How To Read Thomas Pynchon

I took time out last week to re-read the Thomas Pynchon novel Inherent Vice. I read and reviewed it in 2009 and I think then because I was writing for the newspaper I was a bit overly circumspect about the book. I liked it much better this time. The final act is a mess but there are a lot of good jokes and the first 100 pages really capture the flavour of LA in the late 60s and early 70s. 
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Now don't ask me how I know but I know that a lot of you out there have never finished a Thomas Pynchon novel; you've tried but it's never quite worked out. You sat down in a comfy chair with a mug of tea and a packet of McVities Chocolate Digestives and everything was great for a bit but then you found yourself hurling Gravity's Rainbow across the room in exasperation. This is a problem for me. I like Pynchon very much and I want you to like him too so I thought I would provide you with a little reading list primer that will help you get into the books...


1. Inherent Vice: read this one first. It's a crime novel set in a slightly exaggerated version of 1970's LA. It's full of stoners, groovy language, flower power and a crazy plot and its got lots of pop culture references that everyone should get. 
2. The Crying Of Lot 49: after I.V. you should be able to handle Lot 49 which is basically set in the same milieu and is only a little bit weirder and more paranoid. 
3. Vineland: America in the early 80's. Reagan, Star Wars, Brock Vond. And again most people should be able to get the refs. These three books form a thematic trilogy of sorts and should be accessible to anyone. 
4. Gravity's Rainbow: Pynchon's WW2 novel which won the National Book Award. His best book? Probably, yes. It's quite a difficult text but by no means impossible to read especially in a trade paperback edition with big clear print. You'll need to know your early twentieth century culture quite well to get all the refs this time. 
5. V: my favourite Pynchon. A paranoid romp through the early twentieth century. Very abstract, strange and off putting for the uninitiated. But a great read once you get the momentum of the story. 
6. Mason & Dixon: the story of Mason & Dixon surveying the land that will become the North and South of the USA. This is my second favourite Pynchon. It's written in eighteenth century prose so it could be tricky for some people, but not for those with Clarissa, Tom Jones or even Neal Stephenson under their belts. 
7. Against The Day: This is for completists only. A dense, difficult story of turn of the century America. My favourite scenes were set in a beautifully crafted wild west Denver. 
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Additionally: Mortality And Mercy In Vienna, a strange out of print novella that I read in the Columbia University stacks before it got stolen and Slow Learner a nice collection of short stories, the highlight of which is probably Entropy.