Take a photo of a barcode or cover
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
adventurous
challenging
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
He's done it again
What a blast! If this had been Pynchon's last novel, if these had been his last words to the world, it would have been all right with me. I never thought he could top the excellent novel that was Mason & Dixon, but with Against the Day, he did just that.
The opening pages take us back to a point in time just before the start of the 20th century - a century that started out so promising, with amazing advances in science and technology, but quickly spun out of control into the horrors of WW1. Starting with the Chicago World Exposition, we watch the events unfold that marked the years around 1900. It's the time of zeppelins and the first aeroplanes, discoveries in the fields of electromagnetism, photography and film, of speculations about the possibility of time travel. But it's also the time of the Scramble for Africa, King Leopold's exploitation of his Congo Free State, the birth of the big petroleum companies, the invention of the manned torpedo and the two Balkan Wars. Pynchon connects all these events in his typical peripatetic manner and draws up a map of the world as it appeared back then, a snapshot as it were. And if we look closely at that map, we'll find that there are extra dimensions, double refractions, surprising reflections of our own time and the powers that govern the world as of 2006, the year in which Against the Day was published.
This is a huge, sprawling book, with 1085 pages by far the longest of Pynchon's novels. Reading it requires concentration and the willingness to let go, to let ourselves drift wherever the words take us, and occasionally throw out an anchor to find out more about the sights and occurrences on our path. The Tunguska Event in Siberia. Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower for wireless power transmission. The Coalfield War in Colorado. It's a novel that is at once exiting and disturbing, funny and deeply moving, all-encompassing, stunningly beautiful, but also occasionally frustrating. With all that is going on, we may temporarily lose our bearings, but whenever we feel most confused and lost, there are the Chums of Chance hovering over it all in their airship, showing us the state of affairs from their vantage point above. While the complexity of the themes and the astonishing number of characters may at times be overwhelming, this is the work of a very skilled writer who knows where he is taking us.
So, if you are ready for this marvellous adventure, come on board the skyship Inconvenience and join the Chums on their way to Chicago, to celebrate and commemorate Columbus' arrival in the New World. It's 1893. Behold the Wonders of Science! Don't forget your binoculars, and bring a warm coat as it tends to get cold up there.
Now single up all lines!
The opening pages take us back to a point in time just before the start of the 20th century - a century that started out so promising, with amazing advances in science and technology, but quickly spun out of control into the horrors of WW1. Starting with the Chicago World Exposition, we watch the events unfold that marked the years around 1900. It's the time of zeppelins and the first aeroplanes, discoveries in the fields of electromagnetism, photography and film, of speculations about the possibility of time travel. But it's also the time of the Scramble for Africa, King Leopold's exploitation of his Congo Free State, the birth of the big petroleum companies, the invention of the manned torpedo and the two Balkan Wars. Pynchon connects all these events in his typical peripatetic manner and draws up a map of the world as it appeared back then, a snapshot as it were. And if we look closely at that map, we'll find that there are extra dimensions, double refractions, surprising reflections of our own time and the powers that govern the world as of 2006, the year in which Against the Day was published.
This is a huge, sprawling book, with 1085 pages by far the longest of Pynchon's novels. Reading it requires concentration and the willingness to let go, to let ourselves drift wherever the words take us, and occasionally throw out an anchor to find out more about the sights and occurrences on our path. The Tunguska Event in Siberia. Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower for wireless power transmission. The Coalfield War in Colorado. It's a novel that is at once exiting and disturbing, funny and deeply moving, all-encompassing, stunningly beautiful, but also occasionally frustrating. With all that is going on, we may temporarily lose our bearings, but whenever we feel most confused and lost, there are the Chums of Chance hovering over it all in their airship, showing us the state of affairs from their vantage point above. While the complexity of the themes and the astonishing number of characters may at times be overwhelming, this is the work of a very skilled writer who knows where he is taking us.
So, if you are ready for this marvellous adventure, come on board the skyship Inconvenience and join the Chums on their way to Chicago, to celebrate and commemorate Columbus' arrival in the New World. It's 1893. Behold the Wonders of Science! Don't forget your binoculars, and bring a warm coat as it tends to get cold up there.
Now single up all lines!
This book wasn't a good match for audio. I'll try again with a paper version.
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Gonna write a 2nd review of this later on but yeah GOAT
If ever there was a book where I wanted that half-star option, this is it (to give a 3 1/2). On the plus side: great characters, plenty of humor, an intricate dance up to the periphery of fantasy, and an epic sweep across time and countries. On the down side: occasionally obtuse for the sake of being obtuse, entire passages with no ultimate purpose, and the frequent detours, although I'm not certain that detour is the correct word, instead meandering might be more applicable, but there is more of a sense of purpose to the methods as opposed to the idle, casual movement that meandering might imply so instead of detour or meander the most apt term may be forays, into run-on sentences that clarify nothing (see how I did that)?
I'm actually enjoying this book more than his others. I think this one could supplant Gravity's Rainbow as his masterpiece.