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/lit/ - Literature

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13112324 No.13112324 [Reply] [Original]

There are two Pynchons. One is the genius who wrote V (1963), The Crying of Lot 49 (1965), Gravity's Rainbow (1973) and Mason & Dixon (1997). The Other is probably an amanuensis, perhaps a young relative, someone to whom the Master has lent his name. This Other wrote Vineland (1986), Inherent Vice (2009), Bleeding Edge (2013) and possibly also Against the Day (2006).

I base this hypothesis on two things. 1) Prose. Whoever wrote Gravity's Rainbow has a command of language that surpasses Vineland by many orders of magnitude. Not a single sentence in Vineland sounds like it was written by Pynchon. The only common denominator is the silly goofiness, which is easy to emulate. 2) Cognitive strength. The work of the Other is intellectually trivial compared to the work of the One. So maybe Pynchon suffered a stroke during the thirteen years between Gravity's Rainbow and Vineland? This doesn't explain Mason & Dixon, his greatest work to date. Why is he doing this? A PoMo joke? Money?

>> No.13112341

age gets the best of us, anon

>> No.13112344

>authors can't possibly write in two different styles

>> No.13112360

>>13112344
He might be onto something. It's not just style it's density, quality of thought. Mason and Dixon is one of the best books I've come across; Against the Day is trivial in every way. It reminds me of stuff I wrote as a freshman and became quickly ashamed by. I just chalked it up to him being past it, and since I'm not a Pynchon guy and haven't read him since I haven't really considered that yawning chasm of all around quality. Now hearing it put this way makes sense.

>> No.13112366

>>13112324
Mason Dixon is a bit of a drag desu. I am stuck at America section. I really find it a bit of a pain to follow the convoluted sentences. Any tips?

>> No.13112400

>>13112360
Is Against the Day that bad?

>> No.13112424

based and re-
>he thinks Against the Day was one of the bad ones
post discarded

>> No.13112465

>>13112400
No. Anon is just an overthinking shitter with a useless degree. Pynchon at his worst is better than anything I've read from /lit/.

>> No.13112586 [DELETED] 

>>13112344
It isn't so much a difference in style... more of a lack of competence displayed in the latter novels.

>> No.13112795

>Vineland bad
>t.FBI nigger

>> No.13113116

Different groups of folks in the think tanks at different times, varying from project to project?

>> No.13113123

>>13112324
Or maybe he's simply capable of writing in different styles at different levels of complexity

>> No.13113201

Dude Vineland's great

>> No.13114611

>>13112324
My personal theory is that he suffered some mental collapse and has been on antipsychotics and other affiliated medicines for some time now. It might have affected his ability to write, but even then pynchon can shine through.