Guides
Pynchon’s novels have a reputation as being somewhat on the difficult side. Indeed, they are generally quite complicated, filled with shifting points of view, interlocking timelines, hundreds of characters, and countless allusions to culture both high and low – but of course, that’s part of the fun! Fortunately for the enthusiastic reader, he or she does not have to go at it alone. The Web is filled with helpful essays, guides, and notes to almost all of his major works. This section endeavors to organize this chaos of information into easy-to-use clusters. The following pages are organized by novel, each containing links to information such as online guides, annotations, reviews, essays and papers, useful Web sites, and actual print materials.
Specific Works
In which the yo-yo string is revealed as a state of mind
(V.)
A page of useful links to material about V., Pynchon’s first novel.
Shall I project a world?
(The Crying of Lot 49)
Links and materials for his second novel, the engmatic but popular The Crying of Lot 49.
Infected with the prevailing fondness out here for mindless pleasures
(Gravity’s Rainbow)
This section focuses on Gravity’s Rainbow. Among other things, it contains a complete episode-by-episode summary, an introduction for the first-time reader, and a structural analysis.
Vineland the Good
(Vineland)
Links, guides, and reviews for Vineland, Pynchon’s underappreciated novel of the Eighties.
Often causing future strangers to remember them as Dixon and Mason
(Mason & Dixon)
This section focuses on Pynchon’s epic Mason & Dixon. It includes Toby Levy’s “Three pages a day” annotations.
“Now single up all lines!”
(Against the Day)
Resources and reviews for Against the Day.
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