Scan barcode
cinereusk's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I was supposed to read this book for a college class years ago, and decided to finally sit down and give it a read years later. And I wish I hadn’t.
witherskeleton's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
billiamdyemyhair's review against another edition
4.0
A book that is short enough to be read but long enough to never be understood.
mayoresquire's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.5
Pynchon locates an uncomfortable ontological problem with large concepts - labels, nations, organizations, etc. - which are too diffuse and complicated to ever be reduced or understood. At some level, everything is its own negation, a Tristero problem reproduced as conservative or progressive or whatever label can resist the present milleu. Think Hilarius's Nazi background, the way that Tristero vacuums up a neo-Confederate anti-Communist organization, or how Inverarity - a synecdoche for capital - could have set the whole thing up just to have something to drive Oedipa Mad. Things are as much what they are not as what they are. And causes. Oh boy, are they even worth it? To be American is to be unmoored, an impossible combination of old world problems with new world structures.
It is fitting that Oedipa's obession is with the mail, the exhange of information. The exchange is traceable and quantifiable in a way the actually information is not. Thus, John Nefastis, a quack scientist, has invented a fake perpetual motion machine run on the *sorting* of information. Mucho Maas, Oedipa's husband, decends into an insanity premised on the idea that there is no information, only the same idea expressed at different pitches. How does one cope? See what happens next. Were it so easy.
This is very good, very funny, and very short!
It is fitting that Oedipa's obession is with the mail, the exhange of information. The exchange is traceable and quantifiable in a way the actually information is not. Thus, John Nefastis, a quack scientist, has invented a fake perpetual motion machine run on the *sorting* of information. Mucho Maas, Oedipa's husband, decends into an insanity premised on the idea that there is no information, only the same idea expressed at different pitches. How does one cope? See what happens next. Were it so easy.
This is very good, very funny, and very short!
maia313's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Think I would have enjoyed this more upon a second reading - fairly hard to follow but an interesting read! great as a postmodern text, would like to read more Pynchon. However, some parts are left unanswered which although well done, feels a bit unsatisfying. The paranoia/conspiracy element I enjoyed, but thought this could have been played on a bit more. Will be interesting to study and to compare to other works.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Suicide, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, and Drug use
libellum_aphrodite's review against another edition
3.0
If [a:Lemony Snicket|36746|Lemony Snicket|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1199734355p2/36746.jpg] wrote A Series of Unfortunate Events for adults, this would be it. The parallels seemed to never end:
* mysterious organizations known only by the elusive acronyms and even more elusive slogans [1]
* wild goose chases to learn the organization's purpose
* infiltration of said organization absolutely everywhere the more you look
* organization's symbol crops up all over the place
* oppositional groups in or related to the organization [2]
* odd character names [3]
* even more odd appearances of said characters to dispense information about the organization at the exact right coincidental moment
* the initiating action of the novel is the fate of some fortune after a decease [4]
Pynchon included sex and drug use while Snicket does not (obviously for children's books), but other than that, The Crying of Lot 49 could have been an installment in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
[1] Snicket: V.F.D.'s "The world is quiet here"
Pynchon: W.A.S.T.E.'s "We Await Silent Tristero's Empire"
[2] Snicket: volunteers & villains within V.F.D.
Pynchon: Thurn und Taxis & Trystero (W.A.S.T.E.)
[3] Snicket: Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, Quigley Quagmire, Carmelita Spats, Friday Caliban, Vice Principal Nero, Dr. Georgina Orwell, Jerome Squalor...
Pynchon: Oedipa Maas, Pierce Inverarity, Mike Fallopian, Genghis Cohen, Dr. Hilarius, John Nefastis, Randolph Driblette, Professor Emory Bortz...
[4] Snicket: Count Olaf trying to steal the Baudelaire fortune after their parents' deaths
Pynchon: Oedpida executing Inverarity's will and large fortune after his death
* mysterious organizations known only by the elusive acronyms and even more elusive slogans [1]
* wild goose chases to learn the organization's purpose
* infiltration of said organization absolutely everywhere the more you look
* organization's symbol crops up all over the place
* oppositional groups in or related to the organization [2]
* odd character names [3]
* even more odd appearances of said characters to dispense information about the organization at the exact right coincidental moment
* the initiating action of the novel is the fate of some fortune after a decease [4]
Pynchon included sex and drug use while Snicket does not (obviously for children's books), but other than that, The Crying of Lot 49 could have been an installment in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
[1] Snicket: V.F.D.'s "The world is quiet here"
Pynchon: W.A.S.T.E.'s "We Await Silent Tristero's Empire"
[2] Snicket: volunteers & villains within V.F.D.
Pynchon: Thurn und Taxis & Trystero (W.A.S.T.E.)
[3] Snicket: Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, Quigley Quagmire, Carmelita Spats, Friday Caliban, Vice Principal Nero, Dr. Georgina Orwell, Jerome Squalor...
Pynchon: Oedipa Maas, Pierce Inverarity, Mike Fallopian, Genghis Cohen, Dr. Hilarius, John Nefastis, Randolph Driblette, Professor Emory Bortz...
[4] Snicket: Count Olaf trying to steal the Baudelaire fortune after their parents' deaths
Pynchon: Oedpida executing Inverarity's will and large fortune after his death
jonahtriestoread's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed everything outside of the play bit, it read very tedious to me and had me zoning out.
I had a similar problem with possession by A.s Byatt, with all the letters and poems blurring into each-other, so I think this kind of book may just not be for me.
Outside of the historical dives is a really fun paranoia filled trip.
3.75 ://// think I need to reread when I’m 30
I had a similar problem with possession by A.s Byatt, with all the letters and poems blurring into each-other, so I think this kind of book may just not be for me.
Outside of the historical dives is a really fun paranoia filled trip.
3.75 ://// think I need to reread when I’m 30
dafunnypimp's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0