/lit/ - Literature

>Shall I project a world?

Why do academia, critics, reviewers, and Pynchon fans seem to adore this book where as Pynchon himself discredits it?

>Oedipa settled back, to await the crying of lot 49.
What a hack. Stopped reading right there

let's be honest, this is Pynchon's worst book
don't you think it's sad that it's probably a Pynchon-newcomer's first pick due to its length?
think of all the people turned off Pynchon by this early effort

>"Why," Driblette said at last, "is everybody so interested in texts?"
>Driblette's head wagged back and forth. "Don't drag me into your scholarly disputes," adding "whoever you all are," with a familiar smile.
Wow! the author is talking directly to the academics and janitorially paid nerds studying his work!

>Outside a fugue of guitars had begun, and she counted each electronic voice as it came in, till she reached six or so and recalled only three of the Paranoids played guitars; so others must be plugging in.
Guitar is a polyphonic instrument you dumb fucking bitch!

Just finished Crying of Lot 49. Loved it, blew through it, and found it all around hilarious, thought provoking, and significantly easier than I thought Pynchon would be. How does this novel compare to Gravity’s Rainbow? I’ve always wanted to read GR, but have been too intimidated. Has COL49 prepped me for it, or is GR still significantly more difficult?

Best companion to or supplementary reads for pic related? I'm having fun with it and there are a few little idyiosincrasies that I'm picking up on, but i want to "get" a majority of the plot without having to read it a second time.

By Studio Shaft

Best characters/scenarios in this supposedly understated work of feminist fiction?

Books like this? Finished this and it was soo good. I'm super super paranoid so this book was so good to me, and the way the journey was written, the prose was weird but now that it settling it was so goood....

>maybe "V" is like this?

>>13049087
still not sure what i read

wtf did I just read?
That ending was so unsatisfying but I really didn't expect it to end any other other way

Hey, brainlet here need some help. I'm on pg 46 and im already lost pynchon seems to breakout into very ambiguous yet pretty nice prose in the middle of seemingly normal scenarios? The whole scene at the bar with Fallopian im pretty sure i misunderstood;he just jumps from dialogue to Oedipus's internal thoughts, the part where he writes about oedipus thinking about tristero in the club was confusing but i think i understood it some how

Does pynchon do this often? Jump randomly into what seems to me stream of consciousness? It reminds a-lot of Hamsun's Hunger but instead of staying in a constant state of Stream-of-conciousness it flips voraciously between the two states. idk im just a brainlet please help

ITT: Potboilers

What does this mean?

So if I found this to absolute garbage, what's the chances I would actually enjoy Gravity's Rainbow?

Also, what the hell is "postmodern" about this book, other than it was literally written after the modernist period

Just finished. Aside from some of his shorts this was my first Pynchon. I loved it, but I feel like I didn't totally understand the significance of entropy in the story. My basic understanding is that entropy is a measure of chaos, and Oedipa plays the role of Maxwell's demon by uncovering the conspiracy, thus lowering the entropy in the story. But, because of the transfer of information to her, entropy is actually maintained. Am I close? What other significance does entropy hold in the story? Further readings on Entropy? I know it comes up in other Pynchon books.

What do you guys think of this book? I enjoyed it but if there was more to it I think I missed it.

>>11229885

what the fuck was up with play guy? Why did he act so weird and commit sodoku?

>>10840735
Too bad you're not near me. I saw a nice copy for $1 at the library booksale yesterday. This cover:

This was really fucking good but what was the deal with the old sailor?

I think I'm too stupid for Pynchon, boys.

>5 years ago
>first getting into literature
>pick this up
>can't read past the first page without my mind glazing over
>can't understand shit
>put it back on shelf
>read other shit for five years
>decide to give this another try
>reading and information retention is effortless

To all the anons who toss seemingly impenetrable texts into the trash I urge you to keep reading because one day, not only will you marvel at your ability to finally understand the text but you'll also wonder why you had trouble with it the first go around. It's a great feeling.