I just heard about Thomas Pynchon and would like to try out some of his older works first. Any suggestion? "V" looks interesting...
2006-11-12 08:41:17 · 5 answers · asked by Ryan 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
"V"'s quite long and takes some slogging. I'd advise trying his short novel, "The Crying of Lot 49" first.
Click on the links below, please
2006-11-12 08:45:56 · answer #1 · answered by johnslat 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You might want to start with short stories. "Slow Learner" includes a short story called "Entropy" that I thought was outstanding. Otherwise, "The Crying of Lot 49" would be a good first book.
Good luck! I find that I have to be in a special sort of mood to enjoy Pynchon's writing...it's really a lot of work to wrap your brain around it all.
2006-11-12 11:11:51 · answer #2 · answered by Jen A 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually I was about to ask the same question, since I too have just read about Pynchon on the Yahoo News. I was thinking maybe starting with Mason & Dixon - since I like history.
What is Mason & Dixon like?
2006-11-12 09:14:05 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I started with "V." and I'm fine (I say as I twitch). Just kidding. "V." does take some work, but once you pass the first few chapters, it's really great. But "The Crying of Lot 49" is a lot more immediately engaging as well as being significantly shorter.
He's got a new book coming out this month, too, but I haven't read it.
2006-11-12 08:59:24 · answer #4 · answered by Theo D 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thr Crying of Lot 49 is a good start. Gravity's Rainbow is an amazing book, very long. V and Gravity's Rainbow are both long, and are more enjoyable to read if you know a *little* about military history
2006-11-12 09:23:09 · answer #5 · answered by Ms. Switch 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