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241 reviews for:

Mason & Dixon

Thomas Pynchon

4.18 AVERAGE

challenging emotional funny sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad 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: Yes
adventurous challenging emotional funny informative mysterious reflective 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: Yes

esteele47's review

4.0
challenging funny slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
schoenbergesque's profile picture

schoenbergesque's review

4.5
adventurous challenging funny reflective slow-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

One of the most beautiful and heartfelt tales of friendship I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. It’s the reverse of Gravity’s Rainbow. Outstanding brilliance all the same tho. Although giving myself the benefit of the doubt I probably only totally understood a fraction of the genius Pynchon put into this work. That’s what rereads are for and this is book I am already desperate to read once more. Mason & Dixon are my favourite mates in the history of literature thus far.

I'm not sure what tag to give this novel. It could probably fit a number of different genre, it is filled with plenty of wit for sure or nonsense but it is most entertaining and could only come from a brilliant mind. Having an unreliable narrator and some form of ditty, poem maybe Limerick from time to time gave me a good deal of humor in the tall tales and shenanigans surrounding this duo. I highly recommend for the open minded and not too stuffy intellectual.

FINISHED!!! I am VICTORIOUS! Despite the ridiculous length of time that it took me to finish this, I really enjoyed it. It was strange, wacky, funny, confusing, brilliant, and in the end there was a perfect mix of nostalgia, sadness, and grief.

The only thing that I would really recommend is to not read it on a schedule. Do it when you're not watching a clock or trying desperately to finish. It's a book that should be explored rather than read. Unfortunately I focused on just continuing to turn the pages and keep reading and I think the experience suffered for it.

But it was still a really great experience :) I was hoping for a bit more info on the actual Mason-Dixon line but it was more about the partnership of the two men.
adventurous challenging funny slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced