/lit/ - Literature

Just finished my first read through, interested in how /lit/ interpreted the novel

I saw it as an epistemological critique of language. Namely how our means of communication is entirely mired in the socio-political landscape du jours;how we can never really separate ourselves from this landscape and any attempts to do so result in alienation and confusion.

This was demonstrated literally in the war between Thurn and Taxis and Trystero, a political conflict that would decide who controlled the means of communication.

Keep in mind this is after a single read, didn't take notes or anything and is more just a general thesis I've gleaned from the text than any definitive interpretation.

Can anyone build on/refute my interpretation?
Anyone else care to share their respective interpretations?
Anyone else not realize that a novel where paranoia is a central theme prominently features a band named the Paranoids until they're explicitly referenced near the end?

K, so here it is:

First off, Oedipa is called Oedipa because her tragedy (would) have been the same as that of Oedipus Rex: having sex with one’s mother. Oedipa was birthed by the story, and so reaching (narrative) climax within that story would have been just as tragic as it was for Oedipus.

Secondly, the book attempts to strip narrative down to its most base elements, and then fail. Narratives (read: stories) are descriptions of events, or, more specifically, a single event: the climax. The event in this novel is the title. The book attempts to describe that event and that event only, and the rest of the novel is simply exposition. The fact that novel ENDS just before the event occurs, however, is the failure. It might be that Oedipa decided to end the novel by refusing to further communicate to the audience, thereby avoiding the tragedy mentioned above. OR the novel was ended in order to symbolize the overall sense of miscommunication and detachment present all through. Which brings me to:

Third,and finally, the book’s message is the miscommunication of messages. The fact that a single, simple event (the auction of a postage stamp collection) becomes entangled with complicated love affairs, esoteric historical references, and seemingly other seemingly random events causes mass confusion, reflected in Oedipa who cannot understand the events transpiring around her or the way other characters are behaving. She realizes that the narrative has been lost, and this frustrates her nearly to the point of insanity, and, finally, overall detachment. This is why the overarching symbol of the novel is a muted post horn: the horn is a device used to communicate and announce coming information (letters). If the post horn is muted, its purpose is defeated. One is left to gather information themselves. This image is the essence of miscommunication.

What do you think it was /lit/?
Elaborate set-up? Mental illness? International conspiracy?

Suggest only the very finest novellas you've read. Feel free to recommend short short story collections and novels <250 pages long.

The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
The Fall - Albert Camus
Eleven Kinds of Loneliness - Richard Yates

>Which one of you is the mailman?

What was it all about ?

Sup /lit/

Just ended that, I want to read more Pynchon. Which one is the most accessible if we except pic related ?

I don't get it.

>So, do you deliver your own mail? Or do you have your own mailperson? But then, who delivers his mail? Is there a never-ending chain of mailmen delivering mail to other mailmen? Well, I guess a P.O. box could, in theory, break the chain.

Aside from the revolutionary quips and the frequent puns, I found this book to be utterly incomprehensible. It was my first time reading Pynchon as he had somehow escaped my otherwise thorough combing of 20th century American lit. Am I missing something or is this just not one of Pynchon's best? Discuss/lambaste

The Crying of Lot 49 was recommended as a good introduction to phynchon, I know nothing about the book or author but I'm diving into reading books outside of classics and science fiction.

What are your favorite ways to introduce modern authors to people? I admit I've been prejudiced against most modern works so i would like to introduce myself to a variety of things.

pic related

Just finished reading this. I'm sure much of it went over my head, but still it's one of the best books I've read in a while.

Something's been bugging me about this book for the longest time, so I figured I'd ask here: How the fuck do you pronounce Pynchon?

Zzz...

I just finish it, and I love it! What do you think about Pynchon /lit/? Which other Pynchon's book I should read next?

Hi /lit/
Whats literary reads prepares one for Pynchon?

I just finished this novel for my 400 level, American Lit after 1945 class.

I feel like an idiot because it made almost no sense to me.