Vineland
Registered by 4evagreen of Furness Vale, Derbyshire United Kingdom on 2/18/2016
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by 4evagreen from Furness Vale, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Thursday, February 18, 2016
Different cover. Received as a BookMooch.
Journal Entry 2 by 4evagreen at Furness Vale, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Vineland spans from the 1960s to the mid-1980s. The novel covers the paranoia of the Nixon years, the end of the hippie movement, the birth of Reaganite politics and the main themes are the corrupting influence of power and the death of idealism.
The prose is dense, Pynchon moves fluidly in his narrative from character to character and between time settings picking up and dropping plot lines seemingly at whim. Now whilst I found it marginally better than the previous novel by the author that I'd read (Crying of Lot 49) I cannot say that I particularly enjoyed this one either. Despite comments on the blurb to the contrary, I didn't find it "exhilarating and wretchedly funny" nor did I find it "beautifully structured" rather I found it self-indulgent and rather dull. What kept me going was an interest in seeing just whether Ferensi and Prairie would be reconciled and whether Vond would get his comeuppance but found the ending a let-down as well. I suspect that this will be something of a marmite book, you will either love or hate it, unfortunately I'm in the latter camp.
Hopefully the next reader will enjoy it more.
The prose is dense, Pynchon moves fluidly in his narrative from character to character and between time settings picking up and dropping plot lines seemingly at whim. Now whilst I found it marginally better than the previous novel by the author that I'd read (Crying of Lot 49) I cannot say that I particularly enjoyed this one either. Despite comments on the blurb to the contrary, I didn't find it "exhilarating and wretchedly funny" nor did I find it "beautifully structured" rather I found it self-indulgent and rather dull. What kept me going was an interest in seeing just whether Ferensi and Prairie would be reconciled and whether Vond would get his comeuppance but found the ending a let-down as well. I suspect that this will be something of a marmite book, you will either love or hate it, unfortunately I'm in the latter camp.
Hopefully the next reader will enjoy it more.
Going out as part of a Wishlist Tag thread. I hope that you get more out of it than I did. Enjoy!
Journal Entry 4 by kingfan30 at Somewhere in Lincs đ€·ââïž, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Friday, December 2, 2022
Thank you su much for sending this to me.
13 May 23 - I read The Crying of Lot 49 some time ago and I didnât really get on with but Iâm always willing to give an author a second chance. But I kind of wish I hadnât on this occasion. By the third chapter Iâd lost interest in the plot, but I carried on hoping it would pick up and I nearly gave up on so many occasions but I persevered until the end. I donât think this author is for me.
13 May 23 - I read The Crying of Lot 49 some time ago and I didnât really get on with but Iâm always willing to give an author a second chance. But I kind of wish I hadnât on this occasion. By the third chapter Iâd lost interest in the plot, but I carried on hoping it would pick up and I nearly gave up on so many occasions but I persevered until the end. I donât think this author is for me.
Journal Entry 5 by kingfan30 at Telephone Box âïž in Burton Coggles, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Sunday, May 14, 2023
Released 10 mos ago (5/14/2023 UTC) at Telephone Box âïž in Burton Coggles, Lincolnshire United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Left in the telephone box library to continue its journey