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/lit/ - Literature

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8068986 No.8068986 [Reply] [Original]

Why is it that people can never come to a clear consensus on this book? People either say that it's the emperor's new clothes or that it's the greatest thing ever made. Even with other meme-books on /lit/ that people might ironically shit on, these books will still have a clear majority consensus outside of /lit/.

However even outside of 4chan, there isn't really a clear majority response to whether or not this book is shit or is good. Does it have a lot to do with people wanting to like this book even if they dont understand shit about it? On the flip side, does it have to do with people not really being able to get into Pynchon's writing?

>> No.8069011

>>8068986
>Why is it that people can never come to a clear consensus on this book?

Because you're a retard and you've been listening to a lot of retards who think they're smart especially on this board which is full of retards.

>> No.8069072

>>8069011
this

>> No.8069088

>>8068986
Who gives a shit? If you want to read it then read it, if you don't then don't. Stop being such a fag.

>> No.8069096

why should there be a consensus? come up with your own opinons

>> No.8069104

>>8069096
only plebians come have their own opinions

>> No.8069542

It's a book where a man controls nazi missles with his dick. And Pynchon spends a great deal of time playing with English because he likes to 360 noscope tricky tricky fakey 720 blaze it that way.

>> No.8069549

>>8069542
I pray that one day I'll be playing MW2 and hear that goofy fucker's Long Island stoner drawl on the mic calling some kid a "totally buzzkill, man."

>> No.8069551

>>8069104
>plebians

>> No.8071111

>>8068986
Say what you want about the book but the fact that there IS no clear consensus speaks volumes about its success, so to speak

and that isn't the same as asking about commercial or canonical success, but how well does it actually do what it was supposed to do

Joyce made his works as difficult as possible to keep academics scratching their heads for as long as possible. Pynchon did the same thing but did it with even more poop and dick jokes

>> No.8071247

>>8069542
>a man controls nazi missles with his dick
Confirmed for hasn't read the book. The fucking point was he couldn't actually predict where the rockets would fall.

It's so easy to pick out the liars, and yet they continue to post in every GR thread.

>> No.8071282
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8071282

>>8068986
Lots of people have strong feelings about books like the Meme Trilogy because they spent a lot of time and effort reading them and either:

A: feel ripped off because it wasn't the transcendent experience they erroneously expected

B: They want to seize the opportunity to tell everyone how smart and elite they are for reading such a long but "totally worth it" book.

Scholarly readers don't consider the time spent doing a first read of GR to be a big deal, and their commentary tends to be a little more than just "it's shit," "no it's gud."

Which reminds me I need to block this retarded board from my browser.

>> No.8071307

Semi-related, but I'm interested in reading the Meme trilogy.
Which order should I read them in, or does it not matter in the end?

>> No.8071493

>>8071247
umad?

>> No.8071511

>>8071282

>scholars having any interest in the meme trilogy

Yeah, so much to learn in these overlong wankfests...

>> No.8071533

>>8071307
Just make sure you read IJ last. That way you will realize what a crummy piece of overhyped shit it is when compared to true master works likes Ulysses and Gravity's Rainbow.

This is where so many people fuck up. They read IJ without knowing what's what wrt the larger frame of reference and then get all hyped about that lame dork.

>> No.8071545

>>8068986
I think it's generally a taste thing. Pynchon is polarizing because he REALLY makes the reader work hard to understand his jokes, what's going on, the underlying themes, etc. Those who hate Pynchon would probably criticize him for overwriting, or being too compulsive with puzzles and esoteric info that no one cares about. Those who love him will probably say that they enjoy the work required in reading Pynchon, mostly because the pay off is so massive.

>> No.8071753

>>8071511
Scholars have lots of interest in Pynchon and Joyce. More will take an interest in Wallace in the coming decades.

>> No.8071951

>>8071307
I went

GR->Ulysses->IJ

In terms of quality I'd say it's

Ulysses>GR>IJ

Accessibility

IJ>GR>Ulysses