COL49: The beginning is the beginning is the end

[jbor]

on 7/31/01 5:17 AM, Saioued Al-Zaioued at chicagoist at hotmail.com wrote:

> Today we will start an excersize in futility. We will begin reading a book
> that its very own author considers flawed.

Thanks Saud.

This is what Pynchon writes in that 1984 _Slow Learner_ intro, though most
here are probably already familiar with his fairly straightforward negative
assessment of _Lot 49_ in contrast to 'The Secret Integration':

    As is clear from the up-and-down shape of my learning curve, it was
    too much to expect that I'd keep on for long in this positive or
    professional direction. The next story I wrote was "The Crying of
    Lot 49", which was marketed as a "novel", and in which I seem to
    have forgotten most of what I thought I'd learned up till then. (22)

Pretty conclusive imo.

I'd also add that this story or novella is the entry point for many Pynchon
readers, and that it is a prescribed text on many tertiary literature
syllabuses: courses on American fiction, contemporary fiction, postmodern
fiction, and so on. Personally I think Pynchon is overly harsh on himself,
and that the book is great fun.

best