V. by Thomas Pynchon REVIEW

A puzzling novel I'll have to re-read when I can dedicate to it the time it deserves, which I reckon is no less than one month at best. Take this video as an impression more than a review!
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[@schwaggbagYES]

My favorite part is when Benny Profane is lowered on a string from the side of a building and then raised back up again, thus turning him into a literal human yo-yo. Very funny Pynchon. Very funny.

[@rofsrer]

I love the Mondaugen's chapter, when, during a siege in a decadent farmhaus in Namibia, Mondaugen gets sick (I think it's scurvy) and begins to delirate... That scene is just so hallucinogenic. If Pynchon's novels are the literary equivalent of LSD, that scene would be DMT.

[@JohnInTheShelter]

One of my favorite novels. I've read it four times, and am not sure I even understand it, but I love it.

[@kenajones]

"You haven't seen anything yet, bitches!" I think that was the book's original title, but the publisher argued "V." had more commercial potential.

[@milfredcummings717]

I think that name is allusion on Joyce (Ulysses , first or second chapter).

[@wfd87]

Ken Jones I would totally buy a book like that for its title alone

[@t944ktmv]

Good decision by the publisher TBH hahaha

[@PaperBird]

Great review. V like Ulysses is a book I've enjoyed reading over and over. Seems to stay just as cryptic.

[@kobeoverby3015]

What is this? A crossover episode?

[@timkjazz]

V is an undefinable masterpiece.

[@hermanmelville3871]

I've recently begun "V." and am about 200 pages deep. I find his approach much closer to the great modernists than that of the post-modernists because there seems to be a deep sincerity in his work no matter how satirical it can be at times. Good so far though. Your reviews sold me on making the attempt at his work, and I'm far from disappointed.

[@core-nix1885]

Fair enough, but the deliberate non-commitment to a grand meta-narrative is quintessentially postmodern imo.

[@rishabhaniket1952]

Your reputation has been restored dear sir, they quote your book among the pantheons of great literature now.

[@DaveAndStuff]

Wow, excellent review. I finished the book last night and needed to hear someone else's experience to make sure I wasn't completely missing something. Turns out I had a very similar experience to yours, and you've perfectly voiced the various feelings mixed around my head about this crazy novel.. Thank you!! Definitely going to check out some of your other Pynchon videos (I've read most of his books and this may be the hardest so far...).

[@vins1979]

I will always love V., because it was the first Pynchon's novel I have ever read.

[@ioanamolly8225]

Anche io lo sto amando e probabilmente per lo stesso motivo, è il primo volume che leggo di Pynchon. Impegnativo perché bisogna stare con il wikipedia a portata di mano: a tal proposito, sapevi che la storia degli alligatori nelle fogno non è inventata ma è una leggende metropolitana di New York? Ho iniziato V. sostanzialmente in previsione dell'Arcobaleno ma non credo che con Pynchon serva propedeuticità, lo dice anche il Bookchemist. Noto molto la grande influenza che Pynchon ha avuto sugli scrittori e le loro opere successive.

[@vins1979]

@@ioanamolly8225 sì, quella cosa degli alligatori la sapevo. Se vuoi un modestissimo consiglio, non stare sempre con Wikipedia 'a portata di mano': abbandonati al fluire della lettura, poi magari controlla alcune cose DOPO, a meno che non hai veramente troppa curiosità o senti di non capire bene cosa sta succedendo. Un caro saluto, cara Pynchoniana! :-)

[@ioanamolly8225]

@@vins1979 Si decisamente non bisogna fissarsi con le ricerche, terrò a mente il consiglio. Per quanto riguarda invece Veronica, l'improbabile amante del prete Fairing e la sua storia, mi ha fatto venire in mente il libro "La Ratta" di Gunter Grass che io ho letto: mi viene il dubbio che Grass abbia preso un leggero spunto da V.?!

[@vins1979]

@@ioanamolly8225 non saprei, anche perché non ho letto nulla di Grass. Però avevo letto su Reddit un paio di commenti che sostenevano che il Tamburo di Latta assomigliasse molto, per tematiche e struttura, all'Arcobaleno della Gravità!

[@ioanamolly8225]

@@vins1979 In "La ratta" l'io narrante dialoga con la Ratta, rappresentante femmina dei ratti che ormai hanno preso possesso della terra e sono sopravvissuti agli uomini che si sono auto-estinti. Non sapevo della presunta somiglianza del Tamburo con L'arcobaleno. Il tamburo lo iniziai qualche mese fa ma non l'ho finito, seppur bello mi sono inceppata dopo le prime cento pagine, è comunque mia intenzione riprenderlo e a questo punto presterò maggior attenzione alla cosa. Non sarebbe una cosa sbagliata, per carità, l'importante è che siano spunti sviluppati poi con il proprio stile e originalità. "La Ratta" mi è piaciuto moltissimo ed è abbastanza ingarbugliato, un po' come Pynchon, te lo consiglio.

