V., by Thomas Pynchon: ***1/2

A wonderful, brilliant collage of time, place, style, personality, and humor, V. reminds me strongly of DF Wallace by connecting divergent storylines and characters into a noble, exciting, and somewhat satirical tale. While seeming to bounce haphazardly about, this novel ultimately tells the story of fascinating parallel lives. Pynchon shifts wildly from one lead to another, though the stories hinge around a core of strange characters.

I can't really explain what this book is about without giving away too much of the joy of reading it. Instead, I will say that this joy is once again found in the process of reading, with lots of good humor and truly fantastic prose. It was difficult reading at times, but never overly challenging. As with a lot of my favorite books, I read this one predominantly at night before going to bed, and it provides a good example for me to explain my process of reading. I like books that I can read for about an hour at night before going to bed. Here's the thinking: if a book is a little too boring, I get tired and fall asleep while reading (not a good book); if a book is a plot-based page-turner without much fascinating detail and exquisite settings, I stay up past my bedtime and keep reading (fun, but not the kinds of books that really stick with me); my favorite books are rich and exciting, but so detailed and well-written that I can't take more than about an hour at a time (because of the thinking involved for me to completely understand what I'm reading - I start to get tired), and so I enjoy myself for that hour, go to sleep, and resume the following night (Gene Wolfe's books are the absolute best example of these kinds of books for me). With the books in this last category, I generally read about 20-30 pages in that hour, and churn through most books in anywhere from 2-5 weeks, depending on length. As a result, I'm reading my favorite books for most of a month at a time, and I really get to live with the characters.

That month-long experience was my reading process for V., and I loved it. I would read a chapter or so every night, experiencing a new and wacky situation or location. Ultimately, the book can be summarized with three points - great writing, funny characters, interesting social commentary. There's a lot of information in this book. It was difficult reading, but at a level that I could deal with and still enjoy tremendously. [My understanding is that Gravity's Rainbow is much more difficult, so it may be a while before I try that one.]

Quotes:
pg. 297 - "Poetry had to be as hasty and rough as eating, sleeping, or sex. Jury-rigged and not as graceful as it might have been. But it did the job; put the truth on record. 'Truth' I mean, in the sense of attainable accuracy. No metaphysics. Poetry is not communication with angels or with the 'subconscious.' It is communication with the guts, genitals, and five portals of sense. Nothing more."
(summer 2001)

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