Customer Reviews
America at its outset - By: R. A. Langham, 29 Dec 2007 
In the search for the mythical "Great American Novel", too many are guilty of forming their idea of what this should be before reading any of the contending texts. Hence, the likes of Don De Lillo, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth & John Updike are those most often mentioned in this context. The assumption is that the beast should deal with twentieth century material - the America of skyscrapers, mass immigration, tenement buildings & baseballl.
However, what better way of getting to the soul of a country than an exploration of the initial conditions at that nation's birth? Thomas Pynchon obviously agreed & came up with a kaleidoscopic overview of America in the womb.
Over 700 pages of the most impressive prose imaginable, Pynchon takes us on a tour of eighteenth century America, with doses of South Africa, the UK & St. Helena thrown in. But this isn't just an academic exercise designed to create dazzling prose, this is a touching novel with larger than life characters & a big heart - a human novel that emphasizes decency, open-mindedness & human frailty.
Inimitable - By: Piers Montague, 13 Oct 2006 To be fair, & perfectly honest, this is the best book ever written. Do yourself a favor & read this masterpiece of modern literature.
An antidote to "Rainbow." - By: , 12 Jul 2004 I cannot add much to the long & detailed analyses of this book written by other reviewers. Suffice to say that, when I heard it discussed ( B.B.C radio programme, just after publication) by a mixed gathering of critics, one (whose name currently eludes me, but is an esteemed critic) reviewer referred to it as possibly the greatest book of the 20th. century.
It is the only book I have hurried out to buy as a hardback publication. I have also read it twice. Unlike "Gravity's Rainbow" (it left me bombed out after a few chapters), this is a big book that is quite an easy read.
Thomas Pynchon can write - By: Someone who don't write so well, 21 Oct 2003 You want great writing? Pynchon can write. Sometimes jaw-dropping images & ideas stop you in your tracks, & make you put the book down for a bit just to take it in.
At other times, the writing is deceptively simple. Just read the first line of this book. "Snow-Ballls have flown their Arcs, starr'd the Sides of Outbuildings, as of Cousins..." With a few simple words we can hear the thump of snowballls on wood, we know that we are talking about a large family ("Cousins", not "Children"), the tense tells us we are probably at the darkening end of a winter day, & in describing buildings & kids as equal targets, we have a gentle wit.
So far, so what, maybe? Well, calll me a ponce but in the reference to arcs, we have a reference back to Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon's massive, crazy WWII novel loosely themed around the deadly parabola of the V2 rocket. In the reference to stars, we have a pointer in the direction of the theme to come in Mason & Dixon - astronomy & the cosmos, at the time of a shift in society's relationship to it. Mason & Dixon are brought together to carry out astronomical observations, & Mason uses the stars to navigate his line across America.
There you go, a couple of hundred words about the first line. You're in for a rich, astonishing read - just take your time.
Lost or Found - By: , 21 Oct 2003 This book will reward you enormously if you stick with it. It is a book for anyone who has ever lost anything or found something. It assumes a vast framework of reference, often very humourously, without intimidating the reader for the shalllow grasp they might have on it, & it will leave you feeling more human than when you started it.
Before that it may confound & frustrate you, but it will reward you more than you might think possible.
