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jwmcoaching 's review for:
Against the Day
by Thomas Pynchon
2 1/2 stars.
Holy shit; I can't believe I finally finished this bastard!
As anyone who has ever read any of his stuff knows, Thomas Pynchon isn't a huge fan of the whole brevity thing. Typically, this doesn't bother me. This is the last novel in the Pynchon canon for me, so I'm pretty used to his verbose style by now. Against the Day was just a problem though. Even at his lengthiest, Pynchon usually remains, at least, entertaining. This one, though...
It could have been 300-400 pages shorter. It also could have used at least 2-3 fewer of its many labyrinthine plot lines. The characters verged on the ridiculous by the end (and that's saying A LOT for Pynchon) and I can't really say that I cared that much about any of them when everything was said and done. Unlike all of his other novels, I really feel like this was probably started about 50 years ago, languished in a drawer, and then was added onto over the decades until he finally decided to release it 10 years ago. It just felt like it was a mess that, if pruned more, could have been another Pynchon masterpiece. Too bad.
Holy shit; I can't believe I finally finished this bastard!
As anyone who has ever read any of his stuff knows, Thomas Pynchon isn't a huge fan of the whole brevity thing. Typically, this doesn't bother me. This is the last novel in the Pynchon canon for me, so I'm pretty used to his verbose style by now. Against the Day was just a problem though. Even at his lengthiest, Pynchon usually remains, at least, entertaining. This one, though...
It could have been 300-400 pages shorter. It also could have used at least 2-3 fewer of its many labyrinthine plot lines. The characters verged on the ridiculous by the end (and that's saying A LOT for Pynchon) and I can't really say that I cared that much about any of them when everything was said and done. Unlike all of his other novels, I really feel like this was probably started about 50 years ago, languished in a drawer, and then was added onto over the decades until he finally decided to release it 10 years ago. It just felt like it was a mess that, if pruned more, could have been another Pynchon masterpiece. Too bad.