With increasing regularity this board makes me think of Hal and the grief councilor. >take me to the nearest library with a cutting-edge academic literary and postmodern studies section and step on it.
Nothing unless you're some homosexual who wants to play historical allusion bingo >Whoa, IG Farben?!!?! I'm literally familiar with what that is. >Whoa, Pavlov?!?! I'm literally familiar with his dog.
>Pavlov
This is actually the perfect example as it is rather important to GR. He explains everything you need to know about Pavlov/classical conditioning right in the book and knowing more than what he provides is largely trivia.
just read with a companion reader or
https://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Gravity%27s_Rainbow_-_Page_by_Page
pynchons novels are just him autistically referencing shit because he read a lot.
pomo novels are just ready player one but with niche references to follow the "more allusions = better writing" maxim.
>hurr durr allusions make me feel smart
all of pynchons novels are half-baked explorations of some theme filled with dense allegory to disguise it as good writing.
every analysis of pynchon's novel is some dope congratulating him for dense allegory and niche references.
pynchon is a mother jerking off her good little boys for getting her heckin epic references.
The allusions don't really matter much and he effectively exploits that few will have more than a vague idea regarding most of them to create the general atmosphere of conspiracy, that everything is connected in insanely complex ways no one can begin to fathom. It is like waves on a lake, we can not see the wind but we can see the effect, or as Pynchon put it, we can not touch the master but we can tickle his servants.
Would you be interested in meeting my shoe? It has been very lonely since its mate went missing and I think the two of you would have a lot in common despite the difference in intelligence.
12 months ago
Anonymous
>to create the general atmosphere of conspiracy >that everything is connected in insanely complex ways no one can begin to fathom
thats cool and all but every pynchon novel is just this same idea in different settings.
V is "everything is connected and also a crossgenerational search for the machinic vegana goddess"
GR is "everything is connected and also penis rockets"
M&D is ditto but historical fiction
etc. etc.
its fun for one novel but his style of writing gets tiring quickly.
12 months ago
Anonymous
V. is not really a conspiracy, more a mystery and only relates in the sense of the search. But he uses conspiracy (from GR on) to explore the world and each of his books provide a very different perspective on the world. Conspiracy is not a plot device for Pynchon, it is a character and you need to treat it as such, it grows and develops revealing new things about the literal characters and their/our world and ourselves.
I retract my offer, I think the difference in intelligence between you and my shoe are insurmountable.
12 months ago
Anonymous
You are fricking moronic insecure pynchid from the Gaddis thread. You are lowest IQ person here so shut your trap. And read more than basics of postmodernism, moron.
12 months ago
Anonymous
I have yet to read Gaddis but from what I understand he is not postmodern, I did grab TR and JR from the NYRB sale, will be reading them soon. Pynchon and most of the postmodernist are not really my thing but I do find them interesting and worthwhile, I just prefer having more of an emotional connection with the characters. Outside of V. Roger is the only Pynchon character I really felt anything for, I think Boyd might also be up there but it has been far too long since I have read Vineland to say for certain.
Agreed, The Waste Land and The Hollow Men are incorporated far more into the story. The angels are aspirational and more gnostic than rilkean.
https://i.imgur.com/nnD7fyG.jpg
What should I read to prepare for this
Just read the book and research anything that interests you. Pynchon wants to educate you, at one point he breaks the fourth wall to tell you to read a book.
That book is boring pretentious trash. If you want to enjoy reading I recommend not reading garbage like this unless you wanna seem smart to a bunch of anonymous users on IQfy.
I have yet to read Gaddis but from what I understand he is not postmodern, I did grab TR and JR from the NYRB sale, will be reading them soon. Pynchon and most of the postmodernist are not really my thing but I do find them interesting and worthwhile, I just prefer having more of an emotional connection with the characters. Outside of V. Roger is the only Pynchon character I really felt anything for, I think Boyd might also be up there but it has been far too long since I have read Vineland to say for certain.
Just start with V. Why can't you kids just start at the deep end? Seriously, it's the easiest way to figure out whether or not you're ready for it.
Figure, you want to read Dr Swift. Think, I should read Gulliver first, I remember seeing a funny movie about it. Think, this is good, but kind of complicated. I think I want a stronger hit. Shoot A Modest Proposal into your veins: Ah, now I understand what the good Doctor meant. This is you.
This is you shooting yourself in the leg. You have to grow and learn along with the novelist. There are no easy roads to understanding. There are easy roads to learning, yes: 2+2=4 sure; the sum of all degrees of any triangle (except those Others) is 360; I before E except after C, unless you really mean it. But understanding is another path altogether. You have to be willing to be confounded, dumbfounded, confused, angry, hateful, then you learn to hate, and then you can learn to direct that hate towards the object of your ire.
You have to embrace uncertainty to learn how to hate. And hate hard.
