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I read The Crying of Lot 49 and was struck by how funny and... fresh? it felt, had to double check when it was written. The slide from investigation to paranoia, human pattern recognition going haywire in the face of half-coincidences and plausible deniability was disorienting and fascinating (and reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut, although for me the film didn't land nearly as well). I got the impression a lot of readers dislike the revenge play in the middle (but that might have been from goodreads lol). I know gently caress all about theater and I'm sure most of the connections to outside events flew over my head, but I really enjoyed it.
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Feb 27, 2023 21:53
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Pynchon was in deep with all that CIA ARPA poo poo. To the point he was apparently worried about being bumped off for publishing the novel. Once you realize that though, the secret postal system takes on a whole new meaning.
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Feb 27, 2023 23:23
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Gaius Marius posted:To the point he was apparently worried about being bumped off for publishing the novel. Source please, I would be interested in that
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Feb 27, 2023 23:27
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http://shipwrecklibrary.com/the-modern-word/pynchon/sl-siegel-playboy/ Siegel isn't exactly reliable, but it seems legit that a dude like Pynchon would be pretty paranoid of three letter agencies.
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Feb 28, 2023 00:33
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Gaius Marius posted:http://shipwrecklibrary.com/the-modern-word/pynchon/sl-siegel-playboy/ Thanks for that! It was a great read. Now I will sit patiently and wait for someone to connect Jolly West to Tom Pynchon. (The teeth, my god, the teeth!)
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Feb 28, 2023 00:45
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He worked for the Bomarc program which pieces of would eventually become the modern internet. So he essentially knew of a top secret “invisible” messaging system across the country.
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Feb 28, 2023 13:40
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Also happy 50th to Gravity’s Rainbow.
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Feb 28, 2023 13:41
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Danger posted:He worked for the Bomarc program which pieces of would eventually become the modern internet. So he essentially knew of a top secret “invisible” messaging system across the country. I saw posts upthread about this, possibly yours, and knowing what Pynchon is gesturing toward definitely added to the experience.
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Feb 28, 2023 15:50
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I should read more Pynchon. Gave up on Gravity’s Rainbow pretty early, but I think I might dig other stuff.
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Feb 28, 2023 15:58
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ThePopeOfFun posted:I should read more Pynchon. Gave up on Gravity’s Rainbow pretty early, but I think I might dig other stuff. Where'd you stop? Part 1 is pretty disorienting (but also full of iconic and humorous moments), Part 2 is when it gets more into spy antics, espionage, and gets a little more centered around Slothrop. If you want "heavy" Pynchon, go for V. or Mason & Dixon. If you want Pynchon Lite, go for Inherent Vice or Lot 49. I feel like I may dig into Bleeding Edge soon. I read half of it, but got distracted by other books. I'll start it from scratch and see it through. I only have that and AtD left. I'm reading Kerouac's Big Sur. I feel like this thread doesn't like Kerouac, but I'm enjoying it. It's at it's best when he's talking about nature. Now he's deep into a drunken binge and a mental breakdown, and his mind has lost the ability to make connections. He's just seeing the world around him in images and can't tell what's real and imaginary, and everything feels sinister. It's pretty good. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Feb 28, 2023 |
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Feb 28, 2023 16:12
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Too intimidated to even attempt Gravity's Rainbow, but Inherent Vice I could probably handle. I find shorter books much easier to approach and Lot 49 was basically the perfect length for me. For those of you who read more recent books, anything of a similar length you've enjoyed from the last decade or so? I know it's not the most popular time window. One I saw many recommendations for is Eimear McBride's A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing and I'll throw mine on the pile, I really liked it. edit: Also read Strange Hotel from her but didn't connect with it as much. quadrata fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Feb 28, 2023 |
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Feb 28, 2023 16:23
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I just finished The Three Musketeers and that was long as poo poo. But also a lot of fun
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Feb 28, 2023 16:25
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I don't keep up with a lot of recent releases, but a handful I've liked: Sea Monsters by Chloe Aridjis Antkind by Charlie Kaufman Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong Antígona González by Sara Uribe Lauren Groff's books George Saunders's books
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Feb 28, 2023 16:35
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Part 1, yeah. Wasn’t into the wackiness at the time.
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Feb 28, 2023 17:03
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Inherent Vice is excellent and the PTA adaptation is wonderful. Also it’s an easier read but definitely more thematically dense than just some genre pastiche.
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Feb 28, 2023 18:53
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GR is so loving good you’ll go from like some loony toons poo poo joke into one of the most poignant passages on the abject ever written.
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Feb 28, 2023 18:55
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ThePopeOfFun posted:I should read more Pynchon. Gave up on Gravity’s Rainbow pretty early, but I think I might dig other stuff. Against The Day is very readable and while it takes awhile to get there is full of relatable generational family drama
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Feb 28, 2023 22:42
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fez_machine posted:Against The Day is very readable and while it takes awhile to get there is full of relatable generational family drama It's his biggest and best soup. Gravity's Rainbow has fewer ingredients but more seasoning.
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Feb 28, 2023 22:50
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quadrata posted:I read The Crying of Lot 49 and was struck by how funny and... fresh? it felt, had to double check when it was written. The slide from investigation to paranoia, human pattern recognition going haywire in the face of half-coincidences and plausible deniability was disorienting and fascinating (and reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut, although for me the film didn't land nearly as well). I read this for BOTM catch up and really enjoyed it.
