Ell
Well-Known Member
Where to begin? I came to reading Crying of Lot 49 via this Thomas Pynchon thread. I didn't know what to expect so looked up reviews, analyses and articles on Pynchon and CoL49. Well, it seems this little book has been analyzed ad nauseam by every student and teacher of post-modern literature. It even has its own Sparks notes, Cliff notes and 'companion' book. Every name, word and literary allusion has been dissected. Comparisons to thermodynamics and entropy have been made. Being a newbie to Pynchon, how could I have known? Anyways, I waded through a few of these articles and got the distinct feeling that maybe I was in over my head. But being the stubborn soul that I am, dove in anyway. I needn't have worried because, as those same articles kept saying, Crying of Lot 49 is one of Pynchon's more accessible works. I think it's accessible because it can be read, like much good writing, on different levels.
On the surface, it's a simple story of Oedipa Maas, a suburban housewife who learns that a former lover, Pierce Inverarity, died and named her co-executor in his will. She sets out to meet the other executor and fulfill her obligations as executrix. Along the way she seems to uncover a global conspiracy involving the postal system, Pierce's companies and some unexpected deaths. Oedipa is convinced that these things are related and the reader sees her doggedly chasing down obscure references , clues and characters in an attempt to make sense of it all. Does a conspiracy really exist or is it only in her mind? A simple mystery filled with bizarre characters and situations.
But - and this is a big but - Crying of Lot 49 is so much more. After I finished reading it, I needed to sit back and let it all sink in. It's a biting, at times hilarious, social satire. The play on words is mind-bending and every time I think I've got it figured out, I know I haven't (just like Oedipa).
The following is a quote from one of the characters, Randolph Driblette, an actor and director of the play Oedipa becomes so obsessed with. I think it says a lot about Oedipa's and the reader's quest:
"You can put together clues, develop a thesis, or several, about why characters reacted to the Trystero possibility the way they did, why the assassins came on, why the black costumes. You could waste your life that way and never touch the truth."
[FONT="]I imagine Pynchon sitting back somewhere having a good chuckle at all the different interpretations of his little book.
ell
[/FONT]
On the surface, it's a simple story of Oedipa Maas, a suburban housewife who learns that a former lover, Pierce Inverarity, died and named her co-executor in his will. She sets out to meet the other executor and fulfill her obligations as executrix. Along the way she seems to uncover a global conspiracy involving the postal system, Pierce's companies and some unexpected deaths. Oedipa is convinced that these things are related and the reader sees her doggedly chasing down obscure references , clues and characters in an attempt to make sense of it all. Does a conspiracy really exist or is it only in her mind? A simple mystery filled with bizarre characters and situations.
But - and this is a big but - Crying of Lot 49 is so much more. After I finished reading it, I needed to sit back and let it all sink in. It's a biting, at times hilarious, social satire. The play on words is mind-bending and every time I think I've got it figured out, I know I haven't (just like Oedipa).
The following is a quote from one of the characters, Randolph Driblette, an actor and director of the play Oedipa becomes so obsessed with. I think it says a lot about Oedipa's and the reader's quest:
"You can put together clues, develop a thesis, or several, about why characters reacted to the Trystero possibility the way they did, why the assassins came on, why the black costumes. You could waste your life that way and never touch the truth."
[FONT="]I imagine Pynchon sitting back somewhere having a good chuckle at all the different interpretations of his little book.
ell
[/FONT]
