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/lit/ - Literature

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1929433 No.1929433 [Reply] [Original]

So I just finished 'The Crying of Lot 49.' I loved it, but I only really picked it up because it was the smallest of Pynchon's books. A taste-tester sort of thing.

Anyway, I'm not sure where to go next. Basically everything else by him is a doorstop and once I start a book I HAVE to finish it.

Which Pynchon novel should I read now? I own all of them but know nothing about them. /lit/'s recommendation would be much appreciated.

>> No.1929440

V.

>> No.1929439

Read the intro to Slow Learner, then put on the big boy pants and start Gravity's Rainbow.

>> No.1929441

consider the lobster, op

>> No.1929458

>>1929441
I realise you're joking, but I'm actually reading that at the moment, it's literally open in front of me as we speak... Freaky coincidence.

Just discovered DFW along with Pynchon actually, having a very interesting week.

>> No.1929479

Waiting for the Pynchon Weed Bust copypasta...

>> No.1929488

Spend less time on /lit/ and more time reading books, Eric!

>> No.1929492

>>1929488

shut up tim

>> No.1929501

V

>> No.1929517

Mason & Dixon!

or Gravity's Rainbow

>> No.1929520

I've heard that one should read V before taking on Gravity's Rainbow. Where to go after that, I have no clue.

>> No.1929525

>>1929441
Lobsters don't feel pain. Get that fucking idiot out of here.

OP, Crying isn't really even a Pynchon. It's cutting floor scrapings packed into a novel. It's a Pynchon hot dog. Pynchon himself even hates it. It's Pynchon that isn't even on power level 1, and he goes to fucking 11. I'm not saying Crying is bad, It's a good novel, but it is nothing compared to what the man can do.

>> No.1929528

>>1929525
Pynchon doesn't hate it, he barely even dismissed it. People blow his comment way out of proportion.

>> No.1929531

>>1929520
After V and Gravity's Rainbow? Anywhere.

>> No.1929536
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1929536

I don’t know what I would choose if I had to select a single work of sublime fiction from the last century, it probably would not be something by Roth or McCarthy; it would probably be Mason & Dixon, if it were a full-scale book, or if it were a short novel it would probably be The Crying Of Lot 49.

>> No.1929554
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1929554

>>1929525
>Lobsters don't feel pain.
Yeah, than explain why do they cry or scream when put in boiling water?

>> No.1929562

Mason & Dixon if you like 18th century America and really good characters, humour, and an affecting story.

Gravity's Rainbow if you want Pynchon at his most Pynchonian, lots of paranoia, detective novels, WWII, some weird sex.

>> No.1929565

>>1929536
stupefyingly turgid-sounding shit

>> No.1929572

>>1929554
Only stuffy white people who have too much money and time for their own good care about whether their food "feels pain."

Seriously, there are real problems out there worth writing about. If I want PETA bullshit I'll look at a poster of naked Pamela Anderson.

>> No.1929580
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1929580

"Pynchon always has been wildly inventive, and gorgeously funny when he surpasses himself: the marvels of [Mason & Dixon] are extravagant and unexpected."

>> No.1929585

>>1929554

That's the air from under their shells escaping. It creates an effect similar to a whistle.

>> No.1929616

>>1929585
lobsters cannot whistle, retard

>> No.1929623

>>1929616

Drop one into boiling water and you'll see how wrong you are.

>> No.1929639

>>1929623

It's a quick death.
Like hell it is.

>> No.1929645

>>1929623
why would i do that? i'm a decent human being, not a cruel and primitive freak.

>> No.1929648

>>1929585

It is the sound of lobster whistling in joy while having its hot bath. I like to think it that way.

>> No.1929649

OP here, thank you all for your suggestions.

If Lot 49 is considered a weaker effort then I'm very excited to read his stronger work. I'm leaning towards 'Mason and Dixon' from the way you describe it - plus, I've always liked that song 'Sailing to Philadelphia' by Mark Knopfler...

First things first, I have to read this DFW essay that's gotten everyone so riled.

>> No.1929652

>>1929554
>>1929623


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147667,00.html

Lobsters don't feel pain. Anyone who understands biology would have already figured that out and wouldn't need a scientific article to tell you so.

Lobsters do not scream. They cannot. They have no vocal chords. The sound you may hear is actually steam escaping from the shell as the lobster cooks.

Lobsters may thrash about in the water, that doesn't mean they feel pain. Ants don't feel pain but when stimulated they will run about in all directions. Taxis and kinesis =/= feel pain. Plants and bacteria are capable of simple taxis and kinesis, they do not feel pain. Open a biology book. It would have saved this idiot all the time he spent writing a stupid fucking essay. Peta should open a text book too, they claim to love animals but are willfully ignorant concerning knowledge about the animals they claim to love so much.

>> No.1929658

>>1929652
>foxnews

>> No.1929684

>>1929658
Look at the nervous system and brain of an arthropod. You should realize they don't feel pain. It's not possible even for them. It's simple reactions and reflexes to stimulants and not conscious reactions to pain. If you want to tell people that lobsters feel conscious pain.. the fuck man, open a biology book.

>HER DUR FOX NEWS HUR.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/story?id=722163&page=1

>> No.1929695

>>1929684
You must be one fat and ugly cunt if you feel the need to defend your eating habits so aggressively.

>> No.1929706
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1929706

I started with TCOL49 as well, moved onto Inherent Vice afterwards and enjoyed it just as much. Gravity's Rainbow and V are now sitting on my shelf for a later time.

>> No.1929716

>>1929695
I don't eat lobster, they look like giant bugs and it creeps me out. I am angry because people keep spouting easily disproved bullshit. They stand up and say "look how barbaric and cruel you all are, look how moral I am." They stand up and spout this nonsense about shit they don't even know anything about, won't try to know anything about, and even refuse to listen when you try to present the basic facts.

>> No.1929718

I went from The Crying of Lot 49 to AGAINST THE DAY.

>> No.1929719

>>1929706
Inherent Vice is a really fun summer read. I wouldn't mind a whole series with the Doc.

>> No.1929729
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1929729

http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/pschmid1/engl52b/m-d1.html

http://themodernword.com/pynchon/levy_mason_and_dixon.pdf

If you're considering M&D, here are some guides/summaries that might be helpful. Wait till you get to the transit of Venus, fucking awesome, ending will make you cry or you have no soul.

>> No.1929744

I'd go with Inherent Vice as well OP its a lot easier than M&D. But honestly, M&D is fucking incredible so do as you wish

also this is SUPER HELPFUL BRO:
http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

there's a seperate wiki for each of his books as
well

>> No.1930261

>>1929554
>>1929433

Behaviorism was answered my Eliminative Materialism and Functionalism a long time ago, breh.

>> No.1930298

>>1929729
>>1929744
OP here. Helpful sources, guys. Thanks a lot. I'm looking forward to this transit of Venus part. I certainly hope it turns out that I do in fact have a soul.