\
  The most prestigious law school admissions discussion board in the world.
BackRefresh Options Favorite

Are Pynchon books actually readable or just gibberish?

He just released a new book at 92 years old Cn a normal ...
Sooty self-centered fat ankles kitchen
  10/10/25
I think all his books over the past 15 years have been inten...
concupiscible slate ceo
  11/09/25
has a single famous person released a single great work past...
stirring old irish cottage
  10/10/25
Arvo Part is still making hauntingly beautiful music at 90 y...
Sooty self-centered fat ankles kitchen
  10/10/25
Norway's post war government prosecuted literary lion Knut H...
insecure talented stage
  10/10/25
Robert Caro released the latest LBJ volume when he was 77. H...
Rose Vigorous Crackhouse Sound Barrier
  10/10/25
Depends on the book. His weirdest shit, gravity's rainbow, i...
cracking native
  10/10/25
I read infinite jest and literally can't remember anything a...
pearly wonderful coffee pot space
  10/10/25
Actually, I have a vague memory of of one of the opening sce...
pearly wonderful coffee pot space
  10/10/25
(guy who literally can't remember who the author was)
diverse circlehead becky
  10/10/25
...
Vivacious very tactful parlor
  10/10/25
...
chocolate dashing theater stage
  10/10/25
...
stimulating death wish lodge
  10/10/25
...
cracking native
  10/10/25
...
cerebral claret corner antidepressant drug
  10/10/25
...
chocolate dashing theater stage
  10/10/25
...
Sooty self-centered fat ankles kitchen
  10/10/25
Oh, you read?
domesticated thriller hell
  10/10/25
they're pretty readable his later stuff more so than the ea...
Saffron range turdskin
  10/10/25
That's a good book. Slow Learner has some great stories, alt...
chocolate dashing theater stage
  10/10/25
Mason and Dixon was written when he was like 50 and it's abo...
concupiscible slate ceo
  11/09/25
I loved the first half of Mason and Dixon and then it starte...
cerebral claret corner antidepressant drug
  11/09/25
The prose itself is not difficult to read but there is often...
Exhilarant hyperactive national
  11/09/25
crying of lot 49 was extremely funny in parts. the whole su...
primrose useless brakes digit ratio
  11/09/25


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 12:56 PM
Author: Sooty self-centered fat ankles kitchen

He just released a new book at 92 years old

Cn a normal person read these or are they like NSAMs "by you" page?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339600)



Reply Favorite

Date: November 9th, 2025 3:53 AM
Author: concupiscible slate ceo

I think all his books over the past 15 years have been intended to be converted to screenplay/film so his son Jackson can have some money when he dies.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49413738)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 12:57 PM
Author: stirring old irish cottage

has a single famous person released a single great work past 80? or maybe even 70?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339603)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:01 PM
Author: Sooty self-centered fat ankles kitchen

Arvo Part is still making hauntingly beautiful music at 90 years old



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339617)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 6:44 PM
Author: insecure talented stage

Norway's post war government prosecuted literary lion Knut Hamsun for collaboration with the Nazis during the occupation. He was in his 90s at the time. while he was under house arrest and subjected to weeks of compulsory psychiatric examination at an oslo mental hospital, he wrote an account of the case and defense of his activities in the war. The account was published under the title, "on overgrown paths." It's an exceptional work by a nonagenarian.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49340592)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 7:15 PM
Author: Rose Vigorous Crackhouse Sound Barrier

Robert Caro released the latest LBJ volume when he was 77. He'll be 90+ (or dead) when the next volume comes out, and I still expect it to be great.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49340736)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:07 PM
Author: cracking native

Depends on the book. His weirdest shit, gravity's rainbow, is readable but in a strange way. Often it's individual episodes that are linked thematically with a shitton of individual character plot lines that often don't intersect.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339637)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:11 PM
Author: pearly wonderful coffee pot space

I read infinite jest and literally can't remember anything about it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339649)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:12 PM
Author: pearly wonderful coffee pot space

Actually, I have a vague memory of of one of the opening scenes. Maybe involving a private detective

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339651)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:13 PM
Author: diverse circlehead becky

(guy who literally can't remember who the author was)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339653)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:14 PM
Author: Vivacious very tactful parlor



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339655)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 6:45 PM
Author: chocolate dashing theater stage



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49340593)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: stimulating death wish lodge



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339676)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 2:36 PM
Author: cracking native



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339924)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 5:16 PM
Author: cerebral claret corner antidepressant drug



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49340403)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 6:45 PM
Author: chocolate dashing theater stage



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49340594)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 6:59 PM
Author: Sooty self-centered fat ankles kitchen



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49340671)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 2:38 PM
Author: domesticated thriller hell

Oh, you read?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49339930)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 5:42 PM
Author: Saffron range turdskin

they're pretty readable

his later stuff more so than the earlier ones he got acclaim for

that said crying of lot 49 is pretty accessible and fun

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49340460)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 7:02 PM
Author: chocolate dashing theater stage

That's a good book. Slow Learner has some great stories, although Pynchon disowned them.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49340682)



Reply Favorite

Date: November 9th, 2025 3:54 AM
Author: concupiscible slate ceo

Mason and Dixon was written when he was like 50 and it's about as good as Gravity's Rainbow.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49413739)



Reply Favorite

Date: November 9th, 2025 7:11 AM
Author: cerebral claret corner antidepressant drug

I loved the first half of Mason and Dixon and then it started to drag for me

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49413804)



Reply Favorite

Date: November 9th, 2025 4:45 AM
Author: Exhilarant hyperactive national

The prose itself is not difficult to read but there is often no linear plot, so if that's what you are looking for then not for you. Also some of the stuff like Gravity's Rainbow is filled with obscure engineering references, mathiness and pop culture nods to the point where noone will catch every one

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49413748)



Reply Favorite

Date: November 9th, 2025 4:54 AM
Author: primrose useless brakes digit ratio

crying of lot 49 was extremely funny in parts. the whole sub-plot with the midget submarine, for example. gravity's rainbow is fascinating but can take some research, since he was playing around with causality/order of events through a lot of the book.

eg, slothrop's abreactions and erections imply that his timeline is toroidal rather than linear, like the arc of a V2 rocket. the phrase 'beyond the zero' is an entendre for dipping below the 'zero' of a plane or the current reading of a linear timeline and curving back around, thus creating bizarre causal consequences. it's more explicitly science-fiction than other books he did.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5785069&forum_id=2...id.#49413750)