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Mar 1, 2023 00:16
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all this talk about GR is making me want to read it again. please stop. i have other books i need to read
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Mar 1, 2023 00:26
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i’m reading alone in berlin by Hans fallada
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Mar 7, 2023 17:45
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ulvir posted:i’m reading alone in berlin by Hans fallada sorry you're lonely in germany but you forgot to tell us the title of the book
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Mar 8, 2023 05:40
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Odd for them to be lonely too, Hans Fallada is apparently right next to them. Say hi
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Mar 8, 2023 05:47
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Gaius Marius posted:Odd for them to be lonely too, Hans Fallada is apparently right next to them. Say hi Or let Hans read the book too so you don’t have to do it alone
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Mar 8, 2023 05:58
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ulvir posted:i’m reading alone in berlin by Hans fallada I almost accidentally bought a second copy because I didn't realize it was just a re-translation with a new title. (The one I have already is "Kukin kuolee itsekseen" i.e. "Everyone dies on their own" whereas the new one is "Yksin Berliinissä" i.e. "Alone in Berlin".)
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Mar 8, 2023 10:42
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DeimosRising posted:sorry you're lonely in germany but you forgot to tell us the title of the book Gaius Marius posted:Odd for them to be lonely too, Hans Fallada is apparently right next to them. Say hi Guy A. Person posted:Or let Hans read the book too so you don’t have to do it alone 
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Mar 12, 2023 11:50
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3D Megadoodoo posted:I almost accidentally bought a second copy because I didn't realize it was just a re-translation with a new title. (The one I have already is "Kukin kuolee itsekseen" i.e. "Everyone dies on their own" whereas the new one is "Yksin Berliinissä" i.e. "Alone in Berlin".) yeah I was a bit confused when I first looked through his bibliography on wikipedia, “wait, where’s alone in…? … oh”
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Mar 12, 2023 11:51
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3D Megadoodoo posted:I almost accidentally bought a second copy because I didn't realize it was just a re-translation with a new title. (The one I have already is "Kukin kuolee itsekseen" i.e. "Everyone dies on their own" whereas the new one is "Yksin Berliinissä" i.e. "Alone in Berlin".) I did that with Camus's The Stranger, which was also published as The Outsider, though having two translations of such a short book is kind of interesting because you can basically read them back to back. I'm sure it's been done, but it makes me want to read a book that's presented as two translations of a nonexistent book, and each translation is different enough that it radically changes the meaning of the text.
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Mar 12, 2023 18:06
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Magic Hate Ball posted:I did that with Camus's The Stranger, which was also published as The Outsider, though having two translations of such a short book is kind of interesting because you can basically read them back to back. I'm sure it's been done, but it makes me want to read a book that's presented as two translations of a nonexistent book, and each translation is different enough that it radically changes the meaning of the text. Huh, that's clever.
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Mar 12, 2023 18:17
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The Q source and the Gospels
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Mar 12, 2023 18:23
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Don Quixote by Cervantes and Don Quixote by Pierre Menard.
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Mar 12, 2023 20:49
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Pierre Ménard was a lot more interesting conceptually
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Mar 12, 2023 20:56
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It still amuses me slightly that the first Borges translation into English was published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
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Mar 13, 2023 10:23
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Started reading The Red and the Black. Already I can tell it's gonna be an all timer for me. Few novels are able to get you into that perfect Heat mindset of rooting for and against the protagonist at the same time. Julien's passion and intelligence are so clear, and the vanity and haughtiness of his betters so repugnant that you can't help but be taken with him. And yet that same deprived upbringing and the love/hate dichotomy towards wealth it instills in his mind are already in the process of loving up his social acrobatics as early as the kiss he bestows upon Mme. de Rênal. And his arrogance an naivety ensure he cannot comprehend the typhoon that that and further actions he takes towards her will create. gently caress his dad and brothers tho for real.
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Mar 18, 2023 04:01
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louise glück is good. i'm reading meadowlands, and i don't think there's been a single boring or insipid poem in that
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Mar 18, 2023 23:00
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Gluck is great, I copped an anthology of hers a few years ago and I go back to it often.
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Mar 19, 2023 01:57
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I finished A Place Of Greater Safety, by Hillary Mantel. I've previously read her Cromwell Trilogy, as well as 8 Months on Ghazzza Street, though the former is more obviously comparable in being works of historical fiction. Apart from a slow, almost painful start, I liked it a lot. I also like Mantels style though, and had specifically set out to read something by her in particular. You can definitely tell this is one of her earlier works however. It's sprawling but slightly clumsy, jumping back and forth in different styles and all over the place. Still, I found it very charming, even though you know everyone in it is going to end up getting beheaded. (Even if you didn't know the history, I'd have to believe you'd see that coming once the previous 17 000 victims are sent to the guillotine). Poor Camille, the little idiot. Of the three main players, he got the most sympathy, even or especially when he didn't deserve it. I miss him now, after having spent so many pages with him. There's a review saying it has too much history and not enough novel, but I didn't get that at all. After I was done I had a very clear image of all the main characters, but found myself googling details of the French revolution that had been skimmed over or left in the background. Crespolini fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Mar 21, 2023 |
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Mar 21, 2023 19:14
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I don't think there's a single better setting for a novel than from the French revolution to the other French revolution. There's something very disconcerting, intentionally I'm sure, whenever Wallace uses interface rather than interact to denote a conversation with another person.
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Mar 21, 2023 20:28
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You all loving suck for failing to tell me I should be reading Percival Everett. Just got "Dr. No" and I'm hooting and/or hollering.
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Mar 30, 2023 19:07
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mdemone posted:You all loving suck for failing to tell me I should be reading Percival Everett. Just got "Dr. No" and I'm hooting and/or hollering. I just read “The Trees” as my introduction to him and was pretty disappointed. He’s pretty prolific so I guess there will be ups and downs.
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Mar 30, 2023 23:29
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