Paperback, 160 pages
English language
Published April 1, 1999 by Harper Perennial Modern Classics.
The Crying of Lot 49 is a novel written by American author Thomas Pynchon and published in 1966. The shortest of Pynchon's novels, the plot follows Oedipa Maas, a young Californian woman, who begins to embrace a conspiracy theory as she possibly unearths a centuries-old conflict between two mail distribution companies; one of these companies, Thurn and Taxis, actually existed (1806–1867) and was the first private firm to distribute postal mail. Like most of Pynchon's output, Lot 49 is often described as postmodernist literature. Time included the novel in its "TIME 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005".
This book is the best introduction to Pynchon because it is so short. If you read and don't love it, do not bother with his longer works. If it leaves you wanting more more more... well, time to crack open Gravity's Rainbow.
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.
I seem to recall enjoying vineland more, but this was still amazing.