[@stefanconradsson]

I think 'V.' is the most .. I am searching for words now .. most metaphorical and "artsy" book in his canon. All of the others are, it seems to me, just restatements of themes from 'V.' The name itself seems to give us a clue: what does an open book look like .. well it looks like a 'V' when you hold it in your hands, pages open. He plays with this visual idea of an open book everywhere: the characters .. the story arc the construction of sentences, the imagery, the metaphors .. even the guy climbing a windowsill around a corner (a "V" and then falling to singularity), the searchlights over Valetta forming V's in the sky. These things are everywhere in the book. I have been grappling with it for decades. I more or less understand the other books but 'V.' eludes me. To me, this is the BIG ONE .. perhaps I have reached my abstraction limit with it. Maybe it is the perfect opening salvo for the rest of his cannon. It is the only one I think should be chiseled into stone and preserved for eternity. Let the future figure it out. Cheers! [edit]: this is hilarious: harpers.org/archive/2013/09/a-different-kind-of-father/

[@dbmorton1114]

Very nice review of your experience. I love V. It's a novel that you can read many times over and always take something new from it.

[@dougr.2398]

V. is the first book that I ever bought, never was able to finish (skipped around in it though) and still have my original copy of (it has a cover not depicted in the blog that displays many of its paperback covers. Pynchon was at Cornell with Richard Fariña and Peter Yarrow, during days of student unrest and all left. (As best I recall reading recently). Good luck in your attempts to read it

[@zariajuniper9430]

i'm loving you channel, just found yesterday

[@chokingmessiah]

Modernism was top-notch. Especially James Joyce. The ultimate writers' writer. Probably my favorite of all time. Pynchon= Favorite of all time as well, but for different reasons. There are a few of what's called capital G Genius. Joyce and Pynchon fit the mold. Side tangent: That's where I agree with Harold Bloom. Contemporary academics no longer have the talent or visionary ability to understand visionary artists. They try to equal the playing field in criticism by debasing a work into cornered categories and unimaginative readings. Anyway, love your impressions here, I felt very similar when I read V. (By the way that digression/tangent wasn't applied to you at all.)

[@Vylca]

"it loses itself in its own reflection" couldn't have put it better, those seven words encapsulate this novel as a whole perfectly

[@williamwilday6457]

I read V when it first came out and loved it - I have probably read it four or five times, not including going back to refresh a particular passage and being swept into the maelstrom for another 50 pages. Every time I read it I love it more...maybe I even "understand" it! I read GR when it was first published and loved it but found its depth and breadth daunting. I'm now re-reading GR supplemented by your video reviews and enjoying both the book and your commentary immensely. Thank you.

[@TheBookchemist]

Thank you for sharing this! I definitely connected more intimately and fruitfully with GR on my second read, so I'm looking forward to reading V and getting more out of it my second time ;)

[@dwaynedibbley1592]

The interesting thing I found about this book was that the two main characters never seemed to change throughout the book. There was no character arc or transformation that you usually find in literature and films. At the end Profane still seems to be a bum who cares not where he is going in life and Stencil still remains devoted to his lifelong quest of looking for the elusive V. The characters seemed to live on after the book is finished.

[@pavlos307]

I looved V.It is one of the best books I've ever read,for me it's one of the best of all times!And I have read a lot of books.

[@ashgiri94]

V is underrated. Its on the same tier as GR and M&D.

[@bernabefernandeztouceda7315]

V is waaaay better than GR. They are not the same league

[@rjd53]

After watching your review I got myself a used copy of V. for one cent just to take a look inside, published in 1976. I was surprised to find in this edition as "epilogue" a 20-page essay on Pynchon's family and his writing up to then - by Elfride Jelinek, a long bibliography included. Irony # 1: She would get the Nobel later, he didn't. # 2: As little as we know about Pynchon as much we know about his forefathers back to the 11th century. Disobeying the rules of scholarship she does't say where she found all the information.

[@BookCravings]

And now I want to read it =)

[@jackgreendal8814]

A few days ago I bought my first Pynchon novel, Inherent Vice, can't wait to finally dig in :)

[@TheBookchemist]

Welcome to the club :D

[@t944ktmv]

Such an amazing and instructive analysis. Thanks for all your work @TheBookchemist

[@bedet]

First, I just wanted to say that I happened upon one of your videos about a month ago, and I've been watching regularly since! We have a very similar taste, so I've been enjoying your reviews. Anyhow, this one is timed perfectly because I'm currently reading V. (I just finished chapter 12 about an hour ago, and I took a gamble watching this, assuming you would warn about any major spoilers, I thank you for keeping it vague;)), and I'm feeling exactly the same as you -- granted I still have the last quarter or so to go. It's funny you mention Woolf, because I thought about "To the Lighthouse" after finishing the first few chapters. Not because the stories are similar -- really they couldn't be more different -- but because this is the most challenging novel I've read since then. There have been several moments, mostly during Stencl's chapters, where his scene serves as the frame narrative for the historical episodes, where I've found myself a bit overwhelmed and, at times, even confused. I'm definitely going to have to read this again in the future. Now, having said that, this might be the most entertaining and enjoyable book I've ever read (along with The Crying of Lot 49). I'm a Pynchon beginner, this is only my second of his and I haven't even finished it yet, but I'm already a big fan. I'm loving the labyrinth of stories that run throughout the book. Like you mentioned...each turn of the page can lead you down another rabbit hole, and there's something very exciting about that. So, I just wanted to share my thoughts and thank you, because your videos are partly responsible for my recent decision to finally take the plunge into Pynchon Land. Any suggestions on where I should go from here? Should I jump right in to Gravity's Rainbow?

