/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.23612103]

there is something deeply wrong with a society that exalts this as great literature

[Anonymous No.23612109]

>>23612103

[Anonymous No.23612110]

No society does. Pseuds here do, because they want to be—anonymously—seen as deep and cultured. The same people who claim that Infinite Jest is noteworthy, who confuse complexity for literary greatness, love this shitty book.

[Anonymous No.23612130]

>>23612110
can you tell me what you consider great literature? specially coming after 1996, when IJ was published.

[Anonymous No.23612134]

PYNCHED

[Anonymous No.23612143]

>>23612130
That They May Face The Rising Sun

[Anonymous No.23612298]

[Anonymous No.23612327]

>>23612109
but was this necessary?

[Anonymous No.23612332]

>>23612327
pomo rejects organicist memes about necessity

[Anonymous No.23612334]

>>23612332
i don't know what those words mean

[Anonymous No.23612930]

Pynchons my fav writer for sure because my fav thing in books is goofs, gags, jokes and rambunctious behavior, and his books are full to the brim of it. Every novel is like one of those novelty snake cans, you open the book & POP you get a face fulla snakes and you fall back cackling. The mad mind, the crack genius, to do it! and then you think hmmm whats he gonna do next, this trickster, and you pick the book back up and BZZZZZZZZZZ you get a shock and Hahahahahah you've been pranked again by the old pynchmeister, that card. "Did that Pynch?" he says, laughing yukyukyukyuk. Watch him as he shoves a pair of plastic buck teeth right up into his mouth and displays em for you- left, right, center- "you like dese? Do i look handsome???" Pulls out a mirror. "Ah!" Hand to naughty mouth. And you're on your ass again laughing as he snaps his suspenders, exits stage right, and appears again hauling a huge golden gong.

[Anonymous No.23613002]

>>23612930
Based

[Anonymous No.23613199]

>>23612930
Pynchonian

[Anonymous No.23613216]

>>23612103
I can't be bothered reading all that. If they make a movie adaptation I'll watch it though. Like they did inherent vice.

[Anonymous No.23613637]

Is the joke on me if I try to understand why such a thought provoking, serious novel was juxtaposed with literal shitposting?

[Anonymous No.23613698]

>>23613637
Pynchon strikes me as an individual of boundless talent who chose to squander his potential for irony and memes.

[Anonymous No.23613883]

>>23613637
I like it because of the two contradictory qualities. He never loses his childlike enthusiasm even while talking about dark shit in the recesses of the human soul

[Anonymous No.23613929]

>>23612327
For funding, yes.

[Anonymous No.23614913]

>there is something deeply wrong with a society that exalts this as great literature

But it doesn't, that's the thing. Nobody gives two fucks about Pynchon in 2024.

[Anonymous No.23614921]

>>23612110
Exactly. Nobody gives a shit about literature to begin with, honestly. Only terminally online dweebs with womanly minds (I'm not like those other guys, anons!) do. Books are functionally obsolete in 2024. Literally nobody reads.
>B-but BookTok!
Spoiled, privileged women blowing their daddy's money on stupid shit like "matching colors on my shelf teehee" is pure cope.
Literature is dead. Time to move on, fags.

[Anonymous No.23614922]

>>23614913
there is something deeply wrong with quoting an entire post

[Anonymous No.23614923]

>>23614921
>you should move on from cultural phenomena that have run their course, he posted on 4chan in 2024

[Anonymous No.23614928]

>>23614922
>>23614923

Try harder next time, fellas.

[Anonymous No.23614945]

>>23614928
Space less reddit next time, comrade.

[Anonymous No.23614953]

>>23614928
Literture is dead. There is no "society praising Pynchon". Nobody gives a shit anymore. About anything. Just accept that. It's not declining, it's done. It's all over.

[Anonymous No.23614958]

>>23614945
Stop acting like 4cucks isn't Diet Reddit at this point, ya goof. It's not 2007, anymore. This ain't no super sekrit club you can latch onto instead of actually having a personality.
>>23614953
Yes, anon, thanks for telling me what I was saying in my own post there.

