Book #57 of 2022:The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas PynchonAs a satire, this 1966 novel about an apparen

Book #57 of 2022:

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

As a satire, this 1966 novel about an apparent conspiracy surrounding an illegal alternate postal system is sporadically effective, with a handful of amusing developments and witty turns-of-phrase. As pretty much anything else, it’s not really what I’m looking for in a story. The punnily-named characters (Genghis Cohen, Manny di Presso, Emory Bortz, Mucho Maas, etc.) aren’t particularly defined beyond interchangeable punchline machines, the teased mysteries remain unsolved, and the discursive plot never quite justifies the sinister atmosphere. I don’t necessarily need answers in my fiction — I love S.andThe Starless Sea, and I’ve even come around to Lemony Snicket‘s brand of melancholic ambiguity — but hollow absurdism strictly for its own sake can often result in feelings of tedium and frustration, which has largely been my experience here.

I picked up this title as an introduction to author Thomas Pynchon, as it’s apparently shorter and more linear than his other works, and I can just about see the weird genius that has gained him a cult following. Yet I think at this point I can safely say that his talents are wasted — or should that be W.A.S.T.E.d — on me as a reader.

[Content warning for incest, rape, torture, gore, Nazi medical experimentation, desecration of human remains, drug abuse, homophobia including slurs, and racism including slurs.]

★★☆☆☆

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