[@TheBookchemist]

Glad I can be of help! Well if you like V. and Crying so much, by all means go along with Gravity's Rainbow - it's darker than both but also more exhilarating and, at times, more hilarious. It can be very taxing at times (expect the same level of complication as in the Stencil's chapters, and more), but it's very rewarding, and it's a seminal text for the rest of American literature, so reading it will help you understand so much of today's US literature.

[@ulysses8300]

finally a review for V.! I bought it as my first Pynchon but then I decided to read the crying first. After that, I picked up Bleeding Edge, and now I wonder which would be best to read next? any thoughts? Great review as always man, keep it up!

[@TheBookchemist]

Depends on which one you liked the most! If you preferred Crying, than I'd say V. (if you are not sure) or Gravity's Rainbow (if you're feeling brave); if you preferred Bleeding Edge, I'd say Inherent Vice (if you are not sure), or Against the Day (if you're feeling brave - although AtD is not difficult at all, it's just very very long). Thanks for the comment man :)

[@christophersienko632]

Very excited to see your V. review! I’m in the camp that says it’s his most enjoyable book, if maybe not his best. I guess GR is technically more accomplished (and probably others, too), but V. was the most enjoyable reading experience I’ve had of all of the ones I’ve read so far (which is Slow Learner, V., Lot 49, GR, and Vineland). As you said, it’s stunning that this was his debut novel - it just gives you SO MUCH of everything…characterization, historical detail, melancholy, laughs, cringe-worthy moments (that nose job scene!), and out-and-out bafflement. I like that you said it might at least a month to read - it took me six months, ha ha! (Slow Learner, indeed.) Did you catch how chapter 3 (In Which Herbert Stencil, A Quick Change Artist, Does Nine Impressions) was the same story as “Under the Rose,” but from different character perspectives? That was kind of shockingly original to me, the way he was able to repurpose his own material in such a strange way! Also, it’s interesting that Pynchon fans in the ‘60s were bringing out these unauthorized reproductions of his early short stories (years before Slow Learner), but somehow, they managed to release all of them EXCEPT the one that would have been most beneficial, “Under the Rose.” In some ways, I think V. is basically like if you took the stories “Entropy” and “Under the Rose,” coiled them together, and let them rise like sourdough bread until they’re a giant literature loaf. I also liked the split past/present narrative, but as much as the historical portions were harder, I go the other way…I think I liked them better! It was slow going, and I was hanging on to both Pynchonwiki.com and J. Kerry Grant’s book pretty close to keep them together in my head, but it was totally worth it to me. Since I read it before GR, it was the first time I realized just how densely he structured his historical work (especially after the detail-sodden halfassery of “Under the Rose,” which telegraphs its details by detailing every single street and plaza in Egypt, seemingly). I feel like having at least a Wikipedia-level understanding of the Fashoda Conflict and the Herero Uprising/Massacre (as well as some sense of what Baedekker travel guides look like) will go a long way in getting you up to speed with what’s happening in this world. I think V. in particular seems like a harbinger for David Mitchell’s more complex works - both authors like to create one story from smaller fragments stretched across great expanses of time and geography, and both are unafraid to add fantastical elements to what are otherwise serious stories. If you get around to reading either Ghostwritten or Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, I think you’ll see some interesting parallels with V. (Even at his hardest, though, Mitchell’s a hell of a lot more accessible. Also, in my opinion, his characters are generally more compelling; as such, a reappearance across several books by a character like Mitchell’s Mo Muntervary is more exciting to me than, say, yet another “Pig” Bodine sighting.) Another great thing about V. is that I think the dual narratives almost act like launching points of the rest of his career - the Benny Profane/Whole Sick Crew sections act as the start point of his present-day books like Lot 49 and Vineland and Inherent Vice (and of course Bleeding Edge, his only other NYC novel), just as the Stencil sections act as the blueprint for all his dense, challenging megaton historical novels. Along with Mason & Dixon (late 1700 - early 1800s), Against the Day (1893-1914) and Gravity’s Rainbow (1944-45), you get a nice chunk of timeline filled in via Stencil, from Egypt 1899 to WWI to the carpet-bombing of Valetta in the run-up to WWII. If the historical bits aren’t as singly focused as the other big books here, I think V. effectively “covers” the span between Against the Day and GR, going back to your (and other people’s) theory that Pynchon’s essentially documenting the whole history of the United States. If Pynchon has one more big book in him, it might be something mid-1860s, maybe the Civil War. However, my jumping-off point of choice (not that he asked me!) would be from a line near the end of Lot 49, where Oedipa learns about Thurn & Taxis and how they were considering jumping over to America around the 1820s or 1830s, but the government had just cracked down on alternate postal routes and standardized federal mail and many other services. I imagine Pynchon could make hay with this pre-government standardization era of the early/mid 1800s, another point in which secret economies could flourish and people could find their own communities far away from the top-down world. Thanks again for the review!

[@christophersienko632]

My review, if you're interested: www.goodreads.com/review/show/8922820

[@TheBookchemist]

I might have already mentioned this, but Mitchum Huehls' essay The Great Flattening also predicts that Pynchon's next novel will be set during the Civil War :) thanks for the comment man! Among the books you mentioned (his early stuff) V. is indeed probably his most entertaining, but I feel that you will find his more recent stuff even more accessible!

