It's been a while ... for my memory the chapter is pretty complex but the jist of it is political unrest, an attempted art theft, and Papa Stencil's hearing of Vheissu from Old Man Godolphin and meeting Victoria Wren.

Does that help at all? Any questions in specific?

>>7733003
Yeah that's what I figured out to be the general idea of the chapter.. But I don't know, it just feels very vague like I missed a lot of important stuff. I was just wondering if there's some kind of chapter by chapter plot summary that's more than 2 lines long, because I'm reading Mondaugen's Story (chapter 10) right now and I get the same feeling as chapter 7.

>>7733049
No, not that I know of. The thing of Pynchon is you ARE missing something and you SHOULD be and isn't it GREAT that you are.

Mondaugen's chapter is brilliant, one of Pynchon's best pieces of writing by far, so take it slow. If you don't catch the specifics of Bongo Shaftsbury's story or the Venus heist, that's fine, but Mondaugen's part should be read slowly and deeply imo

>>7733062
Alright, thanks. It's the actually first book I read that was written by Thomas Pynchon so I guess it's good to know. On the other hand, I noticed that the chapters with Profane don't really feel complicated and actually feel very light.

I'm about halfway in to Mondaugen's chapter and I don't really know what's going on. Something about antennas and a siege somewhere in south-west Africa
I don't know if I should restart the chapter

>>7733071
It'll get even more confusing later, as it has a slew of sifferent plotlines, but keep reading. You should be able to figure it out by the end, but if not, reread it then.

Mondaugen's story is not just some of the best shit Pynchon has written, but it's also curcial to V.

Also, a rule of thumb for Stencil chapters: he's either full of shit or is just as confused as the reader is. Sometimes both. They're not HIS stories, he's retelling them and might not get all the details right. It's up to you to piece it all together as much as you can.

>>7733138
Thanks a lot, you've been very helpful.

It's still weird as fuck that there's not a single plot summary for this book though, it seems like the type of book that would need it the most.

>>7733177
It would be really hard to come up with an actually summary though, the plot can be very incoherent at times. Hell Mondaugen's story and Confessions of Fausto Majistral could easily live as short stories. The first Stencil chapter, the one in Egypt, WAS a short story that he repurposed to serve his narrative in V.

With that said though, all the chapters are interconnected in a weird metanarrative and the tiniest detail in one chapter might end up being key to understanding what happens in another down the line.

Am I the only one who thought this was a pretty simple and straightforward book?

Why are people saying it's complex or unconventional or whatever?

>>7733224
The outline of the story is pretty straightforward, it's just that people are trying to see just how deep Tommy's narrative skills went right off the bat.

Frankly, I'm glad people are giving V. the attention it deserves. GR will always loom large, no one reads M&D, Vineland gets shunned before it can even come up in discussion and Lot49 is still everyone's go-to (not to mention everyone seems to be disappointed with the newer books). V. was one of those books I read when I first started getting into "serious literature" and it holds a special place in my memory.

I've always fantasized about creating a curriculum around mid-century American Postmodern debuts. V., The Recognitions, Omensetter's Luck, The Cannibal, A Smuggler's Bible, Speedboat, maybe sneak in Barth's Lost in the Funhouse and Barthelme's and Coover's stories for good measure.

>>7732993
Nothing Ever Happens: The Book

V eh? shit kinda sucked. GR is heaps better desu.