

From Thomas Pynchon, a novel of the dot-com era and the end of history - throwaway_yy2Di
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/09/thomas_pynchon_s_bleeding_edge_reviewed.single.html

======
cgh
A new Pynchon is huge news. And contrary to what some posters here seem to
believe, he's not hard to understand, other than certain passages in
"Gravity's Rainbow" in which even he apparently doesn't remember what he was
talking about. I think a lot of people are simply thrown by his constantly
shifting perspectives from one character to another and his weird humour. Plus
he has a technical background so he throws a lot of offhand engineering
references in there.

I recommend starting with "The Crying of Lot 49", then "V." Both are amazing
and both were written when he was quite young (20s). "V." in particular is a
stupendous debut novel. I've read it twice and both times I felt a sort of
buzz that lasted for a few days, a sure sign I've read something meaningful in
some sense (to me, anyway).

~~~
abruzzi
Pynchon writes two distinct types of novels. V., Gravity's Rainbow, Mason &
Dixon, and Against the Day are is big (literally) complexly plotted novels
that frequently involve hundreds of characters and huge forces of history.
They are my favorites, but they require serious commitment and even then can
be difficult to read (I've never actually gotten through Mason & Dixon.)

He also writes smaller stories that generally focus on a single primary plot
with a clear main character driving the story. These are The Crying of Lot 49,
Vineland, Inherent Vice, and from the sound of the review, Bleeding Edge.
These don't capture his insane manic complexity except in tiny flashes, but
they are far easier to acclimate yourself to Pynchon.

I do think of his "simpler" novels, The Crying of Lot 49 gives the best taste
of Pynchon's common obsessions. I enjoyed Inherent Vice and Vineland, but Lot
49 is much more finely polished.

~~~
pingswept
The Crying of Lot 49 is also good to start with because it's only 150 pages or
so.

His collection of short stories, Slow Learner, has some gems in it. I really
liked the second story, Low-lands, the last time I read it.

Around 20 years ago, when I was in college, I collected as much of his non-
book stuff as I could and put it on a web page. Oddly, it seems it has
survived:
[http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/uncollected/index.html](http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/uncollected/index.html)

My favorite piece there is the article for Aerospace Safety, from when Pynchon
worked at Boeing:
[http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/uncollected/together.html](http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/uncollected/together.html)

~~~
dnr
My favorite from Slow Learner was "Under the Rose", which he later turned into
a chapter of V. I loved the absurdism, steampunk-ish bits, and theme of
history as chaotic. They're all pretty good, though.

------
xradionut
The review is like a thesaurus full of pretense took acid, gorged at a buffet
and then purged on a Scrabble board. Hopefully the book is better.

~~~
Gnolfo
That's Pynchon. You're describing Pynchon. At least some of the time, and FWIW
the reviewer definitely seems to get him & his style.

The 8th paragraph in there is an excerpt from the new book, you'll notice it
is 3 sentences, and the 3rd sentence begins about 10-15% of the way in and the
2nd sentence is a mere 8 words. This is typical and there are times where you
will stop and take 5+ minutes to review and unpack and digest a single
sentence of his when he's really digging his heels in. The payoff however can
be absolutely immense.

~~~
wahnfrieden
If you're into the long sentences thing, try Laszlo Krasznahorkai:
[http://www.amazon.com/The-Melancholy-Resistance-Laszlo-
Krasz...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Melancholy-Resistance-Laszlo-
Krasznahorkai/dp/0811215040) ,
[http://www.amazon.com/Satantango-L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3-Krasznahor...](http://www.amazon.com/Satantango-L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3-Krasznahorkai/dp/0811217345)

Sometimes sentences span pages. Each chapter is a single paragraph.

The movie adaptations are fantastic too.

~~~
scotch_drinker
Or Faulkner. Where the sentences span entire generations and a single moment.

------
robterrell
I'm a big fan of Mason & Dixon, which was the most difficult fun I've had
reading a book in English. Gravity's Rainbow was also great fun. If you're a
Buckaroo Banzai fan, and why wouldn't you be, you can thank Pynchon for the
defense contractor Yoyodyne, which was appropriated from his novel V.

------
mindrag
Is that article actually in English? I couldn't understand a damn thing the
author was trying to say.

 _"...like a black pearl from an oyster unfathomable by any other diver into
our eternal souls."_

What?

~~~
hvs
Welcome to modern literature. If you can understand what they are saying, then
it isn't any good. It's like abstract art applied to words.

~~~
yolesaber
Except that the current vogue in modern literature is hyper-realist
memoiristic writing which eschews the Moderist approach of purpled prose in
favor of more intimate relations between characters without overbearing
literary flourishes e.g. Jonathan Franzen

~~~
adriand
You sound like you know what you're talking about, and I really like Franzen.
What other authors can you recommend?

