A Reader's Guide to Thomas Pynchon

Readers of Pynchon frequently fall into one of two categories: they find him hilarious and insightful or frustrating and confusing This kind of either/or choice constitutes what critics and other people who like to come up with fancy scientific sounding words for the art of reading describe as a binary. (I mention this term here because it will have many applications to The Crying of Lot 49).

While as any good reader does, you will come to your own opinions about Pynchon, our class has a specific mission regarding this text. We seek to find in this COL 49 some indicators of how far (forward or backward?) "America" and its literature have come in the three hundred or so years between Anne Bradstreet and Thomas Pynchon (who, by the way, was 28--the same age as Oedipa--when he wrote this novel). Rather than frustrate yourself trying to follow the details of the loony plot, focus instead on the question: What does Pynchon have to say about America? As you search for the answer to that question, look for patterns of images, characters, symbols, words, and concepts that might point you in the direction of a broader comment upon or critique of American culture and society?

Specifically, I hope we can look at the following:

• Can we trace any philosophical questions and issues from Bradstreet through Jefferson to Pynchon?
• How do the cultural contexts of these works compare: similarities? differences?
• And God? Are we in his, her, its angry hands? Is the truth out there if we just know how to look for it or is the "truth" unknowable (or, worse, non-existent)?
• Just for fun, can we draw any useful comparisons and contrasts between Bradstreet and Oedipa? Oedipa certainly has more men in her life than Bradstreet (at least, as far as we know), but Bradstreet seems...well, I should'nt answer my own question now, should I?
• With The Crying of Lot 49 we jump from poetry and historical "documents" to the novel. What creative and stylistic shifts, changes and opportunities does this genre offer, and what does Pynchon do with them?

Looking back on what I just wrote, the truth and God question makes me a bit nervious because I think the search for a simple resolution, a "revelation" (if I can use a word employed over and over again in the text) will lead us to certain confusion (how's that for an oximoron?). Instead, you might find it useful to compare Oedipa's search for the truth about Pierce and Tristero with the reader's search to find a stable and coherent meaning and interpretation to the novel.

We will have plenty of time to argue whether Oedipa has learned anything later at the end of the novel (we may be arguing this point all semester), but we need to pay close attention to the obstacles Pynchon throws in Oedipa's and our way as we search for the truth. The twists and turns in this quest, the ways in which we miscommunicate with ourselves and others, the psychological, technological, gender, and cultural pressures we cope with (and sometimes inflict upon ourselves) structure the novel's commentary on "the" human condition, culture, California, and America.

On to a few things to look for...so much to interpret and discuss, so little time. Let's throw out a few:

Chapter 1

• Communication breakdowns--from phones and televisions to letters and wills figure prominently in the text; keep an eye out for them (eyes too, some interesting references/puns there...)
• What's up with Mucho and that used car LOT...hmmm...that word...it resonates...oh yeah...some kind of "title" of the novel thing...?
• Mucho and Pierce model men for our heroine or self-absorbed cads? (beware those binaries)
• Art--we like Art-- what do we make of Oedipa's reaction to the Remedios Varo Painting?
• Does Oedipa need to leave Minnaret ? Why or why not?
• The name game: Pierce Inverarity, Oedipa Maas, Dr. Hilarious, Mucho Maas...

Chapter 2

• What do the images associated with San Narciso suggest about Southern California and perhaps even America?
• And what about all of those names? What's up with that?!
• Metzger -- cad, liberator, or plot device?
• capitalism--urban/suburban sprawl
• technology--science-- the notion of entropy will prove important to the text--what does it mean, what questions does it raise?

Avoiding the Tristero trap: let's worry less about who and what Tristero is and think more about why Pynchon might introduce such a vexing notion/chartacter/organization/interpretive nightmare into the text (we may choose to reserve our more enthusiastic Tristero theories for the email).

So much more to say about Pynchon, but like Mucho all I can do is hum a little song before you head off on your own journey to San Narciso