My approach to GR & Pynchon in general
Hey everyone, I wanted to share how I’ve been approaching TP’s work and was curious if others do the same and what their approaches are as well.
I started GR last week as a challenge to myself. I know sometimes we can psych ourselves out with the length of the novel and all the discussions in this lovely subreddit talking about its difficulty, etc.
For me what I do is a first path reading up to the sprocket point and then I put the book down. The following day I reread what I read the day before and then go a little further to the next sprocket point.
I don’t know how to describe why this works for me, but I can describe it visually.
The first read thru I feel like I’m clearing a path. I read each word and detail each sentence slowly, soaking in the lovely prose of TP. The next day, when I reread it, it feels like I’m on a clear path something that I’ve already know. But what makes the second path quite differently I find that if I actually read a little bit faster, I fall into the rhythm of the work, and so now all the beats land clearer all the jokes hit harder and the description is more vivid.
All this to say is that I’m loving GR right now and I’m gonna be approaching all of his work in this way to see if it helps me and maybe others as well. Curious to know if others have felt this or have a different approach or think differently.
TLDR: I have ADHD, refuse to be medicated and found out how to read properly.