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Crying of Lot 49


Thomas Pynchon isn't an easy read, but he's funny and inventive. Part Joyce in his obscurity, part Kafka in the disorientation you feel. I read the Pinchon wiki to pick up on obscure references, before, during and after reading a chapter. 

Quote: "... he began to narrate for their entertainment a surfer orgy he had been to a week before, involving a five gallon can of kidney suet, a small automobile with a sun roof, and a trained seal."

I really liked the book. The complex sentences, the obscure references, the absurd names and characters.


Links:

Pynchon Wiki with its lovely notes. 

" In essence, the reason Pynchon rejects interviews regarding the subtext of his literature is based on Driblette's monologue as he, like Pynchon, describes the writing is in his head, yet the paradox is that his esoteric phrases leaves one to go in depth to understand what he is saying." Chapter 3 notes

"As ever with Pynchon's writing, the labyrinthine plots offer myriad linked cultural references." (Wikipedia)

Remedios Varo She painted the painting above called Bornando el Manto Terrestre

NY Times review in 1966. The book was published in 1955.

Wikipedia novel entry.

The novel is included in the Times 100 Best Novels

r/ThomasPynchon's discussion of novel, chapter by chapter

Pynchon In Public Podcast: chapter 1 of CoL49

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