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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
A huge novel, with about 7 different major plots. It emulates dozens of outdated writing styles, to some humor but often annoyance honestly. I felt like the tone was so wildly shifting that I didn't care about what was happening, and the writing was not what I have come to expect from Pynchon.
rerating to 5 - ultimately one of my favorite pynchon novels that really grew on me over time
rerating to 5 - ultimately one of my favorite pynchon novels that really grew on me over time
Finally, after a truly enthusiastic start, followed by months of putting down and picking up again, eventually to trudge through what I considered the slower bits, I finished this book with as much vigor as I began it. And what a feeling! I cannot describe it.
Truly a work of genius in ways I am unable to relate myself, Against the Day is a mammoth of a book, but so fascinating, for its characters, its sense of time and space, and its whorl of a plot. It struck me as distinctively SteamPunk, set in the age when reason began to win out over superstition, and with striking themes of potential, energy, and light hovering between the layers of what we now accept as reality.
There's absolutely no point in trying to relay what this novel is "about", but suffice it to say it's a masterpiece.
Truly a work of genius in ways I am unable to relate myself, Against the Day is a mammoth of a book, but so fascinating, for its characters, its sense of time and space, and its whorl of a plot. It struck me as distinctively SteamPunk, set in the age when reason began to win out over superstition, and with striking themes of potential, energy, and light hovering between the layers of what we now accept as reality.
There's absolutely no point in trying to relay what this novel is "about", but suffice it to say it's a masterpiece.
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
This novel expanded my ideas of what a novel can do. It inspired me because I've always attempted this same sort of style, this mix of high and low culture, silliness nestling next to sincerity, but I've never seen it mastered in the way it is here. That said, even for me, I had to sadly tap out around page 600-something, due to personal reasons. At that point, I'd been reading the book for over two months on a steady basis. There's just so much of it that reading it becomes exhausting. I might honestly like it better had it been sectioned out into a trilogy of 400 pg novels. No one needs me to tell them that Pynchon is a genius, but perhaps it was foolish of me to start out with his longest book. That doesn't mean I'm not committed to reading all the rest.
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
During those simpler, happy times (the Democrats assumed control of the House and matters appeared to be changing)I pre-ordered the novel with my happy local bookseller. It arrived really early, well before its publication date and I was four thousand miles away from home.
The bulky block of lore was scooped upon return. My friends had selected Against The Day for our winter read and I read the novel in two lengthy slogs, finding it necessary to reread several sections. Some of my friends weren't as ecstatic. I still found the Chums of Chance an ace device for observing a world spinning out of control: for the first decade of the 21st Century as well as their own. Our expectations will always be thwarted. The system will encircle our most valued motives and commodify such. This will continue until heat death snuffs out the flame. Entropy and Ossification remains Pynchonian archtypes and much of this is explored here through scattered paternity and the menace of mechanization. I bought a copy a few years ago for my wife's sister during a most happy christmas and I have pondered since that the novel certainly DEMANDS a second reading. We shall see.
The bulky block of lore was scooped upon return. My friends had selected Against The Day for our winter read and I read the novel in two lengthy slogs, finding it necessary to reread several sections. Some of my friends weren't as ecstatic. I still found the Chums of Chance an ace device for observing a world spinning out of control: for the first decade of the 21st Century as well as their own. Our expectations will always be thwarted. The system will encircle our most valued motives and commodify such. This will continue until heat death snuffs out the flame. Entropy and Ossification remains Pynchonian archtypes and much of this is explored here through scattered paternity and the menace of mechanization. I bought a copy a few years ago for my wife's sister during a most happy christmas and I have pondered since that the novel certainly DEMANDS a second reading. We shall see.
Postoje oni specifični razgovori sa još specifičnijim ljudima gde jedno obično ‘kako bilo sinoć’ proizvede sto pesetšes malih digresija i skretnica i gde se na kraju uopšte i ne dodje do odgovora. Ti razgovori su mi često neki od omiljenih, ali neretko me i u toj meri iscrpe da mi dodje da se protegnem i kažem kako sutra ustajem baaaaš rano i da uteknem sa mesta pre nego što do zločina (od moje ruke) uopšte dodje. Čitati Pinčona je obično kao takav neki razgovor - ovaj puta rastegnut na hiljadu i dvesta dvadeset stranica neurotičnog teksta prepunog zabavom i značenjem i, da, ponekad dosadom.
Posebno kada je koncentracija u perpetualnom potoku. Posebno kada je taj potok suv da suvlji ne može da bude, toliko suv da se možda i ne nazire.
I Pinčon nije kriv za to. Nije kriv što ja ovo čitam devet meseci (da nije tužno bilo bi poetično) i što je moje razumevanje teksta takvo da ponekad moram da pročitam sinopsis na vikipediji o tome šta se tačno u tom nekom poglavlju desilo. Nije kriv, ali i kriv je. Jer njegov mozak je kao ta konverzacija sa sto krakova, slepih ulica: struktura ovog romana je usko povezana sa matematikom i fizikom koja je i jedna od glavnih tema i efekat je utoliko više nalik na traku bez početka i kraja. Stil varira od avanturističkog do detektivskog do apsolutno nenormalnog. Konture likova se neretko (namenski) preklapaju; konstante su sklonosti ka seksualnom fetišizmu, ka banalnim odlukama i visokim idealima. Ukratko, maksimalistički roman kojeg nije stid te titule. I, kao što je uostalom i slučaj sa većinom stvari čija je konzumacija namenjena sa zvukom na maksimumu, sa gasom do daske, ovaj roman umori i iscrpi i mnogo toga da, ali mnogo toga traži – a ako nemaš šta da mu daš, onda ostane jedino žrtvovati zadovoljstvo.
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Posebno kada je koncentracija u perpetualnom potoku. Posebno kada je taj potok suv da suvlji ne može da bude, toliko suv da se možda i ne nazire.
I Pinčon nije kriv za to. Nije kriv što ja ovo čitam devet meseci (da nije tužno bilo bi poetično) i što je moje razumevanje teksta takvo da ponekad moram da pročitam sinopsis na vikipediji o tome šta se tačno u tom nekom poglavlju desilo. Nije kriv, ali i kriv je. Jer njegov mozak je kao ta konverzacija sa sto krakova, slepih ulica: struktura ovog romana je usko povezana sa matematikom i fizikom koja je i jedna od glavnih tema i efekat je utoliko više nalik na traku bez početka i kraja. Stil varira od avanturističkog do detektivskog do apsolutno nenormalnog. Konture likova se neretko (namenski) preklapaju; konstante su sklonosti ka seksualnom fetišizmu, ka banalnim odlukama i visokim idealima. Ukratko, maksimalistički roman kojeg nije stid te titule. I, kao što je uostalom i slučaj sa većinom stvari čija je konzumacija namenjena sa zvukom na maksimumu, sa gasom do daske, ovaj roman umori i iscrpi i mnogo toga da, ali mnogo toga traži – a ako nemaš šta da mu daš, onda ostane jedino žrtvovati zadovoljstvo.
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