[Anonymous No.23614971]

>>23614953
Literature isn't dead but the novel definitely is

[Anonymous No.23615012]

>>23614958
>try harder
>stop holding me to any at all standard
the nance is dissoing or whatever tiktok lingo you'd want me to use to "get with the times"

[Anonymous No.23615068]

>>23614958
>4cucks is Diet Reddi
thanks for restating what I posted earlier
>>23614923

[Anonymous No.23615220]

I thought I liked this book but it turns out it isn't popular so I don't ;_;

[Anonymous No.23615222]

Who cares about Pynchon?

[Anonymous No.23615241]

>>23615222
Anyone who genuinely comes here should

[Anonymous No.23615260]

>>23615241
*disingenuously comes in your eye*

[Anonymous No.23615265]

>>23615222
Boomers. And don't make fun of him or anything else they like (e.g., Beatles, Led Zeppelin, DFW, Nirvana, The Sopranos, Tom Clancy) unless you want to see some seething.

[Anonymous No.23615283]

>>23615265
You don't have anything to say against him

[Anonymous No.23615291]

Read a physics textbook faggots.

[Anonymous No.23615296]

>>23615291
Read a book for once stemlord

[Anonymous No.23615297]

>>23615265
oh wow...you called it...

[Anonymous No.23615307]

>>23614922
I was going to write a post about how GR is completely misunderstood by new and younger readers because they only engage in the activity of reading a book so they can post about it on the internet but your post is so irredeemably retarded that it made me stop in my tracks just to reply to you and tell you how much of a spastic you are (a massive spastic)

[Anonymous No.23615324]

What percentage of /lit/ has actually read this? I could ask the same for the rest of the "meme trilogy". There's a reason why the most popular discussion topics here are political ideologies, genre slop, and works that can be read in an afternoon...

[Anonymous No.23615332]

>>23615307
There is no reason to quote an entire post. Just reply to it.
>>23615324
I've read it in translation.

[Anonymous No.23615336]

>>23612103
No one likes the book but poseur Boomers (i.e., 60% of people over the age of 60)
>>23612930
the content I come to /lit/ for, thanks
>>23613637
I personally don't find middle-school level shock and fart jokes "though provoking", but do go on being yourself
>>23615307
>"This literally shit book is AKSHUALLY a ground-breaking novel of great importance because back in 1973 sex jokes made Boomers giggle!"
FTFY

[Anonymous No.23615344]

>>23615324
I've read all three. IJ is overrated but GR gets way too much hate from people who have never read it or only read the poop section that gets posted on here. Ulysses is still a masterpiece.
>>23615332
>There is no reason to quote an entire post. Just reply to it.
>>23615336
>Has to bring in the boomer boogeyman to make a point.
I rest my case. Try coming up with a criticism of the actual book. Oh wait, you can't.

[Anonymous No.23615345]

>>23615336
>No one likes the book but poseur Boomer
empirically wronk

[Anonymous No.23615349]

>>23615324
Read it twice.
>get told it is an erudite, dense novel full of complex ideas and humor
>Get a copy, sit down and there is a parade of references to Blacks, ejaculation, sex, feces, Nazis, and WWII less subtle or humorous than your drunk WWII vet great-uncle repeating jokes about 'darkies' from when he was 14 with a lot of the major dates in the book being Catholic festivals
>Finish the book appalled at the terrible dialog, puerile attempts at jokes, and overall low quality.
>Assume I must have missed something. Wait a week, re-read it.
>Nope. Still horrible.
All I can assume is like many of the "important" movies of the era anything with crudity, sex, and mockery of the GI Generation was automatically "cool" and "hip" with Boomers.