[@TheBookchemist]

Oh and yeah I noticed that the parts in Cairo are a reprise of Under the Rose but I believe you (or someone else) had forewarned me about that in advance ^^!

[@fictitiousfictitious8964]

That was refreshing as a cool shower. Which is wonderful

[@80085word69]

I first read V. three years ago and it was what really got my back into reading. Absolutely loved it. The only Pynchon I hadn't read until recently, which I read based on your review, was slow learner which was hit or miss which is what I was worried about but the intro and the secret integration were both amazing and made it completely worth it. It also made me want to go back and read his novels again. Probably will start with V. then Mason & Dixon. Only two I haven't read at least twice. Any plans on reading any Gaddis?

[@TheBookchemist]

Not anytime soon, but I do have the Recognitions stored away in a wardrobe, and I fully intend to tackle it one day :)

[@alphonseelric5722]

@@TheBookchemist So did you try The Recognitions?

[@TommyRogic18]

Great review. It's as if you've become the face on KZbin for Pynchonites online. Similar experience with V. Loved the New York bits, found the Namibia bit more challenging and the Maltese stuff absolutely baffling. But as with finishing GR I finished the book and felt sad afterwards. Pynchon is the only author I've read who you sometimes hate as you're reading, but then you're gutted as you finish the final page as you know you won't be experiencing this particular nugget of genius for the first time again.

[@TheBookchemist]

Exactly! I felt precisely that the first time I read GR, and with V there was something similar - also because the last paragraph is amazing, I keep rereading it it's so beautiful. Thanks for the comment man!

[@harebathomoletsane5934]

First read V as a teenager, around '77... didn't understand all of it, but greatly enjoyed the parts I understood. I'm re-reading it now, trying to figure out what I understood then... and will re-read it again... it's like a Tom Waits' song... great music even though you don't get the lyrics!!!

[@TheBookchemist]

Well that's a good comparison - and good lukck with your re-reading :)!

[@keithwittymusic]

definitely have a lot of similar feelings on V. I remember thinking it so perplexed me at times that it was difficult to want to continue, other times I loved it completely, such as the great story about the priest who converts rats to Christianity. I don't know if I could reread this one, though. I'm planning on going back through Gravity's Rainbow sooner rather than later, and after that, who knows?

[@TheBookchemist]

Until a few years ago I would have sacrificed a limb rather than have to re-read GR again, since it was such a disturbing and painful experience! But lately I've been weirdly curious... I might give it a try ;)

[@ioanamolly8225]

Ciao! Grazie per i tuoi numerosi consigli e accurate osservazioni. Inizia anche la mia avventura con Pynchon, proprio da V. per poi proseguire con L'arcobaleno.

[@donlevy8960]

I read V a long time ago. The only thing I remember is the chapter about a person getting a nose job written in great detail. I actually liked that chapter but I didn't care for the book at all. 2 years ago I read the Crying of Lot 49 and loved it. I'm not sure where to go with his books.

[@TheBookchemist]

That's a memorable chapter for sure (although veeery graphic)! Considering you liked Crying a lot, I'd recommend Inherent Vice - it's very similar in setting and in some of the themes, and it's equally playful while also being highly enjoyable.

[@knwr]

Did you start Finnegans Wake again? After I finish GR and Ulysses I may try the same.

[@TheBookchemist]

Nope, actually! And this year I was at home so I could have done that, I just forgot! I guess it's no time to stop living the lie - Joyce defeated me D:

[@aineebasir4263]

Can you do a video about this modernism-postmodernism-postPoMo the string, what they broadly meant to do, why PM was the sweet spot.... 😍 loved the review of your experience of reading V.

[@graybow2255]

I came across by The Crying by chance in the summer of 2018. It led me to read consecutively Gravity, Mason, Against, and V in a few months. I was surprised to read a few snippets of correct Arabic in V. (Im an Arab).

[@TheBookchemist]

That's some commitment - took me years to read all that stuff!!

[@graybow2255]

@@TheBookchemist Thanks for commenting! I LOVE (and study) literature. Good luck with your PhD.

[@dronegrey]

V. is on my long list of books to read after I'm done reading Gravity's Rainbow (200 pages away from finishing!), along with Bleeding Edge. By chance, I've seen you're videos on DFW (Post-post modernism, Infinite Jest etc.) and I was wondering have you read the Pale King?

[@TheBookchemist]

Nope! I have wandered quite far from DFW in the last few years (although as you can see on my channel I once loved Infinite Jest a lot!) and The Pale King did not stir my interest too much even during my Wallace phase. BUT I have lots of friends who are huge Wallace fans who tell me Pale King is even better than IJ - one day I'll have to check it out I think ;) kudos for Gravity's Rainbow!

