Against the Day

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/alienating These 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: Doubling Divergence Time Travel Government Big Business History/Perception of History Electricity/Technology There'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.

In1963, I picked up a novel called "V" by a then unknown writer named Thomas Pynchon and was overwhelmed. I had never read anything like it. It contained everything from raucous humor to melodrama to fantasy and presented a kind of magically distorted picture of the modern world that was somehow more "real" than any of the so-called realistic novels I had read. Since then I have ready all of Pynchon's works as they were published from "Crying Of Lot 49" to "Mason And Dixon". They were all brilliant and exciting novels, but I feel this latest addition to the canon outdoes them all. But how to describe it? I could say a lot of things, all of them true. But everything I'd say would be contradicted by something else equally true. The plot takes place from 1895 to around 1920, yet it is completely relevant to today. It is filled with earthy humor (some might even say high-school humor), the characters--and there are a slew of characters--and often blessed with funny names like Scarsdale Vibe and Lindsay Noseworthy--yet at the same time the book demands a detailed knowledge of history, science, higher mathematics's, philosophy and even magic. For example, there is a secret British metaphysical society, the True Worshippers of the Ineffable Tetractys--or as it is consistently referred to--the T.W.I.T. Well a twit is a silly fool, but ineffable means indescribably and tetractys is a triangle made of ten dots in four rows (four dots forming the base, three above that, then two, then one). It has significance in the ancient Pythagorean system, it Tarot card reading, and in the Hebrew Kabbalah. So what did Pynchon have in mind? Perhaps that someting can be silly and profound at the same time. The books is stuffed with stories. Pynchon is a natural story teller and he will often stop the action to fit in another tale. But I'd say that there were two main plots. One, a fantasy about a group of boy balloonists so sail all over the world having adventures in their invisible, mysteriously powered balloon and the attempt by the anarchistic Travers family to revenge themselves on the murderers of they family patriarch, a miner and a dynamiter. The style varies from boy's adventure (think Tom Swift) to fairly dry scientific exposition. I found that even the minor characters to be compelling and human and I think the major ones will continue to haunt me for some time. To sum up, despite its difficulties this is a book I can happily recommend. Like life itself, it seems to contain everything. And like life should be, it is actually fun.

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

I freely admit I struggled a little with Gravity's Rainbow and Mason & Dixon. There were times reading those books when I couldn't really figure out what was going on. So before reading Against the Day, the Pynchon book I'd enjoyed the most was The Crying of Lot 49. In my opinion, ATD is just as accessible as TCOL49. It's just so much longer, which equals so much more fun. It's so filled with great ideas it's mindblowing. At times you read 10 pages and you feel like there was enough material there for an entire novel. And then it's onto the next 10 pages. Recently I was reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (clearly influenced by Pynchon). I started off a little overwhelmed by how much reading I had in front of me. Then about 60% of the way through it dawned on me just how damned good the book was and I regretted not really truly savouring the book from the beginning. A similar thing happened to me with Against the Day, but this time with reference to all the Pynchon books I'd previously read. This was the moment that's going to send me back to read all of them again.

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.

lo sto leggendo

masterpiece of a genius