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A review by iggy63
Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon
4.0
I must confess that this is the first Pynchon novel I’ve read. Yes, I know by now I should have read Gravity’s Rainbow if I consider myself a bookie, but the time for that was probably college, and there were plenty of other distractions. The common perception is that his novels are lengthy, impenetrable affairs, so over years I’ve steered away. Recently, I’ve heard that his latest efforts are more easily absorbed, so I grabbed Bleeding Edge at the library on impulse.
There are books that grab you in the first page, sometimes in the first paragraph. Then there are books that take a few chapters to draw you in. I would categorize this in the latter group. Pynchon’s style often meanders, cutting frequently onto tangents and character flashbacks, and then back to the narration with little or no warning. You have to be on your toes. But once you get accustomed to this, you can really sink your teeth in.
The story revolves around Maxine, a resilient Jewish mother who makes a living as a fraud investigator. The setting is New York City, in the months just prior and just after 9-11. We’re in the aftermath of the dot.com collapse, and what Pynchon refers to as ‘late capitalism.’ A whistle-blower alerts Maxine to the possible malfeasance of Gabriel Ice, a dot.com mogul who heads hashsligerz, a computer security firm. The story quickly becomes a swirling whirlpool of computer geeks, hackers, venture capitalists, Russian mobsters, a federal agent gone rogue, an ex-husband, a brother-in-law who may or may not be a member of the Mossad, and host of other great characters, all amidst the colorful backdrop of NYC circa 2001.
Once a dead body is discovered, it seemed for a moment that this would turn into an elaborate PI/crime fiction story, but it’s really much, much more than that. In truth, it doesn’t really even matter who did what to whom. It’s just an enjoyable read, steeped in the paranoia of the time. Pynchon nails the feeling of the early Y2K era, and somehow made me feel nostalgic for it, even though it wasn’t that long ago. And it’s pretty funny, too. Reminded me of something that Michael Chabon or T.C. Boyle might dream up, which surprised me a bit, since I was expecting something heavier, without the pop culture references and black humor.
I think I'll work backwards and check out Inherent Vice.
There are books that grab you in the first page, sometimes in the first paragraph. Then there are books that take a few chapters to draw you in. I would categorize this in the latter group. Pynchon’s style often meanders, cutting frequently onto tangents and character flashbacks, and then back to the narration with little or no warning. You have to be on your toes. But once you get accustomed to this, you can really sink your teeth in.
The story revolves around Maxine, a resilient Jewish mother who makes a living as a fraud investigator. The setting is New York City, in the months just prior and just after 9-11. We’re in the aftermath of the dot.com collapse, and what Pynchon refers to as ‘late capitalism.’ A whistle-blower alerts Maxine to the possible malfeasance of Gabriel Ice, a dot.com mogul who heads hashsligerz, a computer security firm. The story quickly becomes a swirling whirlpool of computer geeks, hackers, venture capitalists, Russian mobsters, a federal agent gone rogue, an ex-husband, a brother-in-law who may or may not be a member of the Mossad, and host of other great characters, all amidst the colorful backdrop of NYC circa 2001.
Once a dead body is discovered, it seemed for a moment that this would turn into an elaborate PI/crime fiction story, but it’s really much, much more than that. In truth, it doesn’t really even matter who did what to whom. It’s just an enjoyable read, steeped in the paranoia of the time. Pynchon nails the feeling of the early Y2K era, and somehow made me feel nostalgic for it, even though it wasn’t that long ago. And it’s pretty funny, too. Reminded me of something that Michael Chabon or T.C. Boyle might dream up, which surprised me a bit, since I was expecting something heavier, without the pop culture references and black humor.
I think I'll work backwards and check out Inherent Vice.