[@christiansidjani]

Thanks for the review, bookchemist, now you've completed the "Pynchon Task", I guess, since you've reviewed all of his nine books. Congrats. Although I disagree with you (V. is my favorite novel of all time I realized one day, only Moby Dick comes close), I enjoyed this video like the others. And because you like the newer Pynchon books more, I understand somehow why V. didn't make it on your top list. Don't get me wrong, Pynchon is my all time favorite writer and I love everything he's published, but I hold his debut novel as the holy grail of literature. :) For now anyway. Will you (and if yes, when) post a video about what you're going to read in 2017? Your channel has always the best recommendations on KZbin. Or I would love to see a review of maybe "The Pale King", "The Tunnel" or "The Recognitions", which are on my list this year. Or did you even review one of those and I didn't notice?

[@evanfont913]

Nice definitely gonna check it out. Btw did you ever actually review The Sound and the Fury? I remember you reading it at some point, I think.

[@TommyRogic18]

Evan Font Would love to see reviews of some Faulkner too.

[@TheBookchemist]

I did read it and I liked it a lot (it was a total heartbreak), but I didn't review it as I felt I wasn't knowledgeable enough about Faulkner and American modernism to give you people anything but a few shallow points!

[@childeater6]

Great video! Any strong opinions on Beckett? You mention the modernist approach to narration, and stream of consciousness - but this also made me think of Beckett's experiments with voice and monologue. I'm thinking of his fantastic mid-century trilogy in which the narrative 'I' undergoes a progressive degeneration and detachment, into a kind of Pynchon-esque 'They.' Always figured this was in the background of 'V' too - the different personas of Fausto and Stencil's third person 'forcible dislocation of personality.'

[@TheBookchemist]

I haven't read that trilogy yet, but I can tell you that Brian McHale agrees with you - in his book Postmodernist Fiction, he also points at those books, and at V too, as liminal texts between modernism and postmodernism discussing precisely such points and techniques.

[@garybrame3119]

@@TheBookchemist Caught this from five years ago so late to the party here but as a huge admirer of Beckett someone like you really owes it to yourself to tackle "the trilogy", a watershed experience in my life as a reader and sure you'd have a number of interesting opinions to share w your group. Just saying... GB

[@MegaManChiefFan]

I have really been wanting to read more Pynchon since I loved Gravity's Rainbow. V. or Inherent Vice most likely will be my next one by him. I hope I like it!

[@peaceandllov]

MegaManChiefFan Inherent Vice may be kind of a letdown after Gravity's Rainbow. It was for me. It's almost like he wrote it with the hope that someone could turn it into a movie.

[@TheBookchemist]

If you loved Gravity's Rainbow, then V should be your kind of book! I adore Inherent Vice and think it's one of his best efforts, but it's admittedly a much lighter and more relaxed read than GR!

[@chanm01]

Disregarding, just for the moment, all the stuff in _V._ about 20th century civilization's tendency back towards a state of inanimateness/entropy, historiography as a kind of _ex post facto_ attempt to rationalize or subject to hermeneutics the more or less chaotic events of day-to-day existence, and the hothouse/in the street/under the street dichotomy (of which I felt like I had only a very loose grasp) I still found _V._ to be a really entertaining story. Stencil's chapters, in particular, reminded me very much of what you referred to in another one of your other Pynchon videos as an "RPG like" quality that will delight people who "like narratives so much that they want narratives inside their narratives". In chapter 2, he sets himself adrift on what is more or less a completely arbitrary quest as a pretext to meeting with various side characters in his globe-trotting, era-hopping pursuit of the mysterious V. My favourite vignette? The Florence one in which 2 burglers, an anarchist, the son of an English diplomat, and his new girlfriend try to steal Botticelli's _Birth of Venus_ and more or less nobody ends up getting what they were looking for. xD

[@GeorgeMillerUSA]

Yo, what edition of _V._ is that? And was it trade paperback or mass market paperback?

[@user-mf1rz9mn3l]

You got me into wanting to read Pynchon, i already bought V. and The Crying of lot 49; but in one of your videos you said that we shouldn't start by crying of lot 49, what do you think about starting with V.?

[@TheBookchemist]

If you have some knowledge of and experience with challenging literature (say, thick and tough classics, modernist works like Joyce's or Woolf's, multi-layered novels), then by all means go forth with V. It's a highly entertaining novel and I don't want to scare you (its charm more than makes up for its difficulty), but it is also very dense, and its plot and reflections can sometimes get very complicated. If you'd like to begin with something lighter, my go-to novel remains Inherent Vice. These are just my 2 cents though - good luck with whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll have a great time :)

[@GeorgeMillerUSA]

The_Bookchemist I hate _49_ to death. Even more so than _BE._

[@libertyhopeful18]

This book is hard to read, but it's actually very good. It burned me out on Pynchon for awhile though. I still can't even crack open The Crying of Lot 49 after that. And I finished V like 3 months ago lol

[@GeorgeMillerUSA]

libertyhopeful18 Very impressive for the first try! And he wrote this giant when he was only twenty-six!

