The Crying of Lot 49

by

English language

Published Oct. 1, 1989

ISBN:
978-0-06-091307-6
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4 stars (4 reviews)

The Crying of Lot 49 is a 1966 novella by the American author Thomas Pynchon. 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 feud between two mail distribution companies. One of these companies, Thurn and Taxis, actually existed, operating from 1806 to 1867, and was the first private firm to distribute postal mail. Like most of Pynchon's writing, The Crying of Lot 49 is often described as postmodernist literature. Time included the novel in its "TIME 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005".

8 editions

reviewed The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

Goodreads Review of The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

3 stars

This was a re-read for me, figured I'd read it on a train to New York, finished it on the way back. I definitely enjoyed it more than I did the first time around, I think because I was way young when I first read it and didn't understand it's place in the literary canon, or what it was trying to do. But with that being said, I still didn't know what the hell was going on or what I was supposed to take away from it. It is just as dense and inaccessible as I remember, but there were several moments that made me laugh during this read because I caught a reference I know I didn't catch before. I probably won't re-read it again knowing my feelings still stand despite being older, but it was fun.

reviewed Vente à la criée du lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

C'est fou

4 stars

Premier contact avec Pynchon suite aux recommandation d'une amie. Et oh boy, what a ride.

Le début, c'est Oedipa, une femme avec sa vie, ses problèmes, son mari hypersensible et son psychiatre avec un drôle d'accent allemand qui se retrouve exécutrice testamentaire pour un milliardaire qu'elle a connu autrefois. Mais ce n'est qu'un prétexte, car très vite Oedipa va se retrouvée plongée dans un mystère.

Je ne divulgâcherai pas, et quand bien même je le ferai ça n'aurait pas grand sens. Rien n'est clair ni clairement expliqué dans le récit. Oedipa court après des symboles, des bouts de sens qui sont cachées dans des recoins de bars et des boîtes postales sous des bretelles d'autoroute. Oedipa rencontre des personnages un peu foutraques (qui sont à peu près tous horny pour elle, c'est un peu gênant et ça m'a un peu sorti du texte). Chaque graine de sens qu'elle obtient s'accompagne …

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4 stars