/lit/ - Literature

i don't get it
she's taken on the ruse cruise (i think?) by her ex-lover and there are a bunch of references to entropy, computers, stamps, and the history of the mail system, and everybody has cartoon names
but what does it mean

Why is religious language frequently used when referencing Tristero? Is it to suggest they are like a supernatural (metaphorically speaking, not actually supernatural) force operating at a level beyond oed's/our comprehension/control?

Why is Broom of the System not well regarded among Wallace's oeuvre?

I don't get it.

>high iq
>successful in school
>good career
>enjoy reading literature
>hear pynchon is good
>start with crying of lot 49
>incredibly hard read
>barely understand what is happening
>meaning completely lost on me
>search internet
>its considered an easy read

Am I retarded after all? Why is this book so difficult for me? The vocab is simple and the sentences make sense but put together I have a hard time figuring out the literal meaning of almost every single passage. I've read Dostoevsky, Camus, Wallace, Dickens, whatever no problems but Pynchon is proving to be Shakespeare-level difficult.

So Oedipa was [Spoiler]Maxwell's Demon[/Spoiler], right?

>liberal SS circles
And they said books couldn't make you lol (laff out loud).
Anyway, I feel like I understand what the whole Tystero thing was supposed to represent but i'm too retarded to put it into words. I have lived my whole life this way, and have accepted that's how it's going to be forever.

All depth aside this is just entertaining as fuck all the way through, says more in 140 pages then a big majority of novels I've read. I'm glad to finally be inducted into my nigga pynchons brain

I have read every Pynchon book but this is the one I keep coming back to. Something about it's manageable scale makes it such a pleasure to read, being able to take it all in at once and read it in a day

cunts may or may not ruin everything

maybe both

What are some books where every side character feels like they're the protagonist of a different story

I don't get it.

How does one create such a complex narrative and storyline?

Not so much asking as marveling at the fact that one man conceptualized this entire story in his head and more or less published it to paper. It wasn't my favorite book but I am highly impressed with him
the imagination in the story and words, it just worked
anyway also Crying of Lot 49 general if it will get more responses

What was the point of this?

What does /lit/ think of The Crying of Lot 49?

Man, this book is weird. I'm 40 pages in now, and although I kind of like it, the prose is vague and I feel like I'm missing half of the story.
Are all his books like this?

Thoughts on this?
I had never read any Pynchon before, and wanted to check out Gravity's Rainbow, but was turned off by its length and decided to grab this to see if I'd even like his style and ease my way into him.
Well I thought his prose and style was good, and liked all of the characters and plot, but the ending really felt well, anti-climatic. It just kind of ends.
I only just finished it and am not too sure how I feel about it. I can see various reasons why he may have ended it like that, and the significance behind it, but I'm still not loving it.
What do you think?
And is Pynchon worth exploring further?

Sup /lit/.
I just got done reading pic related.
I remember coming across this thread a few weeks ago that had a screenshot from an old archived /lit/ thread where some guy gave an awesome interpretation of the book or something like that (I didn't really know what he was saying at the time because I hadn't read the book). Anyone know what I'm talking about? Anyone have that image?

Also, what did you think of the book?
Any cool things a layman, like myself, would have overlooked in my superficial reading?

how do you feel about this?

So I'm 3 chapters into this book and I'm worried. Does it have a point? Does it go anywhere? Or is it just playful prose the whole way through? Is Pynchon a troll?

>>2812453
Just finished reading The Crying Lot of 49 today. About two thirds of my way through, I stopped for a minute and thought "what in the actual fuck is happening with postal conspiracies" and spent the last third of the book laughing my ass off.

Recommend me 5 novellas

Just finished reading this.
It was my first Pynchon novel.
How did /lit/ feel about it?

Are there any decent books involving secret societies? Pic related, it's the only one I can think about.