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Pynchon discussing goon culture in Bleeding Edge is an absolute delight. Pynchon is awesome and one of my favorite authors even though I outright hated about 40% of V, Vineland is pretty bad, and Against the Day is a bit of a slog while simultaneously containing some of the best passages of his career. But Gravity's Rainbow, Crying of Lot 49, Inherent Vice, Mason & Dixon, Bleeding Edge...loved them all. Everyone should read DeLillo - Underworld (especially that breathtaking opening baseball chapter) is great and Libra is even better. Ratner's Star should definitely get brought up in this discussion as well. The Names, Running Dog, Great Jones Street...DeLillo writes very smart, challenging books. I personally think that White Noise isn't a great representation of what he's all about. As far as DFW goes, Infinite Jest is worth the trip. But Pale King, while unfinished, is actually the more interesting book from a discussion standpoint. Not saying it's "better," just that I enjoyed tackling it and talking about it afterwards more. A Frolic of His Own is so much fun. Left me wanting to read more Gaddis. Vonnegut rocks. Nabokov's Pale Fire is astounding too. If you're in a Book Club with smart, interesting people and you want to have a heated discussion - pick this book. Not sure if it counts since it's a little before the time period but I recently read Flann O'Brien's At Swim-Two-Birds and it's a confusing, hilarious, mind-bending ride through multiple levels of narrative. It's actually fairly similar structurally to House of Leaves, now that I think about it. Martin Amis is worth checking out too. Money, London Fields, and the shocking-if-you-don't-know-anything-about-it-don't-even-read-the-blurb-on-the-back-of-the-book Time's Arrow. A little more straightforward than much of this crop. Anyway, reading rules. Glad I found this thread. Back to lurking.
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Dec 5, 2014 04:31
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screenwritersblues posted:I'm about the dive into DeLillo full force this year. I plan on reading Underworld, White Noise, Cosmopolis, and Great Jones Street. Should I really know anything about any of them or his writing style and is there any order I should read them in? This is going to be my first time really sitting down and reading him. Underworld is incredible, but you may not want it to be your first experience with DeLillo. Great Jones Street will give you an idea of his style without the massive time commitment that comes with Underworld. White Noise is fine, but it's actually my least favorite DeLillo book. Libra would also be a good place to start, but I'm not sure if you're looking to expand that reading list or not. While I'm here, I just finished J R (William Gaddis) two days ago. I absolutely loved A Frolic of His Own but I didn't like J R very much. Other than the scenes with J R himself, I found the book to be a dull slog. Anyone here care to defend it?
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Jan 2, 2015 16:47
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Franchescanado posted:I've felt the sinister urge to read another Pynchon novel after finishing Gravity's Rainbow earlier this year. I've started reading Vineland, which is Pynchon-lite, as far as I understand. Vineland starts out fine but doesn't really go anywhere. I think that this book and V are Pynchon's weakest. Even his more recent "Pynchon Lite" books like Inherent Vice and Bleeding Edge have more meat to them (in addition to being more enjoyable reading experiences).
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Jul 24, 2015 11:42
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While we're recommending things, check out Chimera by John Barth. Just read it for my book club and I was blown away by it. Check it out if you like re-imagined myths, layers of narration, and the author inserting multiple versions of himself into a story. Currently in the middle of William H. Gass's The Tunnel and it is a beast.
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Mar 10, 2017 02:24
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at the date posted:The Tunnel is sitting on my shelf waiting for me to take a long vacation. Just finished the other day. In some sense now is the perfect time to read it. Gass basically lays out a road map for how something like the Alt-Right can become a dominant faction in a country. It also spends quite a bit of time on rural disaffection. And the parts about academic infighting are fun. All that plus the Germany sections of the book make for a compelling read. However, 650+ pages of stream of consciousness writing just feels like way too much. It was easier to handle in a book the length of Omensetter's Luck. If you're a Gass fan already you'll probably enjoy at least most of it. If you've tried him before and didn't find him to your liking it's very unlikely that this one will change your mind. Continuing the Postmodern kick with Carpenter's Gothic. About a third of the way through and it's a lot of fun. Reminiscent of A Frolic of His Own and the apartment scenes in JR. Gaddis is such a master of revealing things to the reader in a roundabout way.
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Mar 30, 2017 14:19
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