[@libertyhopeful18]

i thought V was fine to get through as long as i gave myself a break from it every couple of days. and i mean like read 100 pages in a few days, stop for a few days and repeat. i think i ended up finishing three weeks after i started with no real problems. i loved this book, but it REALLY stunted my pomo reading for a little bit. why? i was trying to figure this out for awhile. to me, V just punches you in the face with the absurdity of existence. the inconsequential nature of an individuals life in respect to the whole cosmos. and while it is actually very funny, it can be in some senses very dark, given that. after this book i had to cleanse my pallette with something much lighter stuff (cat's cradle, portnoys complaint, i robot, hitchikers guide to the galaxy, the martian chronicles and the rules of attraction, to be exact) before i could even think of reading crying of lot 49. funny thing is, as easy as everyone says Crying of lot 49 is to read compared to V or GR, it ended up being far less engaging. cant wait to get back into pynchon in 2017 :D as always bookchemist, great review

[@TheBookchemist]

Thanks man! And I absolutely share your point on how it's a funny book for sure, but there's lots of dark stuff hidden among all the parties and the yo-yoing. I also totally agree that Crying 49 is not at all that easier than GR or V; I believe lots of people are tricked into thinking that just because it is so much shorter! But it's the kind of book that reads like a 400-page novel even though it's not even 200 :P

[@GeorgeMillerUSA]

libertyhopeful18 I thought the same. Some guy on the subreddit says that his pre-Vineland works doesn't have that much heart like post-Vineland. _Inherent Vice_ and _Vineland_ had a dark story underneath the wackiness but it has heart.

[@domenicocisternino2312]

Ciao paisà! Innanzitutto complimenti per il tuo canale. Sto leggendo V. da pochissimo e sono circa a pagina 100. La mia situazione è questa : ho 18 anni, ho già letto e amato libri tosti come I Detective Selvaggi o Infinite Jest, diciamo che per me la lettura è tutt'altro che un semplice hobby. Purtroppo, però, non ho ancora alcuna conoscenza di tipo accademico, non padroneggio categorie come "moderno" e "post moderno" e non possiedo particolari competenze in fatto di analisi e critica letteraria. Credi che io possa leggere e "comprendere" questo libro con le mie forze o mi consigli di ritornarci più in là? Thanks for your attention :)

[@TheBookchemist]

Ciao Domenico - lo puoi comprendere senz'altro e sono sicuro ti divertirai moltissimo con certe scene. Avere una conoscenza di tipo critico o accademico aiuta sempre a trarre il massimo da letture di questo tipo ma non vuol certo dire che non le si può apprezzare senza ;) certi passaggi, soprattutto nella seconda parte, possono essere un po' poco chiari (ma non c'entrano conoscenze di nessun tipo - è proprio il libro che è scritto così), in ogni caso se hai già letto Infinite Jest non dovresti fare troppissima fatica Buone letture ;)!

[@TheBobbybare]

Weirdly I find it his most accessible novel but not my fave - There is some patriotic pride as my home island,Malta (Valletta) plays an important, and yes the places mentioned still exist.

[@TheBookchemist]

Nice! He tends to be very accurate with the places he talks about. There are huge chunks of Against the Day set in Venice and on the Alps and those too are set in actual places that exist or did. Either he is a thorough researcher, or he likes to travel :)

[@TheBobbybare]

I hope it's because he likes to travel :) In the cse of Malta though it is interesting as Strait street ( where the Maltese sections of V take place) was a hangout for British and US sailors during wartime. I'm assuming that in Pynchon's sailor days the ship he was on stopped for a break in Malta and he hung out over there

[@djpeanutbutterjelly]

I never really thought of V as modernist as opposed to postmodernist; I suppose, though, that I'm not really that well-acquainted with those kinds of terms, even though I have read Ulysses and To the Lighthouse (as well as Hemingway's work, which is far less experimental and so not really comparable). Now that I'm reading Gravity's Rainbow and the narrator subtly shifts voices so often and is clearly an entity unto itself, I far better understand the distinction between the stream-of-consciousness narrations and descriptions in V and that confusing jumble of prose. This book seems to place Pynchon, at least for me, as the quintessential author of the 1960s, maybe even of the whole 20th century; the contrast between Stencil and Profane and the way in which their antithetical personalities are shown to be similar by the novel's conclusion both in their absurdity and endlessness seem to make sort of statement concerning the futility and absurdity of world culture. I also read an extremely interesting essay which posited that V was a symbol of the Virgin Mary's technological homogenization which becomes more and more constructed and mechanical as the novel goes along. I haven't fully come to grips with it yet, and I will certainly read it again sometime in the future, but I really was fascinated and deeply moved by the experience as a whole.

[@rjd53]

Where did you read that essay or what is the author and the title? Would like to read it too.

[@djpeanutbutterjelly]

+rjd53 Here's the link: cultural-discourse.com/on-thomas-pynchons-first-novel-v/

[@rjd53]

Thank you for the fast answer. Cultural Discourse is a very interesting website I didn't know yet.

[@anthonym.7653]

Always enjoy your reviews on authors like Pynchon. I have Lot 49 on my shelf. One day I will get to it.

[@pwnayr]

Nice.

[@bennyprofane1764]

Kilroy was Here=Band-pass filter

[@likuanwei]

Hey Bookchemist, would you read more Eco's works this year?

[@TheBookchemist]

I would really love to! Alas they are outside of my research zone so it might be hard for me to do so, but I'd really love to check The Prague Cemetery, Foucault's Pendulum and The Island of the Day Before.

[@peaceandllov]

The_Bookchemist Foucault's Pendulum is 2.99(US) on iBooks. At least it was yesterday.

