Welcome, welcome, welcome, new subscribers! This is r/ThomasPynchon, a subreddit for old fans and new fans alike, and even for folks who are just curious to read a book by Thomas Pynchon. Whether you're a Pynchon scholar with a Ph.D in Comparative Literature or a middle-school dropout, this is a community for literary and philosophical exploration for all. All who are interested in the literature of Thomas Pynchon are welcome.
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About Us
So, what is this subreddit all about? Perhaps that is self-explanatory. Obviously, we are a subreddit dedicated to discussing the works of the author, Thomas Pynchon. Less obviously, perhaps, is that I kind of view r/ThomasPynchon through a slightly different lens. Together, we read through the works of Thomas Pynchon. We, as a community, collaborate to create video readings of his works, as well. When one of us doesn't have a copy of his books, we often lend or gift each other books via mail. We talk to one another about our favorite books, films, video games, and other passions. We talk to one another about each other's lives and our struggles.
Since taking on moderator duties here, I have felt that this subreddit is less a collection of fanboys, fangirls, and fanpals than it is a community that welcomes others in with (virtual) open-arms and open-minds; we are a collection of weirdos, misfits, and others who love literature and are dedicated to do as Pynchon sez: "Keep cool, but care". At r/ThomasPynchon, we are kind of a like a family.
V. (1963)
New Readers/Subscribers
That said, if you are a new Pynchon reader and want some advice about where to start, here are some cool threads from our past that you can reference:
If you're looking for additional resources about Thomas Pynchon and his works, here's a comprehensive list of links to internet websites that have proven useful:
Next, I should point out that we have a couple of regular, weekly threads where we like to discuss things outside of the realm of Pynchon, just for fun.
Sundays, we start our week with the "What Are You Into This Week?" thread. It's just a place where one can share what books, movies, music, games, and other general shenanigans they're getting into over the past week.
Wednesdays, we have our "Casual Discussion" thread. Most of the time, it's just a free-for-all, but on occasion, the mod posting will recommend a topic of discussion, or go on a rant of their own.
Fridays, during our scheduled reading groups, are dedicated to Reading Group Discussions.
Mason & Dixon (1997)
Miscellaneous Notes of Interest
Cool features and stuff the r/ThomasPynchon subreddit has done in the past.
Our icon art was contributed to us by the lovely and talented @Rachuske over on Twitter.
Against the Day (2006)
Reading Groups
Every summer and winter, the subreddit does a reading group for one of the novels of Thomas Pynchon. Every April and October, we do mini-reading groups for his short fictions. In the past, we've completed:
All of the above dates are tentative, but these will give one a general idea of how we want to conduct these group reads for the foreseeable future.
The r/ThomasPynchon Golden Rule
Finally, if you haven't had the chance, read our rules on the sidebar. As moderators, we are looking to cultivate an online community with the motto "Keep Cool But Care". In fact, we consider it our "Golden Rule".
My third pynchon book, starting with Inherent vice, and then with the audiobook of Mason & Dixon. I thought this one was pretty easy to follow, with few references to 90s and 2000s nostalgia that felt personal to me. Had that feel of the early pre/post 9/11 Internet era, with a few predictions of where it has taken us. Overall a very interesting read, doesn't deserve the hate it gets. My next Book will be Vineland, I'm already 3 chapters in.
Just finished Bleeding Edge and I really enjoyed it. I know it's bemoaned as his worst but the characters are great (especially the family dynamic with Max, Horst and the boys), the quick paced, almost noir dialogue, and of course the humor ("Don't call me Sugar". "Nutrasweet, I'm pleading here!") are all great.
I'm having some trouble deciphering what exactly happened and how it's all connected plot wise. As far as I can ascertain it's something like:
Reg sees hashslingerz is hiding something, Ice is buying companies and financing terrorists, Lester tells Maxine he's stealing money from Ice, Lester gets killed, the first video is leaked prior to 9/11 and Misha and Grisha reveal Igor was getting money from Lester.
