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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
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
challenging
funny
slow-paced
2 1/2 stars.
Holy shit; I can't believe I finally finished this bastard!
As anyone who has ever read any of his stuff knows, Thomas Pynchon isn't a huge fan of the whole brevity thing. Typically, this doesn't bother me. This is the last novel in the Pynchon canon for me, so I'm pretty used to his verbose style by now. Against the Day was just a problem though. Even at his lengthiest, Pynchon usually remains, at least, entertaining. This one, though...
It could have been 300-400 pages shorter. It also could have used at least 2-3 fewer of its many labyrinthine plot lines. The characters verged on the ridiculous by the end (and that's saying A LOT for Pynchon) and I can't really say that I cared that much about any of them when everything was said and done. Unlike all of his other novels, I really feel like this was probably started about 50 years ago, languished in a drawer, and then was added onto over the decades until he finally decided to release it 10 years ago. It just felt like it was a mess that, if pruned more, could have been another Pynchon masterpiece. Too bad.
Holy shit; I can't believe I finally finished this bastard!
As anyone who has ever read any of his stuff knows, Thomas Pynchon isn't a huge fan of the whole brevity thing. Typically, this doesn't bother me. This is the last novel in the Pynchon canon for me, so I'm pretty used to his verbose style by now. Against the Day was just a problem though. Even at his lengthiest, Pynchon usually remains, at least, entertaining. This one, though...
It could have been 300-400 pages shorter. It also could have used at least 2-3 fewer of its many labyrinthine plot lines. The characters verged on the ridiculous by the end (and that's saying A LOT for Pynchon) and I can't really say that I cared that much about any of them when everything was said and done. Unlike all of his other novels, I really feel like this was probably started about 50 years ago, languished in a drawer, and then was added onto over the decades until he finally decided to release it 10 years ago. It just felt like it was a mess that, if pruned more, could have been another Pynchon masterpiece. Too bad.
Um, to even attempt a book like this deserves props. Respect, Thommy P. Respect.
adventurous
challenging
dark
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So it took me a year or so to finish it. It's long. Shut up.
I came across this book while researching titles to include on a steampunk reading list as a project for a class I was taking. It threw it in at the end as kind of a cerebral wildcard for the extremely ambitious. Then, a friend of mind of mine told me how much he'd enjoyed it and I started to read it in earnest. I don't know tiddlywinks about Pynchon, but this book was delightful on many accounts.
1) Pynchon comes up with the best names: Roswell Bounce, Dahlia Rideout, Sloat Fresno. These ridiculous names helped me keep the scores of characters differentiated. (Though, but the second time I'd run across Cyprian Latewood, he had changed so much I had to look him up to confirm who the poor dear was.)
2) I advise you not to worry too much about keeping up every little thing. The book, while heavily interconnected, is episodic enough that you can enjoy what you're reading just now without worrying about what happened earlier. But if you are determined to understand everything, there's a wiki for you.
3) People are certainly arousable in this book -- especially in the last third of it. While I respect the multifaceted nature of intimate human relations, I'm not sure I entirely buy Pynchon's portrayal of them. The women all seem like irresistible minxes and the men . . . well -- they don't seem to think about it too much. "Is that a lady? My penis says so. Guess I'll bone her now. Lah-di-dah." And afterward the women seem to go "All righty. That's over with. What is it you wanted?" It's possible I'm imagining this. Tell me if I'm wrong. In his defense however, the sexy parts are written more matter-of-factly than I would expect if he were doing this purely to titillate.
All of this amounts to a book that was like one very long dream. But not the boring kind your significant other won't shut up about in the morning. Rather, the kind you have yourself that fires your imagination, flows from one glorious impossibility to the next, and when you wake up from it, you sit up in bed dumbfounded by the extravagance of it all.
I came across this book while researching titles to include on a steampunk reading list as a project for a class I was taking. It threw it in at the end as kind of a cerebral wildcard for the extremely ambitious. Then, a friend of mind of mine told me how much he'd enjoyed it and I started to read it in earnest. I don't know tiddlywinks about Pynchon, but this book was delightful on many accounts.
1) Pynchon comes up with the best names: Roswell Bounce, Dahlia Rideout, Sloat Fresno. These ridiculous names helped me keep the scores of characters differentiated. (Though, but the second time I'd run across Cyprian Latewood, he had changed so much I had to look him up to confirm who the poor dear was.)
2) I advise you not to worry too much about keeping up every little thing. The book, while heavily interconnected, is episodic enough that you can enjoy what you're reading just now without worrying about what happened earlier. But if you are determined to understand everything, there's a wiki for you.
3) People are certainly arousable in this book -- especially in the last third of it. While I respect the multifaceted nature of intimate human relations, I'm not sure I entirely buy Pynchon's portrayal of them. The women all seem like irresistible minxes and the men . . . well -- they don't seem to think about it too much. "Is that a lady? My penis says so. Guess I'll bone her now. Lah-di-dah." And afterward the women seem to go "All righty. That's over with. What is it you wanted?" It's possible I'm imagining this. Tell me if I'm wrong. In his defense however, the sexy parts are written more matter-of-factly than I would expect if he were doing this purely to titillate.
All of this amounts to a book that was like one very long dream. But not the boring kind your significant other won't shut up about in the morning. Rather, the kind you have yourself that fires your imagination, flows from one glorious impossibility to the next, and when you wake up from it, you sit up in bed dumbfounded by the extravagance of it all.