[@pervis3537]

1st again 😊 . So I have a question, yesterday I picked up infinite Jest and read the first chapter (which I thought was AMAZING) and DFW made a lot of references towards people I didn't know such as: Kierkegaard, Dennis Gabor, and a few others. So here's my question, is it necessary to research these people before proceeding with the book?

[@swappingparts]

Pervis yes and when those people reference people you've never heard of, you have to research them too. you may never get to infinite jest.

[@pervis3537]

Mark Broesamle thank you 😃

[@williamrobinson6059]

Pervis Gabor is a physicist, so probably not. Kierkegaard, as an early existentialist philosopher, yes.

[@billypilgrim1]

Yes, use this website infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Infinite_Jest_Page_by_Page read the book along with it, page by page. It will make your first go at Infinite Jest a more rewarding experience.

[@kenajones]

That's what makes it infinite.

[@victoriazaets7077]

Cool T-Shirt

[@1book1review]

I should make a priority to finally read my first Pynchon this year. Thinking of Crying Lot 49, or should I start somewhere else?

[@milfredcummings717]

9 ! ; )

[@TheBookchemist]

I would personally recommend to begin with Inherent Vice. It's by far Pynchon's easiest book, while remaining as dense and intricate and crazy as some of his best. There's lots to love in Crying, but I do not think it's the most enjoyable of books. Keep in mind though that most of the rest of the world would tell you to begin with Crying ;)

[@1book1review]

The_Bookchemist Thanks. Will just add both to my wish list, to be prepared :D

[@chokingmessiah]

Bleeding Edge would be a decent place to start, honestly. It would be the most culturally relevant to a beginner of Pynchon. I love your videos, 1book1review, btw!

[@1book1review]

BOHEMIA thank you!

[@thomasvieth6063]

The only passages that I really had to chew on and found hard to digest were the ones with Fausto. They were for me bordering on boredom. Everything else was quite enjoyable; especially the parody on the premiere of Sacre du Printemps in Paris and the scenes at the Uffizi in Florence

[@jackgreendal8814]

what should I read by him after I have finished IV and Bleeding Edge. Almost done with BE.

[@TheBookchemist]

Mason & Dixon. Has the same emotional heft of those two and it is every bit as enjoyable, but it has a much more epic scope, and its language is just crazy.

[@jackgreendal8814]

Thank you

[@tyroneslothrop3058]

PLEASE TELL ME WHERE YOU GOT THAT EDITION! I WOULD LOVE TO GET ONE

[@TheBookchemist]

I got it second-hand from awesomebooks.com! I think it's an old Vintage edition!

[@tyroneslothrop3058]

i found one on ebay but its around 35 dollars you think thats a good deal? thanks!

[@ardayesildag3769]

Are you going to do a list about Pynchon?

[@TheBookchemist]

Already filmed it :D

[@ardayesildag3769]

The_Bookchemist whoa, hyped about it :))

[@emilioocchialini6094]

I bought the new reprinted edition by Einaudi and i have to say that i'm surprised for the enjoyable reading the book revealed itself. I always heard that it was the hardest novel after Gravity's rainbow and i was a little scared to read it at the beginning, instead i'm divouring it with pleasure, i.e. that i don't find the prose such ostile and fullbodied as following novels - i loved the parts with Benny Profane and his adventures under NY with alligators and the digressions about the Priest's catholic crusade into Ny's sewer with rats, the episode about the plastic surgery to Rachel's nose, and all the chapter set in Florence that introduces the mistery about Vheissu. But I'm only at page 270 of 635, maybe the worst part hast't come yet, the only difficult i have been infronged to is the enormous mole of characters, maybe more invasive compared with other books

[@TheBookchemist]

Glad you're liking it :)! I wouldn't say it's his most difficult after GR - Mason & Dixon is more challenging, though its heart and thrills make up for any difficulty, while 49 is short but cryptic as fuck - but yeah, some parts are indeed a bit messy, mainly those with Herbert Stencil. The Profane sections are wonderful though - the part about the rats in the sewers is among the best stuff Pynchon wrote :D considering how you slaughtered Gravity's Rainbow, I'm sure you'll have no problem with V, nor with any other of his works ;) does the translation flow well by the way? I know lots of people hate the original translations (especially the BUR translatiion of GR) but I haven't heard much about these new editions.

[@emilioocchialini6094]

Yep, it's the same for both, always Giuseppe Natale. I don't how to express an opinion without having the original text before my eyes haha however i'm curious to examine the original version because, as you asked, the text looks flowing very well and especially the songs sang by the characters have always the correct rhymes and metrics, so i'm curious how Natale translated the songs.

it as motherfucking difficult for me, and it was my first time, because ive wanted to read chronologicaly, so it strike me as hard as hell, even after infinite jest this book seemed out of my leak. what i dig the most was pig bodines, profanes parts, parts in wich i couls say Hey i get it, its nice. but when it Góes to Cairo, and those motherfuckin weird european places it get soooo fucking hard I couldnt follow too close. ill too havê to read it again in some years. but the alligator passages and the Saint rat was beautiful, those passagens were by far my favorites, puré beutiful prose.

[@TheBookchemist]

I see your point, I too had lots of difficulties with the historical parts - Cairo, South Africa, etc.!