Forgot to mention the Battel of the Books, the Meditation upon a Broom-Stick, the Tale of a Tub, and the Discourse concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit. That's really the only way to start with Jonathan Swift
If you want to "grow with the writer" than you should start with Slow Learner, but it and his first two novels are only superficially related to the rest of his work and fairly flawed. I love V. but GR is a better place to start, most are only going to read one two of his novels, they should make them count.
>I love V. but GR is a better place to start, most are only going to read one two of his novels, they should make them count.
Frick that shit, you either spend the time on the writer or you FRICK OFF away, far way, from them. You think you're going to get anywhere into the good Dr Johnson, Fielding, Cervantes, Melville, Gaddis, Pynchon, by reading 500 pages of them? FRICK YOU if you think you can, frick you really if you think you can devote such little time into these masters of the technique and craft and THINK you can approach the source of understanding language and art, the point where letters turn to meaning, sounds become sounding, search for the clearing in the deep woods of words.
If you're not ready for it, then frick off.
The only redeeming feature of GR is arcane for the time knowledge of German special weapons projects thanks to his wartime service in SIGINT spookery. Dornberger was von Braun's (arrested for being politically unreliable and confined to Peenemünde) boss pre-war as well. You might do Allen Dulles' memoir as well and Joseph Farrell's "The Nazi Bell" and other ratline/wonder weapon research.
I'm reading it (I'm about 3/4) and I haven't read anything in years, but I saw Inherent Vice and liked it very much. It's not so difficult to read and understand as I thought, even though I'm an ESL. But I guess you do need to know stuff about WW2, geopolitics, general spookery, history, names and works of some philosophers and scientists, but just checking Wikipedia and Pynchon wiki should be enough.
On one hand, there's nothing you need to read to prepare yourself for this. On the other hand, there's nothing you could read to prepare yourself for this.
Somehow the King's brother or whatever the frick explanation was more confusing than the Chinese guy's anti-feng shui and Jesuits think China is an alien planet explanation.
random subreddits to get into "thoughtful reading" mode
gta vice city's manual
ww2 wikipedia article
Don't forget to watch Inglorious basterds while you're at it
With increasing regularity this board makes me think of Hal and the grief councilor.
>take me to the nearest library with a cutting-edge academic literary and postmodern studies section and step on it.
Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed has lots of information on the Templars
Nothing unless you're some homosexual who wants to play historical allusion bingo
>Whoa, IG Farben?!!?! I'm literally familiar with what that is.
>Whoa, Pavlov?!?! I'm literally familiar with his dog.
>Pavlov
This is actually the perfect example as it is rather important to GR. He explains everything you need to know about Pavlov/classical conditioning right in the book and knowing more than what he provides is largely trivia.
just read with a companion reader or
https://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Gravity%27s_Rainbow_-_Page_by_Page
pynchons novels are just him autistically referencing shit because he read a lot.
pomo novels are just ready player one but with niche references to follow the "more allusions = better writing" maxim.
>pynchons novels are just him autistically referencing shit because he read a lot.
I have an old shoe which has better comprehension than you.
>hurr durr allusions make me feel smart
all of pynchons novels are half-baked explorations of some theme filled with dense allegory to disguise it as good writing.
every analysis of pynchon's novel is some dope congratulating him for dense allegory and niche references.
pynchon is a mother jerking off her good little boys for getting her heckin epic references.
The allusions don't really matter much and he effectively exploits that few will have more than a vague idea regarding most of them to create the general atmosphere of conspiracy, that everything is connected in insanely complex ways no one can begin to fathom. It is like waves on a lake, we can not see the wind but we can see the effect, or as Pynchon put it, we can not touch the master but we can tickle his servants.
Would you be interested in meeting my shoe? It has been very lonely since its mate went missing and I think the two of you would have a lot in common despite the difference in intelligence.
>to create the general atmosphere of conspiracy
>that everything is connected in insanely complex ways no one can begin to fathom
thats cool and all but every pynchon novel is just this same idea in different settings.
V is "everything is connected and also a crossgenerational search for the machinic vegana goddess"
GR is "everything is connected and also penis rockets"
M&D is ditto but historical fiction
etc. etc.
its fun for one novel but his style of writing gets tiring quickly.
V. is not really a conspiracy, more a mystery and only relates in the sense of the search. But he uses conspiracy (from GR on) to explore the world and each of his books provide a very different perspective on the world. Conspiracy is not a plot device for Pynchon, it is a character and you need to treat it as such, it grows and develops revealing new things about the literal characters and their/our world and ourselves.
I retract my offer, I think the difference in intelligence between you and my shoe are insurmountable.
You are fricking moronic insecure pynchid from the Gaddis thread. You are lowest IQ person here so shut your trap. And read more than basics of postmodernism, moron.
