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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
My review in the Boston Phoenix.
http://shipwrecklibrary.com/the-modern-word/sl-md-keough/
http://shipwrecklibrary.com/the-modern-word/sl-md-keough/
I think this is likely the best of Thomas Pynchon, one of the great novels of my lifetime, although I enjoyed his Bleeding Edge more. I don’t know that I’ve read a better book that was written since I’ve been born. Better and good and great and enjoyable and exhilarating are all of course very different words, and it is for all of that not one of my favorite books, but. Masterful style, compelling history, quality story of Friendship and a pair in the lineage of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, awesome odyssey and the usual overbrimming of stories and side characters, framing devices and framed devices. It is, all in all, A Lot. But very good at it.
One of his best along with Gravity's Rainbow and Against the Day.
Second "read" was audio book with fantastic narration. Great way to experience this a second time.
Second "read" was audio book with fantastic narration. Great way to experience this a second time.
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
I am slain. This book is Beyond anything, a companion I've lived with for a month and who will live with me, I expect, for a good while longer. A fucking Goodreads review is a puny pile of salt next to this Magnetick Mountain. First time I've cried reading Pynchon! This is not book of the year. This is book of the life.
“The general public has long been divided into two parts; those who think that science can do anything and those who are afraid it will.”
Mason & Dixon is justified madness. A book that cares little for convention, and is an experience that is unique and memorable. It’s mostly challenging due to Pynchon emulating 18th century English, but also because it delves into astronomical jargon, and requires some knowledge of British and American history.
In the 1760’s, before the American Revolution, an astronomer named Charles Mason, and a surveyor named Jeremiah Dixon, head to British America to survey a number of areas that would eventually become the Mason-Dixon Line, forming the borders of Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware.
There’s plenty of silly jokes, poems, and songs, and Pynchon frequently pays homage to historical figures and key events in American History.
So many subplots. Not all of them work.
New characters are introduced, only to be forgotten again. At one point, an antagonist in the form of an evil Jesuit is introduced only to be ditched unceremoniously some time later. Oh, and there’s also a talking dog.
Pynchon’s wild tangents and zany antics make one feel a little lost and confused. I suppose it’s all a part of the experience (Despite my initial thoughts, it’s actually easier than Gravity’s Rainbow).
It took the writer over 20 years to finish and finally publish and it shows. The book is rich in detail. From the bizarre social gatherings of public hangings, to the wind-swept insanity-inducing island of St Helena, and to George Washington having a fondness of getting high, “Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!”, I learnt a great deal of amusing, historical trivialities.
Mason and Dixon are fine characters but at times they feel under-utilised. This seems to be a signature of Pynchon. It’s all about the use of language. This is something to remember when attempting any of his novels.
There are a few notable chapters, such as when they express their abhorrence for slavery around the world, and a deep insight into bereavement that are truly impactful. I just wish there were more passionate moments like these. I suppose they wouldn’t be so moving if they were more frequent.
However, the last hundred pages are surprisingly poignant regarding the relationship between the two characters, what they went through, and the legacy they left behind. All of the previous complaints I had were washed away. Everything came together quite beautifully.
I always felt I was reading something special but the ending swept me off my feet. Despite being tough at times, Mason & Dixon is an extraordinary adventure, one I wholeheartedly recommend.
“...so claim'd are the Surveyors in their contra-solar Return by Might-it-bes, and If-it-weres, - not to mention What-was-thats.”
Pynchon ranked:
Gravity’s Rainbow (4.2/5)
Mason & Dixon (4.1/5)
The Crying of Lot 49 (3.7/5)
Slow Learner (3.2/5)
Mason & Dixon is justified madness. A book that cares little for convention, and is an experience that is unique and memorable. It’s mostly challenging due to Pynchon emulating 18th century English, but also because it delves into astronomical jargon, and requires some knowledge of British and American history.
In the 1760’s, before the American Revolution, an astronomer named Charles Mason, and a surveyor named Jeremiah Dixon, head to British America to survey a number of areas that would eventually become the Mason-Dixon Line, forming the borders of Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware.
There’s plenty of silly jokes, poems, and songs, and Pynchon frequently pays homage to historical figures and key events in American History.
So many subplots. Not all of them work.
New characters are introduced, only to be forgotten again. At one point, an antagonist in the form of an evil Jesuit is introduced only to be ditched unceremoniously some time later. Oh, and there’s also a talking dog.
Pynchon’s wild tangents and zany antics make one feel a little lost and confused. I suppose it’s all a part of the experience (Despite my initial thoughts, it’s actually easier than Gravity’s Rainbow).
It took the writer over 20 years to finish and finally publish and it shows. The book is rich in detail. From the bizarre social gatherings of public hangings, to the wind-swept insanity-inducing island of St Helena, and to George Washington having a fondness of getting high, “Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!”, I learnt a great deal of amusing, historical trivialities.
Mason and Dixon are fine characters but at times they feel under-utilised. This seems to be a signature of Pynchon. It’s all about the use of language. This is something to remember when attempting any of his novels.
There are a few notable chapters, such as when they express their abhorrence for slavery around the world, and a deep insight into bereavement that are truly impactful. I just wish there were more passionate moments like these. I suppose they wouldn’t be so moving if they were more frequent.
However, the last hundred pages are surprisingly poignant regarding the relationship between the two characters, what they went through, and the legacy they left behind. All of the previous complaints I had were washed away. Everything came together quite beautifully.
I always felt I was reading something special but the ending swept me off my feet. Despite being tough at times, Mason & Dixon is an extraordinary adventure, one I wholeheartedly recommend.
“...so claim'd are the Surveyors in their contra-solar Return by Might-it-bes, and If-it-weres, - not to mention What-was-thats.”
Pynchon ranked:
Gravity’s Rainbow (4.2/5)
Mason & Dixon (4.1/5)
The Crying of Lot 49 (3.7/5)
Slow Learner (3.2/5)
A creme brûlée of a bromance novel. Rich, satisfying with a hard crust to crack with nods to history, to science, to travel, to fantastical creatures (talking dogs and ducks) . Not an easy read and i know that 50% of it went straight over my head (will need to read the companion reader) but he does know how to write some lovely sentences so I can forgive cetain "er where are we going with this' sections.
Probably Pynchon's most fun and exacting novel. Read the first sentence... Holy Fuck.