbn on the American site to find that specific edition since it isn't listed. I hope the one that comes is the one I ordered though.

I guess I'm specifically referring to moments like the chapter in Egypt. I had no idea what was going on (I actually thought maybe the main character in each of the segments was Stencil but in a disguise) but I still really appreciated some of the prose and the overarching narrative of it.

Extremely well written garbage for psueds to jerk themselves off to. It's like Infinite Jest for people who think they are too cool for Infinite Jest.

>>9837799
It's a rush. read slowly if you want to know what the hell's going on

Really an entertaining read. It becomes easier to read after 200 or so pages. Accept that you'll walk away without taking away much, but over the months it'll seep out.

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273KB, 818x618px

>>9838479
>Accept that you'll walk away without taking away much
how is this possible? the book is hitting you over the head with so much stuff to take away for 760 pages that it becomes a problem of trying to hang on to everything at once.

>>9838183
>the chapter in Egypt
IIRC that's the one he just plopped into the book from an earlier short story and made to vaguely relate to the context only by the chapter title, so being confused isn't your fault

>>9838547
Yeah it was expanded from Slow Learner

>>9837928
I first got that like a spade in the face during that early on passage about Slothrops family and him looking at the sky as a kid

reading this now. very slow reader, just got to the zone last night. I urge you to press on to part two, read a little synopsis of the 'chapters' after you have read a few, to help keep your bearing. I just think of it like jazz. some parts of jazz are extremely rewarding, others? well, they're dead ends (i pay attention to what seem like dead ends though). there was another thread recently where we spoke of the trajectory of the novel, and it very much seems to have a sensibility through the middle, a peak of comprehension, i'm waiting for the tumble back out of focus, in the beginning of it all, there's a moment of focus, however. it's strange, like all the planning and ebullience of setting a rocket up and shooting it, then paranoia and the fuel coursing through each page keeps confusing you until you let go of trying to figure out the path, it's only when it peaks and goes ballistic that you get some reckoning of where it's all going. I expect the perspective of the prey of the rocket on its decent, a realization of approach, a lack of focus, paranoia, hearing the explosion after it already hits me, a delayed deconstruction. that's what i'm expecting, and would be satisfied with. i was struggling before but am glad i stuck with it so far.

>>9839653
oh, and another thing. when it feels like a looney tune, go with it.
Tommy... easy on the bananas.

>>9837799
goofs and gags