+The_Bookchemist this makes me feel a lot better, because youre a reader i highly respect, so haaving almost failed in this first reading of mine, but seeing a scholar and a inteligent person that i reggard make it easier for me to fail haha

[@francesca770]

"......a PARACULO" AHAHAHHA sto male

[@elianarob]

In college, in 1993, i had a crush on a pynchon fan with Lot 49 horn tattoo . So, as one does, I bought myself a copy of gravity's rainbow. I tried. And tried. That book broke me. Looking at the comments here, I wonder about gender.

[@christophersienko632]

Also, did you get the sense (as I did) that if Pynchon had taken more time and hadn't need to publish for the money, that Crying of Lot 49 might have been larger and structured more like V.? I could imagine long, flowing, dense chapters on the original writing and performing of "The Courier's Tragedy," scenes of espionage by members of The Tristero in the court of the Borgias, anarchists of the 1830s trying to pave the way for Thurn & Taxis' eventual move to America, etc.

[@TheBookchemist]

I'm not so sure about that - I remember from Slow Learner's introduction that he mentions how Crying was really a short story that was marketed as a novel for some reason! And I get that sense that, just like Enthropy, it's more about an idea (paranoia, hidden currents of control or resistence) than about characters and their lives, which makes it more story than long narrative to me; but hey, it's been a few years since I last read Crying, so who knows!

[@christophersienko632]

Yeah, probably not. Just my own personal conspiracy theory!

[@vrixphillips]

speaking of postmodernism... have you read any William T Vollmann? He's come up in conversation a lot on goodreads, but I'm surprised not to see him on your channel!

[@TheBookchemist]

I haven't! For the longest time he scared me to death, and he still does. I have friends who are big fans of his, but considering their tastes are way more hardcore than mine, I am not so sure I would love his stuff to bits. Someday I'll have to read him though!

[@vrixphillips]

haha, I feel the same way!

[@originoflogos]

You ever going to read a book by William T Vollmann???

[@PaperBird]

Justin Lance that got me thinking. You bright and risen angels might be one of those books that bridge the gap between post-modernism and the new sincerity thing. His historical novels may follow the same arc. not sure... maybe transcend the categories

[@TheBookchemist]

Someday maybe but not too soon I think!

[@willmccall1982]

"yea you haven't seen anything yet, bitches" -thomas pynchon

[@tomcharlesbairiii7980]

1. I'm curious about what you mean when you say you have a problem with Modernism's style of narration. 2. I'm reading V. by accident after only having read Gravity's Rainbow. On the whole, I find it more enjoyable than Gravity's Rainbow, but I also find the difficult sections in V. less rewarding than those in Gravity's Rainbow. I'm at up to V.'s Epilogue right now and I'm bored out of my teeth and don't know if I should continue.

[@TheBookchemist]

I'm not a big fan of stream of consciousness in its hardcore, high modernist (Mrs. Dalloway, parts of Ulysses) form! I can take it in small doses, but when it gets too dense I'm easily defeated. Not that V shows much stream of consciousness proper, but some of its complex parts (and many of its reflections on history) have that same heft and density I think.

[@tomcharlesbairiii7980]

The_Bookchemist how would you compare that style to the narration of Gravity's Rainbow?

[@cypher1962]

I was reading Gravitys Rainbow and I realized it was the same kind of expositional storytelling as 100 Years of Solitude, just surrounding "The Cult of Death" in Gravitys Rainbow instead of a family like in 100 years of Solitude. It almost looks like Pynchon wrote "V." by taking the voice from 100 Years, changing the tense to 1st person, and then doing his best impersonation of the voice. Then wrote Gravity's Rainbow as sequel to V. Obviously Pynchon had his own plot and is genius I just mean looking at context.

[@michaelbillypec]

V is you...

[@18p3pi]

Where you come from, Bookchemist?

[@TheBookchemist]

Monza (Italy)!

[@18p3pi]

The_Bookchemist Wow, and can read Pynchon in its original? I want to get in that level one day, too. I'd like to read the translation to portuguese, my mother language, but Pynchon is hard, even in it.

[@gernst5345]

Mondaugen's story might be the single most fucked up part of any of his novels. I think the unrelenting bleakness made me appreciate the New York chapters way more.

[@blaze34]

From your review, it seems this book has no plot. Does it?

[@TheBookchemist]

It does, and it's a very captivating one! But it's a very intricate one, and it might or might not have a conclusion according to which perspective you approach it from.

[@blaze34]

Nice! My next Pynchon will be Bleeding Edge. The last one was Gravity's Rainbow: it looked like you need an encyclopedia to understand the plot (if there was any main plot at all).

[@blodwynswayze1531]

I have no idea whether to find it reassuring or terrifying that with all your knowledge of post modern writing and Pynchon in particular you still found V. at least half befuddling. What hope for us mortals?

[@TheBookchemist]

You'd all be fine I'm sure! I'm way less hardcore than you think :)

[@Blaze936]

I just hate this kind of writing. If I want to study a work, I read nonfiction. I read fiction for pleasure and enlightenment. V is too obscure for either. That's not to say some of the chapters aren't fun. Overall it's just a puzzle that doesn't capture my mind enough to bother putting together.

[@eduarddanaila7648]

Is he trying to pull a Hitler mustache?