Against the Day (edit title)

• Rated 5 stars

“I finally finished it. I started reading this outstanding but challenging novel in December of 2006, when it was first released. After 300 confusing pages, and after reading a number of reviews claiming that the novel has no real plot, or point (the reviews were WRONG!) I put the book on the shelf. About a month ago I decided to restart it and enjoyed Pynchon's humor, convoluted plot, and bizarre directions. 1085 pages later I finally finished and now I miss reading this crazy, gigantic book.

This is a difficult novel but worth it. A lot of difficult novels (Remembrance of Things Past, for example) are no fun at all to read. But Against The Day was a book I actually looked forward to reading each night.

This is the type of book that would be easier to read if there were Cliff's Notes; and at this point the best resource is a web based blog called Chumps of Choice, a year long project that featured chapter summaries and discussions. There is also a Pynchon wiki with a lot of useful annotations. These resources made reading Against The Day both more enjoyable and less burdensome.

As far as the early reviews that claimed the plot was too Byzantine, shapeless, and confusing - I disagree. Using the resources above was very helpful - these guys did a lot of the work for me. Also it helps that the book is very funny and I often found myself laughing out loud late at night in bed. This book gives the reader a lot to think about.

Good news - Pynchon has a new novel coming out in August - Inherent Vice - and it is only about 400 pages long!

Links:


Plot Grid:

http://ic.ucsc.edu/~ksgruesz/ltel190f/PynchonGrid.htm

Chumps (very helpful):

http://chumpsofchoice.blogspot.com/

Pynchon Wiki:

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Against_the_Day

We are leaving for Mexico tomorrow and I think I'll try Vineland again.”

• Rated 0 stars

“I think this book will forever stay in "Reading Now."”

• Rated 4 stars

“As with all Pynchon books, I love reading them, even if I don't understand them. Certain scenes are magical, the language is always wonderful, but many of this polymath's ideas are way over my head. This is definitely easier to read than many of Pynchon's books, and the plot is easier to follow than most.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Pynchon is just great. I loved this book, had to read it slowly, it took a long time, and was worth it. I do not have the energy to read it again right away, but in the back of my mind, I think I should, as I think I missed some stuff. It was good to see he still has his chops, and it reminded me more of V than of his other books. Great stuff.”

• Rated 0 stars

“I couldn't finish it. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“I finished it. That's about all I could say.
http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
Actually, I found a wonderful resource that helped me through.”

• Rated 2 stars

“Currently wading through this Pynchon. It has flashes of great fun. I'm enjoying all the anarchist/socialist plot elements and the slightly off-kilter/almost magic realist take on the turn of the century (that's 19th into 20th), but I can't say it's keeping me gripped. I keep thinking about putting it down, and then I'll come up against a little plot turn or a political dig that keeps me ploughing on. Not sure I'd recommend it as such, but maybe I just can't concentrate these days. So wadda I know?”

• Rated 5 stars

“I have to confess I'd never read Pynchon before taking on this book, apart from a couple of aborted attempts at Gravity's Rainbow back in the day.

But wow... I've simply never encountered prose quite like this. Against the Day is obviously an endeavor, and not for the faint of heart. But it's utterly fascinating, and surprisingly fun.

And now, off to that third stab at Gravity's Rainbow...”

• Rated 0 stars

“This is on my "reading list" even though I actually just finished it. But you never really "finish" a Pynchon novel do you? I will probably read it again a couple of times.

So the short version: better than Mason & Dixon, colder than Gravity's Rainbow, sort of a page-turner at the end, not as lovely as the ending of Vineland but lovely in an imaginary kind of way. The politics are maybe a little more overtly functional than what I like from literature. But to sum up, I'd say, "American Me" by James Joyce.... get it?”