I have yet to read Gaddis but from what I understand he is not postmodern, I did grab TR and JR from the NYRB sale, will be reading them soon. Pynchon and most of the postmodernist are not really my thing but I do find them interesting and worthwhile, I just prefer having more of an emotional connection with the characters. Outside of V. Roger is the only Pynchon character I really felt anything for, I think Boyd might also be up there but it has been far too long since I have read Vineland to say for certain.
No, GR legit kicks ass and his prose is angelic. People like pynchon because they like reading.
reading with a companion novel ruins the experience.
What do you mean? There is no prerequisites. I guess read one of his shorter novels if you dont want to jump right into the deep end
I‘ve heard that Duineser Elegien was a big influence but I don‘t really see how (am like 450 pages into GR after years of chipping away)
Agreed, The Waste Land and The Hollow Men are incorporated far more into the story. The angels are aspirational and more gnostic than rilkean.
Just read the book and research anything that interests you. Pynchon wants to educate you, at one point he breaks the fourth wall to tell you to read a book.
That book is boring pretentious trash. If you want to enjoy reading I recommend not reading garbage like this unless you wanna seem smart to a bunch of anonymous users on IQfy.
I actually went for this meme-ish
did inherent vice then the crying of lot 49 before GR
Just start with V. Why can't you kids just start at the deep end? Seriously, it's the easiest way to figure out whether or not you're ready for it.
Figure, you want to read Dr Swift. Think, I should read Gulliver first, I remember seeing a funny movie about it. Think, this is good, but kind of complicated. I think I want a stronger hit. Shoot A Modest Proposal into your veins: Ah, now I understand what the good Doctor meant. This is you.
This is you shooting yourself in the leg. You have to grow and learn along with the novelist. There are no easy roads to understanding. There are easy roads to learning, yes: 2+2=4 sure; the sum of all degrees of any triangle (except those Others) is 360; I before E except after C, unless you really mean it. But understanding is another path altogether. You have to be willing to be confounded, dumbfounded, confused, angry, hateful, then you learn to hate, and then you can learn to direct that hate towards the object of your ire.
You have to embrace uncertainty to learn how to hate. And hate hard.
Forgot to mention the Battel of the Books, the Meditation upon a Broom-Stick, the Tale of a Tub, and the Discourse concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit. That's really the only way to start with Jonathan Swift
If you want to "grow with the writer" than you should start with Slow Learner, but it and his first two novels are only superficially related to the rest of his work and fairly flawed. I love V. but GR is a better place to start, most are only going to read one two of his novels, they should make them count.
>I love V. but GR is a better place to start, most are only going to read one two of his novels, they should make them count.
Frick that shit, you either spend the time on the writer or you FRICK OFF away, far way, from them. You think you're going to get anywhere into the good Dr Johnson, Fielding, Cervantes, Melville, Gaddis, Pynchon, by reading 500 pages of them? FRICK YOU if you think you can, frick you really if you think you can devote such little time into these masters of the technique and craft and THINK you can approach the source of understanding language and art, the point where letters turn to meaning, sounds become sounding, search for the clearing in the deep woods of words.
If you're not ready for it, then frick off.
You sound like a pseud and a gay
Also seconding this, slow learner is almost cheating it's a great look into his mindset.
V.s a big ask appreciation for someone new to his stuff, just start with lot 49, it's short and you'll get more out V. after reading GR.
You don't need to read anything else first. Go into it accepting that you aren't going to understand everything. Just enjoy the ride.
>What should I read to prepare for this
This:
The only redeeming feature of GR is arcane for the time knowledge of German special weapons projects thanks to his wartime service in SIGINT spookery. Dornberger was von Braun's (arrested for being politically unreliable and confined to Peenemünde) boss pre-war as well. You might do Allen Dulles' memoir as well and Joseph Farrell's "The Nazi Bell" and other ratline/wonder weapon research.
Read Slow Learner and V. to get an idea of who Pig Bodine is
>read these books so you can understand a minor character
Autism be gone.
The Pynch likes him and so should you
The complete western canon of philosophy
University Calc
The Bible
He failed university calculus so you don't have to know it either.
ngl GR taught me calculus
I'm reading it (I'm about 3/4) and I haven't read anything in years, but I saw Inherent Vice and liked it very much. It's not so difficult to read and understand as I thought, even though I'm an ESL. But I guess you do need to know stuff about WW2, geopolitics, general spookery, history, names and works of some philosophers and scientists, but just checking Wikipedia and Pynchon wiki should be enough.
House of seven gables
On one hand, there's nothing you need to read to prepare yourself for this. On the other hand, there's nothing you could read to prepare yourself for this.
Just read it backwards
Why'd they do it, /b/?
Polygamy loop hole and the waves. Didn't you read the book?
Somehow the King's brother or whatever the frick explanation was more confusing than the Chinese guy's anti-feng shui and Jesuits think China is an alien planet explanation.
A society and its culture is nothing more than the sum of its conspiracies, anon.
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/collection/oss-collection