What's your Pynchon ranking? I've spent the last year intensively studying his work and (partly re-)reading all his books. I came to the following conclusion:
Mason & Dixon >>> Against the Day > The Crying of Lot 49 = Gravity's Rainbow >> V. > Inherent Vice > Bleeding Edge >>> Vineland
I haven't read his bibliography but so far it's GR > V >>TCoL49 > Vineland
It's a shame that all the /lit/ memes trick readers, who aren't yet familiar with Pynchon, into ignoring his two best books, M&D and Against the Day.
>>7858323
Most people here tell me M&D is better than GR though??
>>7858327
It's always me. I can't remember even one single post who endorses Mason & Dixon as his best work, which wasn't written by me, sadly.
Mason & Dixon > Gravity's Rainbow > Inherent Vice > ATD > Lot 49 > Vineland > V. > Bleeding Edgebut actually i love them all
>>7858291
haven't read all of his oeuvre yet, but my ranking so far is GR > M & D > V >TCoL49
V. = GR = L49 > M&D >>> ATD > IV > V > BE
I think Bleeding Edge > Inherent Vice > Against the Day > Mason & Dixon > Vineland > Gravity's Rainbow > V. > The Crying of Lot 49, but that's just me.
Great to see so many people pretending to have taste reading something that won't last for progeny. Keep up the good work!
>>7858428
i don't give a fuck about taste. he writes metaphysical mysteries full of goofy humor, anxiety, and a genuine love for both literature and the world
it's the most fun thing i could think of reading at this age.
This is probably not the place to ask but I have not yet read a full Pychon and I am starting with M & D. I got a little past the 4th chapter and I am a bit overwhelmed by the prose and how it is written. I am having fun with it but should I start elsewhere?
>>7858385
same here
>>7858434
What age? People who obsess over Pychon and DFW are either millennial hipsters or basement dwelling redditors.
I think threads like these are often fraught with the same problems you see in discussions of music. People tend to get stuck on an artist's earlier hits, and judge all that comes after in light of such.
So if you first put out a Gravity's Rainbow and follow up with a Vineland, people are gonna be cheesed you didn't write another hulking monster book. But if you start with a Vineland and then write a Gravity's Rainbow, those same people are going to say you've lost your touch, gone off the rails, got self-indulgent. But it's all just perspective.
Crying of Lot 49>1956 sections of V.>the rest
>>7858467
TCOL49 is more accessible and gives a good intro to Pineconian prose, so it's generally considered the best starting place.
I got a hardcover copy of Mason & Dixon for 2 dollars. Inside was a decade old letter about a reunion for the class of 1944. I wonder if after I die my prized novels will be carelessly given away to a thrift store to be left on a bookshelf flanked by self help and romance books, or just thrown away.
>>7858690
The 56' sections really do feel like a different book. I like the "historical" sections too, but damn do they read differently.
GR>V.>>>Against The Day=Inherent Vice>CLot49>M&D>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Bleeding Edgedunno about vineland lmao
>>7858334
Well now you have because I also endorse Mason & Dixon as his masterpiece.
>>7858369
Vineland ahead of V? awaaaaaaaaa?
GR and V for first (biased as they were the first I read and they really clicked with me) mason & Dixon > AtD > crying of lot 49 > slow learner > bleedin edge
Read 50 pages of Vineland and stopped , need to go back to it. Still have to read inherent vice.
For me the 60s-70s Pynchon is a lot different than post GR Pynchon. I like the latter a lot more but theyre all great in there own ways.
Inherent vice is a much better starting point to read pynchon than lot 49, then read V. then whatever you can actually understand
>>7860010
V. just reads like a goddamn mess to me. But I have only read it once, so maybe it'll go up in my estimation when I read it again later this year.