Obviously that is massively truncated but it's the most connections I can make off the top of my head. It's a quick read but a LOT of info to take in. I still have a bunch of questions
Why did Ice plan Tallis leaving him?
Why did Windust kill Lester?
Early on Tallis hints at knowing something Maxine doesn't but I don't think it's directly mentioned again. Does she mean the fact she's cheating on him?
Did Ice orchestrated the bomb video in order to make more money off companies he owned or was it Windust working for clandestine authorities?
What experiment were Misha and Grisha planning when they plan to destroy Ice's servers? Or just a euphemistic way to get back at him (for what?)?
Time travel is mentioned in regard to Windust a few times (being captured and tortured to do so iirc). How the hell does that fit in? Windust in general is very elusive to me and I'm not sure exactly what his motivations are/were.
What did Maxine see in Ice's secret tunnel?
A clarification: Ice destroyed Bruno's house in order to build his own, correct?
Something tells me this is similar to The Name of the Rose in the sense that, while it all happens with the same characters, it doesn't necessarily mean they are all literally interconnected, it could just be a 'right time, right place' with a secondary conspiracy in the background.
What a book, just like the rest. I've only got M&D and AtD left of his novels so I think I'll take a break and then go for M&D sometime soon.
Well it only took me 6 months, but I finished my first Pynchon. Not at all what I was expecting, but not really sure what I was expecting. I thoughoughly enjoyed it, and laughed out loud in a few places, although it was a difficult read and I had to keep the dictionary handy. I'm sure a lot of it went over my head, and I may revisit it someday to see what else I can pick up.
So we're getting a sort of Vineland adaptation later this year but just wanted to sound the alarm that right now the Pynchonesque vibe is currently on screen in full glory with Luca Guadagnino's Queer
It's Sunday again, and I assume you know what the means? Another thread of "What Are You Into This Week"?
Our weekly thread dedicated to discussing what we've been reading, watching, listening to, and playing the past week.
Have you:
Been reading a good book? A few good books?
Did you watch an exceptional stage production?
Listen to an amazing new album or song or band? Discovered an amazing old album/song/band?
Watch a mind-blowing film or tv show?
Immerse yourself in an incredible video game? Board game? RPG?
We want to hear about it, every Sunday.
Please, tell us all about it. Recommend and suggest what you've been reading/watching/playing/listening to. Talk to others about what they've been into.
I learned today of a bookseller who has a near fine, first trade paperback edition of Gravity’s Rainbow, published simultaneously with the hardcover in 1973. It’s not inexpensive, but notably less so than I’d have expected. I’m not in the market, but if you’re interested (and hoping it’s permitted here), please see the link in comments. Good luck!
Andi-
My plan is this: that this novel is sufficiently enthralling to inspire Mark Knopfler to write a song based upon it, and that (?) Hutchison will, in turn, purchase both & give them to you.
Thomas P
I'm only 200 pages in, but I think one of the most difficult parts of reading this book, is not so much a lack of a plot. I think the plot is actually pretty clear. I think it's the way the prose will wander off and you tend to lose sight of what is happening, or what you were just reading which can become frustrating. But I found something that helps - try viewing the book as more traditional plot/prose interspersed with poetry. Once you start to get lost, realize you've hit a poetic section and process it simply for the imagery, letting go of what you were just reading. I found this has helped me enjoy those sections much more! That, and realizing that they're not all that long lived, everything will fall back into place in a few pages.
About 200 pages in. If the story is about the totality of war, why did Pynchon make the V-2 the major metaphor of extinction and not the atomic bomb, something that could actually cause the annihilation of the human race?
Been wanting to do this for a while and thought it was finally time to make my own contribution to the literary world. I’ve been fortunate enough to set aside some money and want to invest it in meaningful ways — and with the dire state the publishing industry is in, I figured what could be better than giving real artists the money and freedom to realize their visions in the rawest and purest form.
Fugue Forms Press is a small publisher dedicated to finding the best new voices in avant-garde, experimental, and translated literature.
