Thomas Pynchon's VINELAND, part 1: RGBIB Ep. 56

[@angusorvid8840]

In the fall of 1989, I tagged along with a friend to a party in Topanga Canyon. I was really into playing guitar, sixteen at the time, and plaed in a number of rock bands. This party skewed to an older crowd, mostly old hippies in their 50s and 60s. Me and my friend were outliers. Well, there was this tall skinny guy with a moustache, a rabbit-like overbite, and almost white hair playing an acoustic guitar and making up diddys on the spot. He was very funny. I talked music with him then borrowed the acoustic and played a little of Al Di Meola's "Mediterranean Sundance" before handing the guitar back. After we left the party my friend said, "Know who that tall skinny guy with the guitar was? Thomas Pynchon." I'd never heard of Pynchon before. The name meant absolutely nothing to me. I didn't know the guy was some great, reclusive writer or any of that mishigas. Well, some months later I was browsing a local bookstore and happened upon a copy of The Crying of Lot 49. I read it and I loved it. I then read V., then Vineland when it came out in hardcover, and eventually Gravity's Rainbow. To this day I don't know if that man I met at the party was Pynchon or not. I've seen photos of him, but the mind can play tricks on you. There were a lot of old hippy types in Topanga back then who looked like him. Anyhow, that's my weird story of how I got into Pynchon.

[@Scottmbradfield]

Great story, Angus! Thanks for sharing with your fellow bathers! (On a less interesting note, someone named "Thomas Pynchon" left a thank you note on one of our Pynchon-related videos, and I've been told he actually does drop into reviews about his work, so...) Stay safe in the bathtub! s

[@angusorvid8840]

@@Scottmbradfield I'd be very surprised if that was him. Not impossible, but I don't think probable.

[@Scottmbradfield]

@@angusorvid8840 I'd be surprised too but then a couple people told me Pynchon routinely replies to talks about him on KZbin, tho I never checked for myself...

[@edgartokman4898]

Incredible work some of the greatest writers come from the greatest generation

[@Scottmbradfield]

Great book, but all the generations have greatness in them, and lots of assholeness thrown in as well! Stay safe!

[@aeschylus2859]

I have stumbled upon a certified GEM of a channel here!

[@Scottmbradfield]

Great to have someone in the bathtub who's glad to find the place! Stay safe, Esky! s

[@unstopitable]

I wish this had been the first Pynchon novel I read. I laughed my cojones off. Today, some bluejays were stealing the cat food off my deck, and I immediately thought of the novel. Funny how little details like that stick in the mind. Thank you, Mr. Bradfield.

[@HeyCupertino]

I wholeheartedly agree that the Califonia portrayed in Vineland is Tommy Pinecone's most affectionate work. Having moseyed through his other CA novels and the geography itself, I find other values there, but Vineland to be my favorite. Almost a yearly read.

[@yossarian9985]

I love Vineland, it was my first Pynchon and it blew my mind. Never looked back. Mason & Dixon is still my favorite, they are by far his best characters imho.

[@Scottmbradfield]

Welcome to the bathtub, Yossarian. (Any relation?) If you want a spot on our IBA map just give me a location. Yeah, I'm meaning to take Mason & Dixon into the bathtub again soon-the first time I tried it, my mind may not have been right. I certainly love all the Vineland and post-Vineland stuff except that one (so far.) Keep bathing!

[@yossarian9985]

I feel the same way about Against the Day. I need to hit it again, I don't think I was in a good enough place to take it in properly when I read it.

[@Scottmbradfield]

yossarian9985 we all need much bigger bathtubs for books like those! S

[@20secondcentury22]

@@yossarian9985 its incredible

[@hollowhungarian]

I am fascinated by Pynchon. I started with Inherent vice but not with the novel: with the movie. The director Paul Thomas Anderson made fantasting work by adapting the story and the vibe of Pynchon's text. That drove me to the book but the best Pynchon impresson was for me actually Gravity's rainbow so far. The text was so complex and so poetic I did not think it will last for 700 pages. But it did! :) My next book will be Vineland but we do not have a hungarian translation so I have to read the german version. AND I heard a new rumor: there is a chance that Paul Thomas Anderson's next movie will be the adaptation of Vineland. :) It would be fantastic!

[@MoreTrenMoreMen69]

I am from America and have a friend who actually knows the actor that will be playing Prairie in the Vineland film! (She’s from my city). As of today, 2/28/2024, they have finished filming (they finished sometime in recent months) Apparently the film will be set in modern day, not 1984, which is interesting. PTA will be taking more artistic liberties with this film, as translating Vineland sentence-by-sentence into a coherent film would be difficult. Very excited for it! Currently on page 194 of Vineland myself. Certainly not my favorite Pynchon read, but any Pynchon read is a good read in general!

[@tonywords6713]

Interesting thoughts!

[@Scottmbradfield]

Thanks, Tony! Welcome to the bathtub! s

[@arblankenship54]

I can’t believe you find gravity’s rainbow or crying boring! Love the review but literally all of his literature is so so fun to read and so thick with humor

[@Scottmbradfield]

Thanks, Ryan. Glad to hear those books give you pleasure in the tub, but weirdly, I can't read anything by Pynchon pre Vineland, and love almost everything after! Stay safe. s

[@kalishakta]

An interesting comparison could be made between the Vond/Frenesi relationship and that between LA Mayor Parker/ Kay Lake in Ellroy's recent Perfidia.

[@larrycarr4562]

Scott, late to the 🎉 party, not sure why…Vineland and Inherent Vice, but goodness Against the Day! Take dedication but persistence will be rewarded.

[@Scottmbradfield]

You'll definitely be rewarded, but as you say elsewhere, VINELAND saw the new world of Trump coming before even Trump did. It's a sad and hilarious book. Stay safe.

[@ratherrapid]

My Ps--M&D; then Against the Day and now half way into Vineland. Thought M&D became a great novel in its second half. aside from Robert Musil and Mary Ann Evans, possibly, has there been a greater novelist than Pynchon?

[@Scottmbradfield]

Welcome to the bathtub, Frank, where VINELAND is a perennial favorite!. s

[@ashulman2008]

The best relationship pynchon ever wrote was between mason and dixon

[@Scottmbradfield]

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[@charlesmascia7759]

If you are looking for a great 9-11 novel, I would recommend "Funeral for a Dog" by Thomas Pletzinger. The prose is shocking and crude and I was completely engrossed! I think you would enjoy!

[@charlesmascia7759]

I also love Vineland and Inherent Vice, my two Pynchon favorites

[@Scottmbradfield]

Thanks, I'll keep it in mind. And we will try to take Pynchon's BLEEDING EDGE into the bathtub soon...

[@chasingshadows7103]

thanks looks like another ghost of Polanski will check it out.

[@chasingshadows7103]

reminds me of william h gass also..another ghost of roman polanski so obvious its him once you see it...

[@tbwatch88]

whenever, by the by, I try (six times now) to get through M & D I just think "wouldn't I just be better off reading ANY actual 18th cent. novel rather than this. his style's just insufferable, but, courtesy this, Dr B, I will try V... I mean Vineland again....

[@Scottmbradfield]

I'm sure you're right about M&D John, which I want to try again though. But Vineland and all the other novels that come after make me very very happy! Stay safe and productive (if not profitable.) Scott