r/ThomasPynchon

Has anyone read Thomas McGuane's 92 in the Shade? It was one of finalists to Gravity's Rainbow's win for the National Book Award in 1974, and I think it is in good company there: dark, funny, technically precise, written right on the edge. I'd put McGuane in the same conversation as Pynchon as a formidable, if often ignored, contemporary, especially across his first four or five novels. Curious whether others here see that kinship, or have thoughts on where he lands relative to Pynchon. The film adaptation (directed by McGuane himself) is worth a look too.

"'We were at the MGM Grand, I was playing one of the Stooges slots, had just got three Larrys, a Moe, and a pie on the payline, turned around to share my good fortune, Shae and Bruno were nowhere in sight. Collected my Jackpot, went looking all over for them, they were gone. I always imagined if they ever did run out , I'd be left in some embarrassing public situation, handcuffed to a lamppost or whatever. But there I was, free as any normal citizen, with the room paid up and enough casino credit to last me a couple of days anyway.'"

(Bleeding Edge, p. 405)

"When they were introduced next morning at breakfast, she saw this shorter, older guy wearing a truly gross suit, in synthetic fabric but printed to look like some tweed of bright powder-blue flecks against a liver colored background. The pants bagged at the knees. DL leaned lightly on his shoulder and looked down at him, a little apologetic. 'Just got to keep an eye on his feet, you'll be fine,' as Takeshi took Prairie's hand and leered genially. 'Here,' DL reaching over and swiftly brushing bangs down over his eyebrows while he tried, muttering, to push her away, 'who's he remind you of?'

'Moe!' Prairie cried.

He winked. 'What's she been tellin' ya, Toots?'

'All about it,' said DL."

(Vineland, p. 149)

I swear he also referenced them an additional handful of times in his other novels. Maybe Inherent Vice? Shadow Ticket? Gravity's Rainbow? I just really love how he references all these little bits of pop culture and television in a very unabashed and cheeky way.

This a is admittedly playing in a sand box but re-reading Vineland I got this dawning realization that some key elements to Tarentino’s Kill Bill biology was taken directly from Pynchon’s, imo, underrated novel. DL, the white, western gorgeous female Ninja with off the charts martial skills is out for revenge; complete with an arcane, rarely mastered skill called “Vibrating Palm”. It’s a delay kill technique. That is, when applied it seems harmless but it has set up a chain of fucked up chi diversions that drops the victim stone dead at a later point. Hm . . . This doesn’t really matter (I liked Kill Bill). I was just struck by the direct lift from Pynchon.

GR was my first Pynchon and I finished that about a week ago, and just read Inherent Vice and adored it. That being said, I’d like to get back into the heavier Pynchon. What novel would you guys recommend next? Thanks!

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.

It seems to be common to view the part 4 of GR as Pynchon showing us why and how counter culture failed to do shit. But I don't understand exactly what does this mean - as there barely any intext exploration of it, aside from counterforce representative blaming Them for separating them(we have no reason to believe this is reliable btw).

My best quess, is that counterforce had failed from the start because they have brought in into all these stupid ass conspiracy theories and are totally missing the point(that is, technology, man). The real "tragedy" of part 4 is the launch of 00001. The book treats 00000 as this incredibly important event/thing - it's culmination of the work by Blicero, who is basically the biggest They in the book. It's launch essentially destroys the book, ending it, equating it with apocalypsis.

Herero group headed by Enzian is the opposite. They don't seem to fit the setting, they doubt their own existance, they are hunted by every militirally side remaining - they are ultimate underdogs. And they recreate 00000 with 00001 by themselves and launch it, and the counterforce helps them do so.

And thats what the tragedy of the book - that even the most dangerous weapon can be recreated rather easily, which is all is a metaphor for nukes - and so we are all fucked. And I quess counter culture failed because it had ignored the technology

I just finished Mason and Dixon this weekend and I’m still in the afterglow of it all. I read GR last year which was my first experience with any of Pynchon’s books, and loved it as well. While they are very different books, I was struck at how much nature is practically its own character in both novels. Not only that, but I often found that Pynchon’s pose was at its most poetic, most moving when he was describing nature around his characters and scenes. So….let’s share our favorite Pynchon nature lines, passages, paragraphs that have stuck with you!

Howdy Weirdos,

It's Sunday again, and I assume you know what the means? Another thread of "What Are You Into This Week"?

Our weekly thread dedicated to discussing what we've been reading, watching, listening to, and playing the past week.

Have you:

• Been reading a good book? A few good books?
• Did you watch an exceptional stage production?
• Listen to an amazing new album or song or band? Discovered an amazing old album/song/band?
• Watch a mind-blowing film or tv show?
• Immerse yourself in an incredible video game? Board game? RPG?

We want to hear about it, every Sunday.

Please, tell us all about it. Recommend and suggest what you've been reading/watching/playing/listening to. Talk to others about what they've been into.

Tell us:

What Are You Into This Week?

- r/ThomasPynchon Moderator Team

i'm reading the book with a guide, and the intro to this section is "... this is when the book all comes together, and falls apart, and things get extremely weird/tricky." NOW it's going to get weird and tricky? what have i been reading for the past 600+ pages?! Anywho...here goes nothing