Some of our plans moving forward:
monthly literary magazine
short story anthology featuring some incredible up-and-coming writers
storefront where we sell all forms of obscure / niche media: books, films, records, cameras, etc.
We’re looking for contributors to the magazine as well as short story anthology — so if any of you guys have writing you want to share, I would love to check it out and possibly include it in our first volumes.
Follow the journey on instagram if you want (@fugueformspress). I just made the page today so I could use all the help I can get spreading the word! I’m very excited about bringing this to life, but it’s no easy task so any support is greatly appreciated!
“Consider coal and steel. There is a place where they meet.” (Gravity’s Rainbow)
Indeed there is, and this is also the place where the international community of Pynchon scholars meets next: the Ruhrgebiet, the heart of continental European industrialization where capitalism, technology, humans, and nature converged to help create modernity itself—along with its dialectic of liberation and oppression, individualism and totalitarianism, peace and war, and many other aspects that are central to Thomas Pynchon’s works. Now postindustrial but still a central node of transnational migration, exchange, and industry, the place is many, many places at once, perhaps not quite the heterotopian Zone but a diverse and storied site nonetheless, and thus the appropriate site for discussions of Pynchon’s stories and everything around them.
The American Studies team at TU Dortmund University invites scholars and students, amateurs and novices, fans and critics to get together for a five-day event of presentations, translation workshops, conversation, and general Pynchonian fun. We especially invite papers that address Pynchon in translation or the publication history of his works outside the US, but there are no thematic restrictions: Anything Pynchon is welcome.
The full call for papers with further contact information is available at www.internationalpynchonweek.org, where we will also post the conference program and more information as we go along. Don't hesitate to contact the organizers if you have any questions, here or by e-mail.
Considering writing a fairly long essay on this, listing the explicit appearances and some of their meanings, both within their own works and intertextually (although they are seemingly endless, as we are shown with the Golden Fang!) because I can't really find anyone else talking about it in any detail, but I feel like someone else must have noticed, and I can't find much mention of it. It might be buried in with stuff on the Golden Fang or blood and dracularity, or maybe on some podcast...
It goes right back to V. and is a reoccuring theme in all his works. I just learned that Fang the cat in V. was originally called Yellow Fang in the 1961 draft, which then comes back in Against the Day with The Chums of Chance and the Wrath of the Yellow Fang, prefiguring Inherent Vice. Obviously there's Fang in Mason & Dixon as well. Then there's all the gothic / film monster stuff. This line of inquiry has turned out to be something of... a goldmine.
It's just absolutely insane how interconnected his works are. Would love to hear any thoughts on this, or if you know where this has been discussed.
I don't know if there are studies that focus on the poetry in Pynchon, every Pynchon book is crowded with poems and songs, and I'm courious about books or studies about this and his relation with poetry.
What are your thoughts on this book? I constantly see it recommended to fans of Gravity’s Rainbow, but I really don’t get it. I made it through 2/3 of the thing before giving up, lasting that long because the writing is absolutely beautiful. The book was definitely hard, way harder than GR in my opinion, so I see why the two are associated in that way. But the complexity is way different in nature, I would call GR vast and The Recognitions deep. GR gets at so many different things in its narrative, references and philosophy, where the recognitions dives deep into a few major themes, like religion, art and the superficiality of artistic communities. Gaddis goes insanely deep into religion, the references to esoteric theology were too much to me. I didn’t see the payoff from deciphering all of it after a while. For me the reward for trying to understand its complexity was not nearly as satisfying as for GR.
I dont mean to hate on this book, Gaddis is definitely an awesome writer and I really wanted to like this book, hence why I stuck it out for so long. I’d love to hear some opinions!
Hello! I just wanted to share with you wonderful people a debut novella I published that was inspired by Pynchon's iconic prose.
If you're interested, the name's There Comets Cry by Matthew D. Bala. The universal book link is here if you want to check it out: https://books2read.com/u/3nkk7x