[Anonymous No.23615363]

>>23615344
>Try coming up with a criticism of the actual book
-Cardboard thin characters
-attempts at dialog that are atrocious to read
-crude shock in place of actual development or insight
-"'Pacing'? Never heard of it!" -Pynchon (assumed)
>Ulysses is still a masterpiece
Ah, you're one of the "fart jokes = literature" brigade, I see

[Anonymous No.23615367]

>>23615344
>Try coming up with a criticism of the actual book
He could have lost 300 pages from the middle without losing anything from the whole. If you are honest now, does the whole bit in Berlin with Mickey Rooney and the stash of weed (lmao) really work? Is it actually funny? Most of Slothrops adventures in the zone could have been snipped.
Are the Nixon gags timeless good writing or do they badly date the book, just as eg Our Gang or a lot of Hunter S Thompson read poorly now because le Tricky Dicky doesn't mean anything anymore.

[Anonymous No.23615369]

>>23615324
Yeah and there's a reason this book is brought up constantly

[Anonymous No.23615388]

>>23615349
Marvy is satire, yes. Sounds like his dialog isn't too far off ;)

[Anonymous No.23615394]

>>23615265
>Boomers.
I don't think 60+ year olds come here

[Anonymous No.23615402]

>>23615367
>t. Bircher

[Anonymous No.23615412]

>>23615394
Boomer is used as slang by gen-z for anyone born before 2000.

I’m sorry you had to find out this way.

[Anonymous No.23615418]

>>23615412
And I mock everyone that uses that slang, which always causes them to resort to ironic womanly remarks.

[Anonymous No.23615426]

>>23615412
Don’t tell the old people our shit, man. Let them seethe.

[Anonymous No.23615428]

>>23615363
>Cardboard thin characters
Are you talking about the main characters? You think katje is paper thin? Blicero? Tchitcherine?
>attempts at dialog that are atrocious to read
Pynchon has a dialogue style that doesn't vibe with everybody, so I'll give you that one. I personally like it.
>crude shock in place of actual development or insight
I agree there's shock value in the book I don't agree that it's a replacement for actual development in the plot or characters. Even the shit eating scene tells you a lot about the characters.
>"'Pacing'? Never heard of it!" -Pynchon (assumed)
GR's unique pacing is what makes it fun to read. The book was never slow for me. If anything, it's breakneck and trying to keep up is part of the fun.
>Ah, you're one of the "fart jokes = literature" brigade, I see
Ah, you've been infected by the reductive retardation of /lit/ criticism, I see.
>>23615367
He was capturing a zeitgeist, so obviously the book will seem dated especially with the amount of references he crams in there, but no I don't think it dates the book 'badly'. The Mickey Rooney scene is a bit shallow, for sure, but it's just one part of what he is doing with American icons and mythology throughout the whole book.
>Most of Slothrops adventures in the zone could have been snipped.
I disagree with this. I liked these sections a lot.
Pynchon's work does have a lot of depth but it is enjoyable to read on the surface level as well. The depth is there if you want it but you probably need to put some work into researching the references he is making. I'm not saying the book is perfect, but the reductive critiques I read on here sound like they come straight from tiktok sometimes.

[Anonymous No.23615429]

>>23615426
But you are coping, dilating and samefagging rn.

[Anonymous No.23615434]

>>23615426
i feel sorry for them though….

[Anonymous No.23615439]

Very womanly.

[Anonymous No.23615446]

Somewhat dandyish.

[Anonymous No.23615455]

>>23615434
bro fr? this one nigger thinks we’re samefagging and you want to feel sorry for him? have you ever met a boomer in real life?

[Anonymous No.23615465]

>>23612103
What makes it not great, OP?

[Anonymous No.23615475]

If I've read the Crying of lot 49, would I like this one?

[Anonymous No.23615480]

>>23615475
Did you like The Crying of Lot 49?

[Anonymous No.23615482]

>>23615475
Did you like lot 49?

[Anonymous No.23615485]

>>23615475
It's a step up in difficulty but if you liked 49 you'll probably like this. He put a lot more effort into this one.

[Anonymous No.23615487]

>>23615480
>>23615482
Yes. Pretty funny, especially the scene in which she wears like 49 jackets, I was snickering publicly.
>>23615485
The length should betray that!

[Anonymous No.23615498]

>>23615487
You'll probably like GR then if you're not too squeamish for the gross parts.

[Anonymous No.23615499]

>>23615487
>perhaps the true lot 49 was the coats we put on along the way

[Anonymous No.23615501]

>>23615498
I've read Bataille's Story of the Eye, I am thinking I'll be good no matter what.

