/lit/ - Literature

Where do I start with Pynchon?

Well I just finished V. (pretty great by the way). The political stuff kinda flew over my head, but I think I got the gist of most of it, will re-read in the future.

Now my question is, what to read by him next. I just bought bleeding edge, and have access to all his stuff. I'm currently debating either The Crying of Lot 49 or Bleeding Edge

what do you guys think?

Thought this was pretty interesting
http://harpers.org/print/?pid=242538

I'm looking to get into Pynchon

Amazon lists Bleeding Edge as 496 pages. Anyone else anticipating a return to form?

so, /lit/, can ya help me out? I need to know about culture. what's going on with modern culture right now? share some observations and ideas on its place. tell me about the nature of the era in which we live.

/lit/ thoughts on Thomas Pynchon?

What happened to you, /lit/?

I come here after a few years and what do I see?
Neckbeard faggot fantasy.
Terrible poetry threads.
Pop fiction.

Where are the Pynchon threads?
Where is the Dostoevsky?
Where is the David Foster Wallace?
Where is the Steinback?

/lit/ used to be about serious literature.

What happened?

>Gravities rainbow

Who is /lit/'s favorite living author?

Pic related.

here's one. LULZ

is pynchon even really that good? makes such a big fucking deal about his secrecy then goes on the simpsons.

so is any of thomas pynchons stuff worth reading

whats the best books to start with

Can someone give me a description of how Pynchon writes so I can explain it to my friend?

Here he is on the Simpsons. Close as you are prolly going to get.

yeah it's totally true, casting was just announced

Colin Farrell (Tyrone Slothrop)
Liam Neeson (Ned Pointsman)
Robert Pattinson (Roger Mexico)
Lindsay Lohan (Jessica Swanlake)
Cate Blanchett (Katje Borgesius)
Anthony Hopkins (Brigadier Pudding)
Willem Dafoe (Capt Dominus Blicero)
Zac Efron (Gottfried)
Mos Def (Enzian)

and Sean Connery as Dr Lazslo Jamf

>>I pray to God that when Pynchon dies

I pray to God that before Pynchon dies somebody will point out that the secret answer to The Crying of Lot 49 is "Torquato Tasso". Thurn & Taxis? Torquato Tasso? The image of the badger on his back? Get it?

Torquato Tasso was a famous literary artist who went mad and got locked away. In other words, Oedipa's experience of paranoia is a form of artistic madness. That's it. It's a puzzle book, just like Pale Fire expects you to work out the puzzle that the crown jewels are hidden in Kobaltana. This, incidentally, is why my good friend Tommy basically disowned Lot 49 in the preface to Slow Learner.

Again, the fact that no academic has noticed this about Pynchon---even men as bright as Edward Mendelson or Tony Tanner---shows more about the limitations of the academic mindset than anything else.

>>Don DeLillo, Percival Everett, Richard Powers, Matthew Sharpe, Tim O'Brien, Paul Harding, and Steven Millhauser.

I'm not any of them. I only like the alternate ones you list. Huge fan of DeLillo and read whatever I can get my hands on, including his pseudonymous autobiography of a female hockey player (the title of which escapes me), great respect for Powers but haven't read all of him (not enough time), appreciate O'Brien and glad he's on syllabi. The rest of the writers you listed...not really my taste.

>>How old are you?

I said, no autobiographical facts.

>>I bet it's Don Delillo... totally seems like a 4chan kinda guy.

Might also explain my unwillingness to discuss autobiography unless....could it possibly be?

No. I'm not.

But did you ever notice "The Crying of Lot 49" is a lot easier than most people think? Read it. Thurn & Taxis in Italian is "Torquato Tasso"....a famously insane genius. It's a puzzle book like "Pale Fire" only nobody has noticed.

Foucault's Pendulum will also ease you into vagina if you read it around the right women.

Also try: Crying of Lot 49, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and (why not?) The Illuminatus! Trilogy