The Crying of Lot 49

Paperback, 128 pages

Published June 6, 1996 by Vintage Classics.

ISBN:
978-0-09-953261-3
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4 stars (4 reviews)

10 editions

Goodreads Review of The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

3 stars

This was a re-read for me, figured I'd read it on a train to New York, finished it on the way back. I definitely enjoyed it more than I did the first time around, I think because I was way young when I first read it and didn't understand it's place in the literary canon, or what it was trying to do. But with that being said, I still didn't know what the hell was going on or what I was supposed to take away from it. It is just as dense and inaccessible as I remember, but there were several moments that made me laugh during this read because I caught a reference I know I didn't catch before. I probably won't re-read it again knowing my feelings still stand despite being older, but it was fun.

Review of 'The Crying of Lot 49' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

The back cover says “comic talent” and “wild humour” but I didn’t get it. There was one hilarious seduction scene early on and the characters are quite amusing but I found the most of it rather dull.

The writing reminded me of the Ipcress File which I read earlier in the year and they were published 4 years apart n the 1960s so this post modern splurge of multi page paragraphs was obviously the thing back then. Now it reads like a NANOWRIMO project someone would churn out in one month.

The worst parts are the endless information dumps about the Courier’s Tragedy. I only finished it because it was mercifully short and I don’t think I’ll be trying any more Pynchon.

Subjects

  • Crime & mystery
  • Modern fiction
  • Fiction