\
  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 ...
hateful flushed spot keepsake machete
  10/10/25
I think all his books over the past 15 years have been inten...
wonderful native
  11/09/25
has a single famous person released a single great work past...
bonkers lodge
  10/10/25
Arvo Part is still making hauntingly beautiful music at 90 y...
hateful flushed spot keepsake machete
  10/10/25
Norway's post war government prosecuted literary lion Knut H...
Offensive Psychic
  10/10/25
Robert Caro released the latest LBJ volume when he was 77. H...
Mint station jap
  10/10/25
Depends on the book. His weirdest shit, gravity's rainbow, i...
passionate useless stead twinkling uncleanness
  10/10/25
I read infinite jest and literally can't remember anything a...
thirsty range becky
  10/10/25
Actually, I have a vague memory of of one of the opening sce...
thirsty range becky
  10/10/25
(guy who literally can't remember who the author was)
gold philosopher-king stage
  10/10/25
...
Violet Parlour
  10/10/25
...
Bull headed legend
  10/10/25
...
Massive indian lodge legal warrant
  10/10/25
...
passionate useless stead twinkling uncleanness
  10/10/25
...
stubborn umber heaven nibblets
  10/10/25
...
Bull headed legend
  10/10/25
...
hateful flushed spot keepsake machete
  10/10/25
Oh, you read?
stirring office
  10/10/25
they're pretty readable his later stuff more so than the ea...
arousing haunted graveyard rigpig
  10/10/25
That's a good book. Slow Learner has some great stories, alt...
Bull headed legend
  10/10/25
Mason and Dixon was written when he was like 50 and it's abo...
wonderful native
  11/09/25
I loved the first half of Mason and Dixon and then it starte...
stubborn umber heaven nibblets
  11/09/25
The prose itself is not difficult to read but there is often...
Spruce step-uncle's house
  11/09/25
crying of lot 49 was extremely funny in parts. the whole su...
very tactful big rehab
  11/09/25


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 12:56 PM
Author: hateful flushed spot keepsake machete

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=2Elisa#49339600)



Reply Favorite

Date: November 9th, 2025 3:53 AM
Author: wonderful native

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=2Elisa#49413738)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 12:57 PM
Author: bonkers lodge

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=2Elisa#49339603)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:01 PM
Author: hateful flushed spot keepsake machete

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



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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 6:44 PM
Author: Offensive Psychic

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=2Elisa#49340592)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 7:15 PM
Author: Mint station jap

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=2Elisa#49340736)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:07 PM
Author: passionate useless stead twinkling uncleanness

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=2Elisa#49339637)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:11 PM
Author: thirsty range becky

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

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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:12 PM
Author: thirsty range becky

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=2Elisa#49339651)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:13 PM
Author: gold philosopher-king stage

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

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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:14 PM
Author: Violet Parlour



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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 6:45 PM
Author: Bull headed legend



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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: Massive indian lodge legal warrant



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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 2:36 PM
Author: passionate useless stead twinkling uncleanness



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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 5:16 PM
Author: stubborn umber heaven nibblets



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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 6:45 PM
Author: Bull headed legend



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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 6:59 PM
Author: hateful flushed spot keepsake machete



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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 2:38 PM
Author: stirring office

Oh, you read?

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



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 5:42 PM
Author: arousing haunted graveyard rigpig

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=2Elisa#49340460)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 10th, 2025 7:02 PM
Author: Bull headed legend

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=2Elisa#49340682)



Reply Favorite

Date: November 9th, 2025 3:54 AM
Author: wonderful native

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=2Elisa#49413739)



Reply Favorite

Date: November 9th, 2025 7:11 AM
Author: stubborn umber heaven nibblets

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=2Elisa#49413804)



Reply Favorite

Date: November 9th, 2025 4:45 AM
Author: Spruce step-uncle's house

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=2Elisa#49413748)



Reply Favorite

Date: November 9th, 2025 4:54 AM
Author: very tactful big rehab

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=2Elisa#49413750)