BobBopPerano t1_itnpiru wrote on October 25, 2022 at 12:02 AM

Reply to comment by msw1984 in TIL that the famous author Thomas Pynchon has avoided publicity during his fifty-year career to the point that almost all known photos of him are from the 1950s. However, he voiced himself in two episodes of The Simpsons, where his dialogue consisted entirely of puns on the titles of his books. by IHad360K_KarmaDammit

I’m not the person you were asking, but I do have an answer! Broadly, he has a few very long novels and a few more not very long novels. Most people would recommend starting with one of the not very long ones.

Personally, I think Inherent Vice would be a good one to start with. It’s funny, super readable, and you have PTA’s film adaptation to look forward to when you’re done. I’ve heard of other Pynchon fans who don’t love that one as much as I do though, so ymmv. The canonical answer is probably Lot 49.

Another consideration is Bleeding Edge—not many (including me) would call it their favorite Pynchon, but r/ThomasPynchon is starting a reading group for it next month, if that’s your thing. If it isn’t your thing, though, I’d still start with IV (but I do think BE is underrated).

Gravity’s Rainbow is great and probably my personal favorite, but a lot of Pynchon fans seem to prefer his other epics (Mason & Dixon and Against the Day), and all three are very distinct stylistically. Mostly, when you see people hating on Pynchon like above, it’s because they tried and failed to get through GR—so I definitely wouldn’t recommend starting with it. I do really love it though.

BobBopPerano t1_itkbpof wrote on October 24, 2022 at 7:53 AM

Reply to comment by bathands in TIL that the famous author Thomas Pynchon has avoided publicity during his fifty-year career to the point that almost all known photos of him are from the 1950s. However, he voiced himself in two episodes of The Simpsons, where his dialogue consisted entirely of puns on the titles of his books. by IHad360K_KarmaDammit

His novels are brilliant, and they’re a blast to read. Comments like this always imply that people who enjoy his writing are pretentious, but whenever you find a discussion about Pynchon, the long and condescending comments are always from insufferable people who feel like it’s their job to make sure no one enjoys his work.

If anyone is acting like their preferences are a sign of their intelligence, it’s the stuffy, enlightened redditors who look down their noses at whatever they don’t like.