As someone who reads mostly for characters, is this worth finishing? I’m about 60 pages in and every page just keeps introducing more and more characters who disappear just as quickly. Is this shit ever going to come together or is it just as wild a ride from start to finish? If so I might drop it. That’s not where my tastes lie. Would love to hear why people like it/Pynchon in general. I’ve also read Crying of Lot 49 and Inherent Vice and didn’t find myself blown away by either.
As someone who reads mostly for characters, is this worth finishing...
Brayden Scott
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Bentley Lewis
For you? Probably not.
Zachary Smith
For you.
Nicholas Kelly
The characters in V. play second fiddle to the overarching narrative. If I remember right, there's four whole chapters that focus primarily on characters that are never mentioned again or play the tiniest of roles later on.
If you didn't like Lot 49, Inherent Vice, and now you're having issues with V. then maybe Pynchon just isn't for you. With that said though, you might wanna give Bleeding Edge a try. As usual, it's got a ton of characters, but most of them stick around, and if they don't, there's a good reason for it.
Juan Jackson
Thanks. I have that one too maybe I should be reading it instead
Jason Wright
For what it's worth, if you can put up with having to Google every other random reference Pynchon makes, I'd recommend toughing it out and finishing V. It does come together (most of it does, anyway) at the end, and I personally found those one-chapter characters and stories a lot more interesting than Benny's antics in New York at the start of the book.
Jaxson Peterson
V.'s his worst one...
Kayden Hughes
I heard that it was recommended reading for Gravity’s Rainbow (due to some characters being from V.) which is the only reason I picked it up. But after reading what I have of V. Plus his others I’m not sure if GR would be worth it.
Nicholas Russell
Nah, you only need to read Lot49 for that.
V. is good, but not the best intro to him because he wasn't as good at getting his brand of message across at that point. GR is on the other hand uniformly brilliant. If you want characters read Vineland...
Xavier Edwards
no, the crying of lot 49 is his worst one