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scorwin 's review for:
Mason & Dixon
by Thomas Pynchon
And thus concludes a two-year battle to close the back cover on this tome of Magical Thinking.
The challenge came not only with trying to navigate 1700's American English but also parsing through the countless (and I truly do mean, countless) historical references both true and apocryphal. Had I just desired to read it and let it wash over me without absorption of internalisation, this likely would have been finished in a matter of weeks. But I wanted not only to read it but the understand it. Therein lies the challenge. In order to weave my way through this serpentine novel (I use the word "novel" loosely), I constantly needed no less than three reader's guides and the OED open at all times, slowing my pace from a sprint to a trudge. It didn't help that I felt the need to scrawl my own annotations in the margins with obsessive-compulsive rigour. Hence why the average page in my battered copy looked like this. Pynchon may not make it easy for the reader, but I'll be goddamned if he doesn't make it rewarding.
Reading Mason & Dixon is an absolutely transformative experience. TRP's grasp of the relationship between history and the figures who commit it to record is second to none. His exploration of the myth of Modern America is a constant tug of war between objective examination, mythologizing, embellishment, and at times downright fabrication. The use of a frame narrative is the perfect device to illustrate the nature of how we tell ourselves the stories of our own history, and how said history can erode the truth and fill in the gaps with whatever suits the eye of the beholder. From a meta-analytical standpoint, this book is fucking brilliant.
That brilliance doesn't end at the dividing line between the abstract and the clear-cut narrative. What makes M&D such a joyful experience is not only the absurdity of the titular characters' journey but also the fraternal connection they develop for one another over the course of their American adventure. At the end of the day, this book is about friendship and brotherly devotion. The seething critique of our dark collective history is ultimately superseded by the beautiful relationships upon which the country is founded. In a word, Pynchon has left me hopeful.
Without question, this book has earned a spot in the pantheon of my favourite reads. I cannot wait to dive in again.
The challenge came not only with trying to navigate 1700's American English but also parsing through the countless (and I truly do mean, countless) historical references both true and apocryphal. Had I just desired to read it and let it wash over me without absorption of internalisation, this likely would have been finished in a matter of weeks. But I wanted not only to read it but the understand it. Therein lies the challenge. In order to weave my way through this serpentine novel (I use the word "novel" loosely), I constantly needed no less than three reader's guides and the OED open at all times, slowing my pace from a sprint to a trudge. It didn't help that I felt the need to scrawl my own annotations in the margins with obsessive-compulsive rigour. Hence why the average page in my battered copy looked like this. Pynchon may not make it easy for the reader, but I'll be goddamned if he doesn't make it rewarding.
Reading Mason & Dixon is an absolutely transformative experience. TRP's grasp of the relationship between history and the figures who commit it to record is second to none. His exploration of the myth of Modern America is a constant tug of war between objective examination, mythologizing, embellishment, and at times downright fabrication. The use of a frame narrative is the perfect device to illustrate the nature of how we tell ourselves the stories of our own history, and how said history can erode the truth and fill in the gaps with whatever suits the eye of the beholder. From a meta-analytical standpoint, this book is fucking brilliant.
That brilliance doesn't end at the dividing line between the abstract and the clear-cut narrative. What makes M&D such a joyful experience is not only the absurdity of the titular characters' journey but also the fraternal connection they develop for one another over the course of their American adventure. At the end of the day, this book is about friendship and brotherly devotion. The seething critique of our dark collective history is ultimately superseded by the beautiful relationships upon which the country is founded. In a word, Pynchon has left me hopeful.
Without question, this book has earned a spot in the pantheon of my favourite reads. I cannot wait to dive in again.