Against the Day

The temptation with a huge novel like "Against The Day" is to read it at breakneck speed. Pynchon discourages readers from that option early, signalling within the first 60 pages that this is going to be a tale of many characters, many narrative lines, at times realistic, at others fantastic, often rooted in history, at other times unquestionably about the present. For such a mysterious writer, Pynchon's influences are well known and fully on display here -- the Western scenes evoke Oakley Hall's "Warlock", the discussions of anarchy jibe with Pynchon's own reading (misreading?) of Orwell's "1984", allusions to "Finnegans Wake" are everywhere (even in the name of the comical adventure troop the Chums of Chance.)The book was savaged by some critics with a notable air of self-pity ... oh it's so long, oh it's so meandering, oh I didn't bother to finish it. Yes, there are major reviews in major American publications where paid critics admitted to skimming over most of the last 300 pages. A crime and a pity, because it's only in the last few hundred pages where "Against The Day" fully reveals itself.Critics (and readers) who enter this journey with hard and fast rules of what a novel should (or must) be are warned here ... you may very well hate it. Pynchon's characterizations can be muddled at time -- it took a second reading with the help of the superb audiobook (I don't know if they give Grammys for audiobook performances, but Dick Hill's is outstanding and worthy of some kind of award) for me to fully appreciate the cavalcade of characters. There is no central character, no central plot, but there are a multitude of character arcs and human interactions that I found heartbreaking. All of the great drama of human life is here -- but it's told in the signature, detached Pynchon style.Critics have pointed out one clear flaw -- the book is all over the place. Pynchon jammed everything into this book, leftover threads from every other novel he's written, plus bits from all his favorite books and whatever scientific or philosophic musings he has left on the table. It has the feel of a big book by an aging master who fears that he might not write another. The four Traverse children have enough development for maybe two fully drawn characters. Kit, because of his resemblance to other Pynchon intellectual heroes, you expect to be the main character, but he disappears into the plot for hundreds of pages, much like Tyrone Slothrop did in the waning pages of Gravity's Rainbow. Eldest son Frank Traverse just isn't all that interesting and his meanderings in Mexico are the weakest part of the novel. Daughter Lake and out-of-control drifter Reef are the most compelling of the litter and a book focused solely on them might would have been more tightly focused (Although Kit is clearly needed as a bridge to all the mathematical warfare central to the book's second half.)So it could have used a more thorough edit ... and yet, I'm glad it's all there. Once you get through it once, you'll be glad to revisit even the sections that seemed dull the first time around. Pynchon wrote a book big enough to encompass all of his thoughts about the fall of leftist politics in the West (as anarchism fell and Marxism rose), the dual nature of, well, nature, the various ways capitalism co-opts science and shapes it to its needs, the thin line between mysticism and mainstream religious faith. It's all there and much much more.If you take your time and let this big, strange, overwhelming book sink into you (or, again, listen to the audiobook, which by its 20 pages per hour nature forces you to go slow), you might start to think about whether civilization was crushed by World War I and will never recover. Or whether our war on terror is no different from anarchist bombings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Or whether mankind is in a perpetual cycle of rebirth and destruction, always on the cusp of grand discoveries that go hand in glove with horrible threats, both promising beginnings and ends that never quite arrive.If you want to examine big questions like these and want to be entertained with Monty Python-like broad humor and ridiculous songs out of nowhere and a mix of virtually every genre-prose style in existence, then this might be your book for the next month or two. If not, no worries, there are plenty more books that will suit your needs. As for me, my nine year wait to hear my master's voice has finally ended. Mock me for it if you wish, I'm just glad to have another 1000+ pages to obsess over before I die.

