Pynchon's California Trilogy and the CIA

[dada]

One of my younger brothers is a bibliophile. His library doesn't fit in his small apartment. I'm the kind of person that can fit all of my belongings in the trunk of my car. (I used to have more stuff. Gave the nice things away, threw everything else out. Left art on the street. Was going to burn all my old notebooks, but I unceremoniously dumped them in the trash instead. If you're really gonna let go, then just let go, you know?) Now most of my space is filled with his books, too. Books, books, books, everywhere I look. I'll take pictures sometime. I'm certain some of you will be jealous.

One book or another will 'call' to me occasionally. Recently Gravity's Rainbow and Lot49 have both been very insistent, but I keep refusing. I don't know why. It's like I'm playing a game with them. Or it's an experiment. Like if I pretend to ignore them for long enough, they'll actually hop right off the shelf, or I'll wake up with one of them on the pillow next to my head.

Of course as I'm typing this, I look over and a collection of Pynchon's early short stories, titled 'Slow Learner,' catches my eye. I jut my chin out defiantly.

[82_28]

Start with Inherent Vice, 82, either the book or the movie. Same deep, evil themes, but more cartoon-sketched with a comic touch. I hope the commenters come back too.

I have read V, the Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow. I will check that out though, thanks, Nort. But Pynchon is so goddamned esoteric and I struggled to keep up and I good reeder. I did learn the word defenestrate though, from V. So there's that.

[RocketMan]

Start with Inherent Vice, 82, either the book or the movie. Same deep, evil themes, but more cartoon-sketched with a comic touch. I hope the commenters come back too.

I have read V, the Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow. I will check that out though, thanks, Nort. But Pynchon is so goddamned esoteric and I struggled to keep up and I good reeder. I did learn the word defenestrate though, from V. So there's that.

I recently read Vineland and it's pretty dada. Sometimes you just have to let it wash over you without intellectual processing. But lots of good stuff about COINTELPRO, power's relentless need to corrupt, subjugate and nullify all challenges to itself and the sexual politics of power. Pynchon really digs in Vineland and Inherent Vice into the subject of the subversion of various actors' good intentions by the rapaciousness of power. Real the small, unbowed individual against the all-powerful machine stuff. Always on the side of the little guy. Heady stuff. Mixing the "low" culture with the "high" in a totally audacious, in-your-face way, but never, I think, glibly (is that a word?) or as an affectation or merely a stance.