Thomas Pynchon - The Crying of Lot 49 II

"Don't.Bother. The style was so ridiculously blokey that I gave up after a couple of chapters."


"absolutely not my cup of humor."


"Too many poems/songs for no good reason."


"I’ve heard all the talk about what a literary genius Pynchon is and how his works are pithy and wonderful and all of that. Everyone seems to think so, though I haven’t spoken to someone who has read one of his books to completion who feels this way. In fact, I haven’t ever spoken to someone who has finished one of his books at all. Interesting."


"If a word he chooses has more than one definition, my immediate reading is never of the meaning he intended, and I'd read a sentence over four times before I'd understand"


"This is from my favorite unbelievable narrator genre"


"You know what? Just because you're a mysterious recluse doesn't necessarily mean you're a very good writer. Hey, Thomas, how about you spend more time visiting your editor..."


"As a novelist, a maker of novels, he's shockingly bad. Don't let society trick you into feeling down on yourself for not liking this terrible man."


"The writing of the title as the last words of the novel? Please. Why is that such a literary feat?
I guess the point of the novel was not to have a point. I'm sorry, but that is just taking the easy way out. At least put some effort into making me feel something and ask questions about myself. Oh, the book was trying to do that? It's making me wonder what it all means and what is the meaning of life? Hello! Who needs to read this book to ask those questions? Everyone asks themselves those questions naturally. There's nothing particularly briliant in that concept. Anyway, I'll stop now because I'm not by nature a cynical guy and all this negativity is killing me."


"I have never wanted to slap a character from fiction more than Oedipa, shake the bitch by the shoulders and scream at her to tell me what the fuck was going on."


"For those looking for enlightenment, or even just a rewarding or fun challenge, you'd surely prefer something more timeless and less self-obsessed. [~doomsdayer520~]"

Thomas Pynchon - The Crying of Lot 49

"Oepida"


"Oedpia"


"Opedia"


"Ok, so I didn't actually read this book, but I did try."


"The truth is never revealed. And worst of all, we’re left with so much random information that never 'fits' anywhere and is never resolved. I don’t like it when things have no 'place' - if something is introduced into the story, I expect it to have some sort of relevance to the story. I’m always trying to find the connection, to find its rightful place."


"yawn! I'm sorry, you were saying something?"


"Further imagine that, adding to the confusion, there are no line breaks between completely different scenes; so suddenly they'll be in a completely different time and place and unless you're paying the closest of attention, you won't notice it."


"'I still don't get it!' was my main reaction. Granted, science fiction is my least favorite genre, perhaps followed by poetry."


"The only reason I finished this book is because it was short. When I read a book like this that everyone seems to think is so wonderful, it sort of reminds me of going into an art gallery and staring at some ugly piece of crap and I'm thinking 'that's an ugly piece of crap' and the stranger next to me seems to see something deep or inspiring in it and tells me all about it. I'm left wondering if there's something missing in me that I don't get it, or if that other person is just pretending and trying to be cool. I wonder if authors like this are laughing all the way to the bank at the poor fools who read this crap and then feel like they have to say wonderful things about it or else they are the uncool, the unenlightened."


"When I read a book like this and don't 'get it' I always wonder what I'm missing out on, or if I'm just too dense to get it. But then I usually decide it's not me at all."


"Unexpectedly, I found this a difficult read. Many of the sentences are very long, with strange word choices, often words that seemed as though the writer didn't speak English very well. I also didn't understand the plot, why the character is interested in the things she is, or why she's doing anything she's doing."


"Aaaargh! I can't finish it. I guess I could, but I feel like I'm wasting my time. Pynchon has the most complicated sentence structure. I'm not a lightweight reader, but I really hate having to go over and over a sentence to try to untangle it."


"Seriously? You are so worried that there is a possible alternative to U.S. mail that it keeps you up at night searching for clues? Honey, you need a new hobby."


"This book is excepted to be an intense drama, action filled, page turning book by the title. when reading the book though you find it is none of the above and are rather disappointed."


"Somebody actually read this thing all the way through?"