[Anonymous No.23615515]

>>23615363
GR has excellent pacing?

[Anonymous No.23615533]

>>23615499
bro....that's deep

[Anonymous No.23615672]

Well its way better written than IJ
Which filtered me, not for the prose, but for being boring

[Anonymous No.23615735]

>>23612930
Goddamn that made me laugh thanks anon.

[Anonymous No.23615739]

>>23612103
Still better than Dostoevsky aka the most overrated writer ever.

[Anonymous No.23615764]

>>23615672
I genuinely regret reading IJ because of how much time I wasted. There were sections of the book I really liked but so much that I didn't care for. I don't think I remember a single thing from those chapters where it's just two people talking.
GR is so much better.

[Anonymous No.23615834]

>>23615764
I got filtered by both GR and IJ, GR because I had problems following, but was charming, while IJ was boring
Sure, with much detail, interesting concepts, perhaps profound, but it doesn't matter. It's boring
Pynchon writes stuff you don't understand, but it is never boring

[Anonymous No.23615863]

>>23615834
Yeah, IJ has huge chunks that are a complete slog to get through but GR never takes it foot off the brakes.
Sometimes IJ felt like a genuine troll, it's supposed to be a book for people that love books, but often it felt more like a joke and I was gullible enough to spend time reading a 1200+ pages book (and footnotes) instead of any of the other books on my shelf.

[Anonymous No.23615894]

>>23615863
>footnotes

[Anonymous No.23615902]

>>23615894
I call them footnotes because they made me want to dig up DFW's corpse and put my foot up his ass.

[Anonymous No.23615973]

>>23615902
>dig up dfw
>releases his wraith
>possesses somebody and makes him write another shitty novel

[Anonymous No.23616933]

Can't imagine reading this shit in translation

[Anonymous No.23616940]

>>23612327
It is actually one of the most thematic passages in the book, it's a filter for people that would just deem it obscene.

[Anonymous No.23617375]

>>23616933
>mfw when I have no face and the Swedish translator misread immorality as immortality

[Anonymous No.23617380]

>>23612930
Haven't seen this pasta in a long time

[Anonymous No.23617952]

it is great literature, it demands a lot of talent to write big novels about nothing (or something cryptic). his prose is intense, you can't say he's a bad writer. ofc, nobody cares about pynchon nowadays, but they should?

[Anonymous No.23618907]

Pynchon’s my least favorite writer for sure, because my least favorite thing in books is goofs, gags, jokes and rambunctious behavior, and his books are filled to the brim with this. Every novel is like one of those novelty snake cans, you open the book and POP you get a face fulla snakes and you wince silently. The faggot, the redditor, to do it. And then you think “what’s he gonna do next, this shithead” and you pick the book back up and BZZZZ you get a shock and “chrissake” you've been pranked again by "the old Pynchmeister", that loser. “Did that Pynch?” he "sez", laughing “yukyukyukyuk”. Watch him as he shoves a pair of plastic buck teeth right up his mouth and displays em for you – left, right, center – “You like these? Do I look handsome?” Pulls out a mirror. “Ah!” I wish I was exaggerating. And you're in physical pain cringing as he snaps his suspenders, exits stage right, and reappears hauling a huge golden gong

[Anonymous No.23618936]

>>23618907
Who asked

[Anonymous No.23619010]

>>23618907
lmao

[Anonymous No.23619014]

>>23618936
Cool! I hope he's in good health.

[Anonymous No.23620833]

The pta movie is dogshit

[Anonymous No.23621788]

>>23615349
i thought Pynchon was bit of a hippie?

[Anonymous No.23621933]

>>23620833
So shit it was never released and they made him film Inherent Vice instead.

[Anonymous No.23622036]

>>23615367
>does the whole bit in Berlin with Mickey Rooney and the stash of weed (lmao) really work?
That's how he ends up on the Anubis and how he meets der springer and all them

[Anonymous No.23622037]

>>23612110
But Infinte Jest isn't even that complicated. It's just long.