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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
challenging
emotional
funny
slow-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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Unsurprisingly a banger, even if the last quarter is a little more plodding and melancholic than the remainder… Pynchon’s obsession with paranoia and the disturbances of epochal change is transposed into his most ambitious setting yet in a novel that is anything but predictable in its treatment of his usual esoteric and enlightened themes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
slow-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:
Complicated
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-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:
Complicated
"One reason Humans remain young so long, compar’d to other Creatures, is that the young are useful in many ways, among them in providing daily, by way of the evil Creatures and Slaughter they love, a Denial of Mortality clamorous enough to allow their Elders release, if only for moments at a time, from Its Claims upon the Attention."
If you read enough of literature related ideas posted online, Thomas Pynchon is no doubt a name you have heard thrown about. Known for being a recluse and writing complex and challenging novels but also known as one of the great living American artists. His work has always intimidated me a bit, notably difficult to read and complex novels always do, but last year I read ‘Vineland’ which is commonly referred to as “Pynchon-Lite” and I really enjoyed his character work and sense of humor. After Vineland I have been prepping myself mentally to attack one of his more “difficult” works and by the luck of the draw, found a sale for ‘Mason & Dixon’ on Amazon. I knew nothing about this novel coming in other than two distinct things. The novel is about Mason & Dixon, the historical figures who marked the Mason Dixon line; and the novel is thrown about in the Great American Novel discussion online for some. So, it’s safe to say my expectations were high, does it live up to them?
"They saw Brutality enough, at the Cape of Good Hope. They can no better understand it now, than then. Something is eluding them. Whites in both places are become the very Savages of their own worst Dreams, far out of Measure to any Provocation.”
Yes. Undoubtedly yes. I found the period accurate prose difficult at the start but as I settled in I realized how fun and whimsical this is, mostly. Pynchon uses this novel to explore so many themes and ideas but those that stuck out most to me is the nature of history, the nature of religion, the boundaries we impose between ourselves, and the paradoxical nature of the American Dream. The lead of the past is not a straight line, rather an amalgamation of currents and the history that runs through it is formed by those who tell its story. Sadly ever more relevant in the current day. While the novel touches on its themes in a serious way, it understands that doesn’t mean the novel can’t be fun. There are talking animals and a whole lot of jokes. Mason & Dixon is undoubtedly one of the most fun novels I have read in recent memory, which is wild considering it is an 800-page story about historical surveyors told in period accurate language. Pynchon is asking us about the very nature of the history we know. Even though the language used was difficult for me, I can’t say anything other than that I loved it!
"To stand at the Post Mark'd West, and turn to face West, can be a trial for those sentimentally inclined, as well as for everyone nearby. It is possible to feel the combined force, in perfect Enfilade, of every future second unelapsed, every Chain yet to be stretch'd, every unknown Event to be undergone, - the unmodified Terror of keeping one's Latitude."
If you read enough of literature related ideas posted online, Thomas Pynchon is no doubt a name you have heard thrown about. Known for being a recluse and writing complex and challenging novels but also known as one of the great living American artists. His work has always intimidated me a bit, notably difficult to read and complex novels always do, but last year I read ‘Vineland’ which is commonly referred to as “Pynchon-Lite” and I really enjoyed his character work and sense of humor. After Vineland I have been prepping myself mentally to attack one of his more “difficult” works and by the luck of the draw, found a sale for ‘Mason & Dixon’ on Amazon. I knew nothing about this novel coming in other than two distinct things. The novel is about Mason & Dixon, the historical figures who marked the Mason Dixon line; and the novel is thrown about in the Great American Novel discussion online for some. So, it’s safe to say my expectations were high, does it live up to them?
"They saw Brutality enough, at the Cape of Good Hope. They can no better understand it now, than then. Something is eluding them. Whites in both places are become the very Savages of their own worst Dreams, far out of Measure to any Provocation.”
Yes. Undoubtedly yes. I found the period accurate prose difficult at the start but as I settled in I realized how fun and whimsical this is, mostly. Pynchon uses this novel to explore so many themes and ideas but those that stuck out most to me is the nature of history, the nature of religion, the boundaries we impose between ourselves, and the paradoxical nature of the American Dream. The lead of the past is not a straight line, rather an amalgamation of currents and the history that runs through it is formed by those who tell its story. Sadly ever more relevant in the current day. While the novel touches on its themes in a serious way, it understands that doesn’t mean the novel can’t be fun. There are talking animals and a whole lot of jokes. Mason & Dixon is undoubtedly one of the most fun novels I have read in recent memory, which is wild considering it is an 800-page story about historical surveyors told in period accurate language. Pynchon is asking us about the very nature of the history we know. Even though the language used was difficult for me, I can’t say anything other than that I loved it!
"To stand at the Post Mark'd West, and turn to face West, can be a trial for those sentimentally inclined, as well as for everyone nearby. It is possible to feel the combined force, in perfect Enfilade, of every future second unelapsed, every Chain yet to be stretch'd, every unknown Event to be undergone, - the unmodified Terror of keeping one's Latitude."