#61

i get the same thing from the more focused/narrative sections

3 Likes
#62

Me too. Also feels a bit Vonnegut-y at times

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#63

Somewhere in the 80s now and it got a bit harder for a while there.

Plot chat: Surely the (rather problematic) toilet scene must have influenced Danny Boyle when he was making trainspotting?

1 Like
#64

I’ve found that to be the hardest section so far, been relatively easy reading (and easy to pick up and put down) from about 100 onwards. Also just getting more of a handle on who does what, what the “teams” or “sides” are etc. For a while it felt like I was having to learn a new character or setting every few pages

1 Like
#65

I have considered making notes at times - lots of good names (Roger Mexico)

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#66

Reading my mum’s copy, think she said first time she read it she filled a few pages of her diary with quotes

#67

finished Part 1, was definitely coming together towards the end and becoming easier to grasp and more narratively-direct. Feels like he does big stream-of-consciousness/free association style intros for new characters or storylines, but when that character comes back they tend to feature in much more simple stories with easy to follow relationships etc. It works well, just means that it’s hard to get my head around who a new person is/how they relate to all the other stories, but then next time I’m excited to see where they’ve ended up and what the their next piercing insight is. For example, the end of Part 1 has some genuinely romantic and touching stuff about Roger and Jessica, which could have been pulled from any much more “regular” book, but which stood out in GR given all the surrounding context.

Got further than I did last time anyway, and keen to keep on going :nerd_face:

2 Likes
#68

Good to hear. I’m on about 140-something and it’s going pretty well. Quite like getting lost in the stream of consciousness to be honest

#69

yeah that’s the only way to do it. I’m sure on a reread there’s a lot more to get from analysing lines or fully taking in the allegories, but for now I just try to read them all in one go, and let the tide of words carry me along

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#70

Page 134
Tears cried thus far 0

Really really enjoying this a load more than I thought I would. There’s a few places where I’m a bit “whoah, I need to re read that entire paragraph cos I’ve no idea what’s going on” but mostly it’s b engaging narrative that’s making a certain kind of sense.

Yer man really knows his way around a sentence right? Blimey. Some stonking writing, word choice, the lot.

Best bit so far, the comedy gold of Slothrop eating all the old lady’s revolting English sweets

4 Likes
#71

This and chuck in a health dose of Burroughs for good measure too!

1 Like
#72

Most overrated book of all time. THERE!

#73

If I remember right, there’s an article somewhere about Pynchon’s uncharacteristic (relative to how he is often perceived, I mean) penchant for quite direct and sincere romance (y’know amongst all the transgressions and the Brady Bunch references and the pooing)

Here it is, it’s been a while since I read it so apologies if it’s not much cop

One thing I particularly find a bit touching about his post-GR stuff is how, despite how little we know about his “real life”, it’s pretty safe to assume that he really, really, really loves being a parent

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#74

I might look for my GR dissertation

#75

oh, also another highlight of Pynchon-based online resources – the PynchonWiki note that Inherent Vice and Bleeding Edge both make passing reference to an extremely specific episode of the Brady Bunch, thus suggesting that this episode may be a favourite of Pynchon’s

and finally (sorry but every time I remember this, I need to share it)
http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/uncollected/letter.html

#76

I like all the info and links! Will be fun to look through when I’m done

#77

love the Roger and Jessica stuff

might jump back in with this, as I never finished

#78

Read another ten pages last night and didn’t have a fucking clue what was going on in any of it.

3 Likes
#79

Nah. That’d be Lord of the Rings.

#80

I found it to be very frustrating due to this - you start to build up a kind of map of everything that’s going on and then he crumples it up and moves all the landmarks. I guess there’s a meaning in that act, but it just made my mind wander away from the book more often than not.