/lit/ - Literature

I only made it through Lot 49, almost finished Gravity's Rainbow, it drove me up a wall.
But Lot 49 was brilliant.

Atlas Shrugged

The Fountainhead

I don't like Gravity's Rainbow.

I'm going to finish it when I have time.

I tried reading Vineland, it was shit.

The Penis Was.

Dr. Kashmir.

Serious answer:

Howard Pyle - Men of Iron.

Fucking hardcore as HELL.

>>770986
Eh, Lot 49 wasn't my favorite. But then again, I read V. and Gravity's Rainbow first, and those are MUCH better. If Gravity's Rainbow drove you up a wall, you're probably not going to like much of his other work. Lot 49 is probably the exception, and it's known for being more "accessible" than his other books. But that's because there's a lot less "Pynchon" in it.

>>771031
>>770986
Gravity's rainbow is the best book ever written.

>>770984
>>771018

Did you know she was a Nazi?

how is mason and dixon?

>>770972
db93591754c029f59d3bc9a3ca0eb431 kindly re move you r ille gal clo ne and give back our dom ain chrisb ear pol e see http:// tinyurl . com / 36wo8m5

c8f2c3f02f2f7a66677fae377048806d kindly re move you r ille gal clo ne and give back our dom ain chrisb ear pol e see http:// tinyurl . com / 36wo8m5

>>770970
d6698711c78740f4ef7d27a8a102a4a4 kindly re move you r ille gal clo ne and give back our dom ain chrisb ear pol e see http:// tinyurl . com / 36wo8m5

I preferred Against the Day over Gravity's Rainbow or V.

>>770972

a9f0f64682ea47b78accbfb6268cfae8 kindly re move you r ille gal clo ne and give back our dom ain chrisb ear pol e see http:// tinyurl . com / 36wo8m5

Hell yeah. Going to get Against the Day eventually, but until then, Gravity's Rainbow will always be my favorite book. And I don't even know if Against the Day could usurp it from that position.

I've got Gravity's Rainbow on hold at my local library. I can't wait to go pick it up later today.

>>772611
Pick up Finnegans Wake when you're done.

>>772610
Probably not. Against the Day is brilliant in a completely different way than Gravity's Rainbow, like he's really trying to tell you something in Gravity's Rainbow whereas AtD is basically just a picture of the Planet Earth from every perspective.

I still struggle to believe that he wrote a novel as shitty as the crying of lot 49 and follow it up with one of the greatest works of literature I have ever read.

Against the Day is wicked toooooo

What about Inherent Vice, guys? Is it even worth looking at, or is it just fun entry-level Pynchon like reviews say it is?

Read The Crying of Lot 49. Currently reading V and then moving to Gravity's Rainbow. I also have a copy of his book of short stories called Slow Learner. After I've read all of this where should I go? I'm kind of at a loss with his more recent stuff since no one ever talks about it.

>>772624
I can't believe that it could be just that. I mean it may be suitable for people not fimular with Pynchon but I can't believe that a story set in 1970 about a man who follows his dick until everything converges in a satisfying chase scene could fail to have relevance.

>>772648
If you've read all that stuff, move on to Against the Day. Or do Mason & Dixon and Vineland THEN Against the Day.

>>772648
Give us a couple of decades and we might be able to come up with an opinion.

>>772657
I've read about all the rock references it makes, and I'm really interested in its premise. I think I'll order it sometime (because I can't find it at fucking Barnes & Noble like I can with every one of his other books)

Right now V. is my favourite book. But once I read GR a second time, I might change my mind.

Mason & Dixon is by far my favourite. I'm planning on tackling GR very soon, but M&D was just so great and fun.

Just finished Inherent Vice and it was also great, but definitely a lesser of his works. It's a beach read, really. Lot 49 is classic stuff, it only improves with readings.

What's the deal with Against the Day? It seems like he's really exploring the same things as GR.

Can someone who doesn't like The Crying tell me what they dislike about it, because it makes me feel really obtuse when everyone thinks a book sucks and I don't see what's wrong with it?

I don't know that I could pick a favourite book of the ones I've read (Against the Day, Mason and Dixon, Inherent Vice). There's not one I feel wholly positive about. They all shift between good and shit so frequently, some more to one end than the other. Mason and Dixon was genuinely emotionally affecting around the end, which seems to be something rare for him. Against the Day had the most enjoyable material plus it gave me a few instant cockstands and Inherent Vice was basically a potboiler with his typical paranoia, digressions and sympathy for anything anti-establishment.

>>772671
>>772624
Definitely worth reading, it's not like it's all fluff, but it's just very accessible, more so than CoL 49. Get it from the library if you can.

>>772703
I read it as prophetic, beginning in the nineties in a post-punk type of scene, then moving forward into war and its natural conclusion.

Gravity's Rainbow
Crying
Against the Day
V
Vineland
Inherent Vice
Slow Learner
Mason & Dixon

>>772705
yeah, I don't see what's to dislike about the book either. Brilliant stuff as far as I'm concerned.

I'm always astonished at pynchon's ability to write clever songs.

>>772732
>> Mason & Dixon at last!

THAT'S A REAL KNEE SLAPPER!

I was developing a theory about Pynchon's works comprising an alternative history of the 20th century, but Mason and Dixon kind of throws a wrench in that (although it does present, I believe, the seeds of the 20th century). If he writes a book about the eighties and nineties, then I will be vindicated.

>>772969
Isn't Vineland in the 80s? I stand with Vineland as a damn good book. The godzilla part and the alien abduction on airplane etc. top notch.

That's a difficult question to answer, hmmmm . . . .

Im going to have to say The Adventures of Huckleberry FInn By the one and only Mark Twain

>>773003
The frame is set in 1984, but it's really more about the '60s and '70s.

>>771037
Fuck you man, you're shit.

>>772611 Here

I've only read about 20 pages, but I like it so far.

>>774174 here, page 21 was good too.

Before you decide, keep in mind that Against the Day had one of the protagonists trying to get a blowjob from a dog.

Also, while Inherent Vice isn't a candidate for the Great American Novel, it's still typical Pynchon. It even makes sure that the weather for Los Angeles in 1970 is accurate.

>>771067
>Gravity's rainbow is the best book ever written.
It wouldn't even appear in the top ten best books ever written.

>>774420
> neutral milk hotel

Yeah, you know what's good.

>>774525
Thanks! So you take back what you said about GR being the best book ever written, right?

>Ayn Rand writes We the Living.
>Europe loves it; it gets sold out in the U.S.
>Italy makes two illegal movies based on the book.
>The Italian government supports it since it is anti-communist.
>The Italian populace perceives its anti-fascist ideals, as well.
>Under pressure from Nazi Germany, the Italian government makes the movies and the book illegal five months later.

>Ayn Rand is a real writer.

i got halfway through both V and Gravity's Rainbow...I just couldn't do it.

>>773381
nah, youre an idiot.

it's surely set during the year of regean's reelection.

Ask a guy who spent the last month reading all the critiques and literature in the schwarzman building ABOUT gravity's rainbow, after he had finished re-reading gravity's rainbow, anything.

>>774658
Did you like it?

oh and

>>774660
it's alright

I read this really amazing book called Anthem by Ayn Rand and it made me realize how much better I am than normal people. If I had to pick (and I don't because I answer to no one now), I would definitely choose that one.

>>774269
22 was okay too.

>>774420

That'd be some list, and not being on it would not mean that the excluded novel sucked.