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174 reviews for:
Thomas pynchon's Against the day: A Deleuzian reading of pynchon's language.
Thomas Pynchon
4.19 AVERAGE
174 reviews for:
Thomas pynchon's Against the day: A Deleuzian reading of pynchon's language.
Thomas Pynchon
4.19 AVERAGE
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It’s a book about light.
I’m going to need time to sit and think about this one. This was technically my third read-through, although I believe it’s my first time making it all the way through. I waited years so it would feel fresh again and I’m very, very glad that I did.
This isn’t the kind of book you consume, feel your feels in the moment and move on from. It’s the kind of book that you need to live in and allow time to digest. It’s a big, giant book about a ton of different things, but the through line is always light, be it bifurcated or not. If anything, this book is directly engaging with us, the readers, as well as our expectations, and the power of perception.
The Chums of Chance are what we get when we, the reader, gets our way and won’t let go of a children’s book, forcing them to undergo political consciousness and evolution, which leaves them, well… in a very strange, alien-like state by the end of the book, heading towards grace.
I might leave an actual review of this some day, but today is not that day. Or perhaps it is, and I’m just not allowing myself that specific grace. This book is something special. An evolution of a form, containing within it recognizable forms of “lesser” work, elevated through raw prose, imagination, and a form unto itself.
… Plus it’s really funny.
I’m going to need time to sit and think about this one. This was technically my third read-through, although I believe it’s my first time making it all the way through. I waited years so it would feel fresh again and I’m very, very glad that I did.
This isn’t the kind of book you consume, feel your feels in the moment and move on from. It’s the kind of book that you need to live in and allow time to digest. It’s a big, giant book about a ton of different things, but the through line is always light, be it bifurcated or not. If anything, this book is directly engaging with us, the readers, as well as our expectations, and the power of perception.
The Chums of Chance are what we get when we, the reader, gets our way and won’t let go of a children’s book, forcing them to undergo political consciousness and evolution, which leaves them, well… in a very strange, alien-like state by the end of the book, heading towards grace.
I might leave an actual review of this some day, but today is not that day. Or perhaps it is, and I’m just not allowing myself that specific grace. This book is something special. An evolution of a form, containing within it recognizable forms of “lesser” work, elevated through raw prose, imagination, and a form unto itself.
… Plus it’s really funny.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
been thinking about this a lot after finishing it for the first time. this is a beautiful book. structurally, in terms of its characters, the scope, the distance it covers geographically and mathematically, aesthetically, interpersonally, spiritually, the depth is just. incredible. this book has some of my favorite passages i've ever read, so many ideas packed into every chapter. it's speculative in a way i always appreciate. the kind of speculation I think is important today, and into the forseeable future, every future, down all the branching paths...
the structure of this book is really something. I think I can see Riemann's zeta function in the actual structure of the novel more than once, though there's also all these digressions, possible paths which never quite materialize...but what I love most are the characters. How they meet, fall in love, part ways, meet again later somewhere else, grow further, maybe part ways again, together and apart, together and apart, and over time I guess there's just a kind of life this novel has, which is irreducible. this book is long because of how much life it really contains, how much life it has to give
and it's worth it. all of it. There's few books which have earned their page length like this one, it's all just so dense. creative. but truthful, even in the wildest moments, as if the real world really does contain all these hidden levels we've just been failing to see all along
the structure of this book is really something. I think I can see Riemann's zeta function in the actual structure of the novel more than once, though there's also all these digressions, possible paths which never quite materialize...but what I love most are the characters. How they meet, fall in love, part ways, meet again later somewhere else, grow further, maybe part ways again, together and apart, together and apart, and over time I guess there's just a kind of life this novel has, which is irreducible. this book is long because of how much life it really contains, how much life it has to give
and it's worth it. all of it. There's few books which have earned their page length like this one, it's all just so dense. creative. but truthful, even in the wildest moments, as if the real world really does contain all these hidden levels we've just been failing to see all along
Whoa. What a slog.
Clearly Pynchon is an incredible writer with an almost unfathonable depth of knowledge (trivia) and talent for great sentences and deep thoughts. Throwing them all together into a tome like this? What's the point? There were at least three great books hiding in here, but put together they created a mess.
Clearly Pynchon is an incredible writer with an almost unfathonable depth of knowledge (trivia) and talent for great sentences and deep thoughts. Throwing them all together into a tome like this? What's the point? There were at least three great books hiding in here, but put together they created a mess.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
It's pretty telling that the fourth dimension is something of a major preoccupation in Against the Day, because it itself defies the typical linearity of "good" or "bad". On some days it is transcendent, profound, emotional, life-altering and any number of other trite adjectives you could care to trot out. On other days it is disorienting, frustrating, tedious, confusing and evasive. But for much of the time you'll find that it's both, occupying the undiscovered country between the binaries of "good" or "bad" or even "mediocre", but a level of quality and a statement which exists to define itself.
I will never forget it, and I will never forget how radically my preconceptions and notions about "literature" were rocked when I closed that final page, fighting back the tears.
I will never forget it, and I will never forget how radically my preconceptions and notions about "literature" were rocked when I closed that final page, fighting back the tears.
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Still one of my favorites. So silly. Even on reread, the plot is a bowl of spaghetti noodles that you must pick out and lay flat on the table to discern what on earth he's talking about. The effort is well worth it. My husband always asks why I have a goofy grin on my face when I'm silently reflecting on Pynchon's work. Every time I think I have a good grasp on what I just read, another layer of absolute shenanigans reveals itself to me. He captures the absurdity of the American experience to perfection.
I revisited this in search of a tattoo to accompany my muted posthorn. Unfortunately, Against The Day doesn't contain an all-encompassing or discernable symbol to encapsulate its beauty. Iceland spar, maybe, but I haven't a clue on how to stylize it effectively.
I revisited this in search of a tattoo to accompany my muted posthorn. Unfortunately, Against The Day doesn't contain an all-encompassing or discernable symbol to encapsulate its beauty. Iceland spar, maybe, but I haven't a clue on how to stylize it effectively.
slow-paced