Which one is more difficult overall?

I should add that I've read CL49 and AtD

Gravity's Rainbow, but they're both really fun and absorbing so who gives a fuck.

I haven't read GR but I loved M&D I didn't really find it that difficult once you got in a grove.

In some ways I found it a more natural form of language.

If you feel like you want to read GR then just do it, notes on the characters and the sorts aren't necessary, plus they will take so long to do it's really just not worth it. Take the plunge and just enjoy the ride.

Cool. Also is GR extremely draining/depressing because of the subject matter, or does the humor help to alleviate that?

>>9892331
It's broadly comic, but extremely dark.

how hard is bleeding edge? is it a good pynchon start?

>>9891861

M&D for sure

>>9892676
Probably the easiest overall, but it's not a good starting point. It's okay, but his weakest overall. His 3 tomes are the 3 strongest, just dive into one of those honestly.

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>>9892676
If you really want to understand G&R, read Slow Learner or at least Entropy and The Secret Integration, Pynchon uses big words, but otherwise ez

>>9892710
i'm the quoted (and not op btw) and i'm a shitty reader, i'm not sure i would be able to read a book so large and that many people say its complex... also, a friend gifted me bleeding edge so i not only have the book but also the pressure to read it and say to this friend if i liked

>>9892734
>>9892734
Oh, dunno haven't read it.

If you already have it then yeah it's probably as good a place as you could get except for maybe TCoL49.

My professor back at Uni said the secret to GR is to accept the fact that you're going to miss about 95% of the allusions, references, jargon, etc.

English scholars and academics have literally spent their entire careers unraveling that book. Just let yourself get lost in it and don't try to keep track of every single digression. It's a lot of fun if you're not running to Wikipedia every thirty seconds.

>>9892704
I think inherent vice is his easiest and Vineland is definitely not as good as bleeding edge

>>9893209
I legitimately want to know if anyone here could admit to enjoying IV more than GR or, say, M&D at the expense of their taste credibility.

>>9893421
Inherent Vice is my favorite of his shorter stuff, personally, but it's a large step down from the masterpieces.

>>9892710
Is this posted ironically or do people really think that the picture is a thing? If it's true, if want to see that entire section charges out and annotated w/r/t 6s and 7s and no other numbers.

>>9891861
Just read these summaries after you finish a chapter of GR.
http://www.ottosell.de/pynchon/rainbow.htm
They sum up the important things, and make it easy to remember characters if you forget anyone, but you shouldn't really have that problem.
Only take notes and look up references on the wiki if you want a fun experience to turn into work.
Also note that the first 150 pages jump from character to character a lot. It's still great, but if that discourages you just know the whole book isn't as all over the place character wise.

>>9891861
Mason & Dixon is not hard. The first paragraph is the most "difficult" chapter in the entire book. I didn't realize that the old English was completely over exaggerated until I was 50 pages in, there are runs of pages that are 95 percent written in contemporary English, with a few words swapped out for an archaic synonym.

Gravity's Rainbow is significantly more difficult.

>>9891861
im pg 465. its a fucking slog to read GR. new characters mentioned every 2 pages. main character is autist.

>>9893586
what?

>>9895062
Nixon pls go