I should say that I haven't even finished the book yet, though I'm far enough into it to safely say that I've gotten my 20 bucks worth (Amazon's prices are great on new books, are they not?). All pretension aside, this is quite simply one of the most pleasurable reads I've encountered in years. I've read reviews both positive and negative, both sides having some valid points. I think the naysaying is a bit unfair. Why rate this wonderful book against some criteria created by Gravity's Rainbow, or any other book. On it's own merits, Against the Day is a work of genius.The language is beautiful of course and the plot just dense enough to keep readers hooked. The pages *are* full of some very long sentences, but readers with patience and fortitude will not be disappointed.This is my first Pynchon read and I was apprehensive at first due to the following things I had heard (none true, so far about ATD) about Pynchon:-the language is difficult-the format is confusing/alienatingThese things are not entirely true, from my perspective. After reading the first half of ATD, I can safely say that anyone who's had a decent run in with the likes of William Faulkner or James Joyce can expect to find no difficulty reading this latest Thomas Pynchon novel.While yes, there are somewhere around 100 notable characters, Pynchon has their lives and behaviors overlapped in such a way that makes them easy to remember. As a reader, I find myself becoming intimately acquainted with many of the characters. Many of them are so dynamic that it really is difficult to determine what exactly is going to happen next, who will next cross who's path, etc. Many characters are related (larger families like the Traverses and the Vibes account for a large part of the novel's plot) Characterization is truly an exciting element of the novel and very well done by the author.For the first 100 pages or so, I was wondering if the science-fiction elements that I perceived early on would dominate the novel. While sci-fi doesn't dominate the novel, Pynchon has created this incredible other-world in which certain characters are able to habitate and many other characters seek fervently. I thought maybe that this would get tired and at least appear tacky, but there's a heavy mist that covers every inch of fantasy in this book, making things much more mystical and appealing--and after all, the Earth is only so big. Pynchon runs the Earth through a nice big hunk of Iceland Spar and now we as readers are able to enjoy not only the known Earth as setting for ATD, but also some alternate dimensions. All sorts of strange inventions are mentioned (I won't spoil it for anyone yet to read the book) and many modern physical laws are broken.Historically, the book covers from roughly 1890 to 1920 (roughly, mind you). Some of the details seem pretty well-researched, though it seems also that Pynchon has created certain details with similarity to their actual real-life counterparts, though differing in minor amounts. The regional landscapes are incredibly described. There is very good continuity, with regard to temporal and cultural details.The plot, generally, involves a battling between what I'd call high-capitalism and slippery anarchism.Here are some themes:DoublingDivergenceTime TravelGovernmentBig BusinessHistory/Perception of HistoryElectricity/TechnologyThere's an extensive Cameo made by Nikola Tesla, which make the book interesting. The book's first pages include a disclaimer warning that inference to likenesses between characters and real-life figures is discouraged, but this to me almost seems more a flag denoting the opposite. Ultimately, it will be the readers who decide, though it is easy enough to look back in time to see exactly what literary fiction does in terms of sending a message about the world's state of affairs.Overall, this book exceeded my expectations and has proved to be pleasant reading, rather than the constant challenge (though yes it is challenging from time to time) that I had expected. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in literary fiction.

This book, in which Thomas Pynchon explores the viability of anarchism a nd religious pluralism, is also highly readable with a compelling narrative flow.

Ainda não li o livro (existem muitas resenhas em inglês na internet que o qualificam como um dos melhores do Pynchon), mas faço esse comentário para destacar que essa edição da Vintage faz parte de uma coleção da editora com alguns títulos do autor que compartilham do mesmo design da capa, o que a torna, para mim, a melhor versão do livro para se ter. O papel é simples (daquela textura típica de livros americanos, que lembra um jornal), o livro é de um tamanho compacto, mas o acabamento é firme e a fonte tem um tamanho agradável.

Wer die Werke von Thomas Pynchon nicht kennt wird es von die Socken hauen.Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. wie er Eigentlich Heist ist wohl der beste Moderne Amerikanische Schriftsteller. Seine werke sind sehr komplex und tiefgehend. Pynchon ist berühmt dafür wie er die Öffentlichkeit meidet. Er gibt nie Interviews, es gibt keine Aktuelle (oder eigentlich gar keine) Fotos von ihm. Sogar bei sein Aufritt in The Simpsons hatte er eine Papiertute über sein Kopf.Ich lernte ihm kennen durch Gravity's Rainbow und braucht ein par Ansätze bevor ich den schaffte. Es ist keine leichte Kost.Against the Day ist etwas Zugänglicher, aber auch nur ein wenig. Mit 1.085 Seiten in der Englischen HC Ausgabe ist es der bisher längste Pynchon Roman. Die Geschichte ist Halluzinant und Abgedreht, Komplex und hat sehr viele Figuren. Sie spielt zwischen 1893 und kurz nach dem ersten Weltkrieg. Ich bin ehrlich gesagt nicht in der Lage eine kurze Zusammenfassung zu schreiben der das Buch auch nur ein kleines bisschen recht tun wurden.Einzige was ich sagen kann ist, wer eine literarischen Marathon, oder lieber gesagt, 7 Marathons in 7 tagen lesen will kann ich dieses Buch von Herzen empfehlen.Ich hab es in Hard Cover und als Audio Buch, beides sind sehr gut.Das Hardcover ist nicht nur hardcover es ist auch echt gebunden.

lo sto leggendo

Just started reading, looks good.