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[GA Russell]

[felser]

[BillF]

[Rabshakeh]

Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon

I'm not sure why I hadn't read this until now. With Pynchon I'm in the 'forget how much I enjoy it until I read it' camp. Perhaps the idea of a late career book as long as Gravity's Rainbow but written in mock 18th C prose about the mapping of America seemed like it would be tedious and silly. Anyway, it is really good. I can see why many people regard it as the best thing he's written.

Edit: It's not. The best thing he's written is that two or three page section of GR where Slothrop tries the old lady's chocolates.

[mjazzg]

3 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon

I'm not sure why I hadn't read this until now. With Pynchon I'm in the 'forget how much I enjoy it until I read it' camp. Perhaps the idea of a late career book as long as Gravity's Rainbow but written in mock 18th C prose about the mapping of America seemed like it would be tedious and silly. Anyway, it is really good. I can see why many people regard it as the best thing he's written.

Edit: It's not. The best thing he's written is that two or three page section of GR where Slothrop tries the old lady's chocolates.

The only Pynchon I've read. Really enjoyed it

[JSngry]

On 9/19/2023 at 9:08 PM, felser said:

They call this a novel, but I'm not sure that it really is. Reads more like history with the names changed to protect against lawsuits.

[Rabshakeh]

3 hours ago, mjazzg said:

The only Pynchon I've read. Really enjoyed it

Same here. 

Gravity's Rainbow is also very good. Not an original point of view, but it is. Really it is very similar to Mason & Dixon, notwithstanding that it is not written in mock 18th century prose.

[medjuck]

5 hours ago, mjazzg said:

The only Pynchon I've read. Really enjoyed it

I think I've read and usually enjoyed everything by Pynchon  but it took me a long time to get through M&D because of the language. 

Edited September 23, 2023 by medjuck

[felser]

6 hours ago, JSngry said:

They call this a novel, but I'm not sure that it really is. Reads more like history with the names changed to protect against lawsuits.

And some characters are composited.  The Phil Spector character is obvious, as is the Berry Gordy character, though the label reads as Vee Jay rather tha Motown in the later parts of the book.  Not sure who Mark Donovan is based on, and don't know enough about country music to ID those characters.  Book does great job of describing payola.

[JSngry]

Have you read Hit Men? 

[BillF]

[jlhoots]

Stephen King: Holly

[GA Russell]

[Referentzhunter]

[BillF]

[GA Russell]

[medjuck]

2 hours ago, GA Russell said:

Is that a first edition?   Also, I thought he'd dropped the "Ross" by then. 

[GA Russell]

3 hours ago, medjuck said:

Is that a first edition?   Also, I thought he'd dropped the "Ross" by then. 

Yes, Goodreads says that this is the first edition's cover.

The hardback I actually read was a collection of three novels.

 

[jazzbo]

It's so much fun re-reading these tales of the B. Cool and Lam Detective Agency, and also cool to be reading a very old paperback.

Edited October 8, 2023 by jazzbo

[jlhoots]

Hernan Diaz: Trust

[Brad]

[ejp626]

Halfway through Madame Bovary, and I get the sense things aren't going to work out well for her.  🤔  But no more spoilers.  🤐

After this, Angela Carter's Wise Children, her last novel.

Then this weekend, I have a very long bus ride to Detroit and back.  Then plan is to take Fante's Bandini Quartet.  I'll likely finish it on the trip or just after.

[BillF]

[Bluesnik]

On 10/10/2023 at 3:51 AM, ejp626 said:

Then plan is to take Fante's Bandini Quartet

You won´t be disappointed by it. Specially the first and last novels. I have it too and read it no too long ago.

[ejp626]

10 hours ago, Bluesnik said:

You won´t be disappointed by it. Specially the first and last novels. I have it too and read it no too long ago.

I hope so.  I've owned it for over 15 years, and I'm finally going to tackle it...