One Possible Sequence for Reading Thomas Pynchon’s Novels, Presented Without Remarks

Posted on by Biblioklept

Mason & Dixon

Against the Day

Gravity’s Rainbow

V.

The Crying of Lot 49

Inherent Vice

Vineland

Bleeding Edge

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13 thoughts on “One Possible Sequence for Reading Thomas Pynchon’s Novels, Presented Without Remarks”

  2. Not sure that I agree that chronology of setting is important. But I do approve of any ordering that does not start with Lot 49. Why not start with M & D? If you’re not convinced by the first page you can give up and go back to – well, let’s not name inferior names …

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  3. I remember you recommending starting with V. some time ago. Did this change after reading M&D? (I’m a Pynchon virgin.)

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    1. Oh gosh I don’t really know. This sequence is just a goof, an arrangement in my head—it’s for me, not really for anyone else, like so much on this solipsistic blog. I drafted two other sequences that I may or may not post.

      I don’t think Gravity’s Rainbow is a good starting place. Inherent Vice is really accessible, and pairs with the movie well, I think. Mason & Dixon is my favorite (I abandoned Vineland and haven’t read Bleeding Edge). Against the Day is maybe a good starting place, but it’s also the longest. TCofL49 is short but dense—I read it in college, and reread it later, and again more recently. I think I appreciated it more after having read M&D and AtD (…and Inherent Vice). I attach V. very much to the reading experience of V.—very strange and pleasurable. I haven’t read it in 13 years, but I will read it after finishing GR…

      So this is an unhelpful comment I guess. Maybe Paul or Miguel (or anyone else) has a thought…?

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  4. I’d start with V. Stop halfway through, catch your breath and read Lot 49, then finish V. Then begin reading Gravity’s Rainbow, about six times, then read slippery Vineland, find yourself back at Gravity’s Rainbow, realize you have it in you, read it, read it, finish it. Looking for an encore? Mason & Dixon. Whoa–even better? Yes. Even crazier? Yes. Even more moving than GR in all places but one, maybe? Yes. Then–okay, a break needed, how about Inherent Vice. Whew. Okay. Then Against the Day. When there is nothing else to read (Bleeding Edge doesn’t count because it hasn’t been out long enough to age) and you can’t get M&D out of your head, you find you’re in a timeandplace machine hearing M&D all over the place. Slowly, slowly, carefully, like a walk through the desert. Slowly, — is that an oasis shining in the vastness of it all? Stop. Kneel down, cup your hands, and –no. It’s the cover of Bleeding Edge, dammit. Suddenly a dog appears, covered in snow, with something to drink.

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  5. I like the order of TCofL49, Inherent Vice, and then Vineland. That’s the order I’ve gone through it (reading Vineland now). It seems appropriate because, in this order, the novels become more political while becoming less dense. Also, TCofL49’s paranoia and conspiracy theories are so wonderful and “abstract” (I don’t know what I mean by that) whereas, at this point in our country’s political history, if Pynchon said Reagan communed with aliens on the moon as a way to force everyone into heteronormative sexual relationships, I’d believe it for reals.

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  6. my sequence so far:

    V in the 70’s eyeopening for a teenager, but made me want to read Gravity’s Rainbow.
    Gravity’s Rainbow 80’s I don’t remember if I finished it, but I remember being fascinated by it.
    the Crying of Lot 49 2010
    Bleeding Edge and Inherent Vice listened to audio recordings on disc(both very well done) 2015

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  7. Is this the sequence you read them in?
    I went in the order that I managed to find them in reprtessive South Africa:
    The Crying of Lot 49
    V
    Slow Learner
    Gravity’s Rainbow (banned in SA at the time, found it in a secondhand bookshop)
    and then in the order that they were published

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    1. No—just a plot-historical outline here. I like the idea of maybe reading (re-reading) them in this sequence—all one big novel.

      My sequence:

      The Crying of Lot 49
      Gravity’s Rainbow (valiant effort with the aid of college roommate’s Ritalin)
      V.
      Mason & Dixon (attempted)
      Vineland (abandoned)
      Gravity’s Rainbow (attempted again)
      The Crying of Lot 49
      Gravity’s Rainbow (pattern here?)
      Against the Day (attempted)
      Inherent Vice
      Against the Day
      Mason & Dixon
      The Crying of Lot 49
      Inherent Vice
      Gravity’s Rainbow (I’m at the end of the Zone!)

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