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/lit/ - Literature

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7211423 No.7211423 [Reply] [Original]

Why didn't any of you fuckers tell me how good this was?

>> No.7211426

why don't you stop being a retard and post your opinion about the book beyond "izz ssoo gud omg" or don't bother making a thread in the first place.

>> No.7211429

>>7211423
It was his equivalent of a potboiler though. He even admitted to it being a poor demonstration of his writing ability.

>> No.7211430 [DELETED] 

>>7211423
Because it's not that good and he's done much better work. Pynchon disowned Lot 49 to some degree in the foreword to his short story collection.

>> No.7211433

Because I am not a liar

>> No.7211458

>>7211430
I wouldn't call that "disowning" it. If anything he just admitted to something that was obvious to begin with.

>> No.7211466 [DELETED] 

>>7211458
He said, he forgot much of what he'd learned about writing novels, in reference to Lot 49, and then that he got his shit together for Gravity's Rainbow. That's pretty strong.

>> No.7211473

>>7211466
It's not nothing but he said self-deprecating things about a lot of the other stories in that intro to Slow Learner which you're quoting, and he still let those get published.

My standard for "disowning" a work is actively trying to make it go out of print. Like Harold Bloom with that terrible fantasy book he wrote.

>> No.7211489 [DELETED] 

>>7211473
I'd guess part of the difference is that Pynchon has made at least a couple million off Lot 49, since it's been on college curricula for so long. It's probably his largest single source of income, so it would be a much bolder move to take it off the market than it was for Bloom to go after his book that nobody bought except people who already knew who Harold Bloom was.

>> No.7211501

>>7211489
Bloom considers Lot 49 to be one of Pynchon's best btw, top 3 along with Gravity's Rainbow and Mason & Dixon

>> No.7211558

>>7211466
That's not disowning. Disowning a work involves a lot more than some self-criticism.

Disowning a work means you don't want to be associated with it, and you wish the thing no longer was around. The Star Wars Christmas Special would be an example of something George Lucas disowned, despite him admitting Phantom Menace and Howard the Duck sucked.

>> No.7211569

How do I comprehend books like CoL49? I read the first page a while back and just couldn't handle the level of thought/analysis required to read it/Pynchon.

>> No.7211572

>>7211569
protip: there is none. it's just an boilerplate plot messed up to be incoherent and lelsoedgy. welcome to postmodernism, enjoy your stay

>> No.7211584
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7211584

>>7211429
In spite of this, having read everything he's written, I think The Crying of Lot 49 is easily the most out-and-out fun of any of his books. I read it over the course of a day every few months. Easily one of my all time favorite books.

>>7211569
Were you the fella I broke down the first pages for in some /lit/ thread?

>> No.7211585

It's relatively simplistic enough, and turns on one central question (rather than the whole axis of questions his other books engage), to the point where it can come off as gimmicky I believe he criticised himself for "Entropy" for similar reasons. But it's a great fucking gimmick and a good entry point to Pynchon. John Fallopian is one of the greatest-named characters in all of literature.

>> No.7211588

>>7211585
Mike Fallopian

>> No.7211591

>>7211584
oh shit that was you?

break down the rest, we're waiting anon

>> No.7211594

>>7211588
eff, it's been a while

>> No.7211606

>>7211423
I honestly didnt like it, at all. The plot was nonsensical and meandering, and ultimately did not go anywhere. The characters were unlikable, vacuous people obsessing over nothing to fill their empty lives. There was no big reveal, no big point to be made in the end, the book just kinda stopped and that was it. It didn't make feel anything, and when I put it away I just kinda went "huh, that's it then".

Seriously, what makes this book so supposedly great? What satisfied readers see in it?

>> No.7211614

Yeah its great

>> No.7211617
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7211617

>>7211591
Well, the point I was trying to make was that it's not really hard. Try subvocalizing as you read. It's just a different kind of narrative voice to get used to.

>>7211606
Just a matter of taste, I guess. I find the book hilarious, and get a real sense of otherworldly mystery seeping up through the text. The plot is not what I'd call nonsensical but ambiguous, and I think there is a pretty big reveal near the end, with the history of Trystero. And you're right about no point being made in the end, but only because it's made at the very start. But again, different strokes for different folks.

>> No.7211660

I absolutely loved this one. I just finished it for the first time a few days ago. The last few pages were a bit anticlimactic but they didn't lessen my enjoyment.

This was a real fun book to visualize and imagine. It had a vibe that reminded me of Scooby doo especially and other old cartoons.

>> No.7211670

do you have to be american to get this?

i didn't care for it at all

>> No.7211675

>>7211670
Netherlands here, I love it

>> No.7211676

>>7211670
He is a pretty American author. That being said I don't think it would be impossible for someone from another country to enjoy him

>> No.7211677

>>7211670
>do you have to be american to get this?
well memed

>> No.7211842

>>7211569
It's just absurd beautiful fun, enjoy the vague paranoia and prose.