Better Pynchon Book

Slow Learner or V.

Why is AtD your favorite? That and Vineland are the only ones I haven't read by him.

Not him but Vineland is sooooo underrated. It's clever, it's political, it's got wonderful, memorable characters, everything you could want out of a Pynchon novel

Yes, a brain.

BTFO

What's so great about v? I read it once then thought about it, tried rereading it and dropped it after mondugan's villa siege party. It just seems like there's no point in caring about anybody save stencil and paola, but even they don't even seem like they matter either. What am I missing here?

I've only ever read GR to completion. I enjoy the setting and language of M&D but at the time it was just too much for me to digest. Might try to dive back into it again when I have the free time. People underestimate how difficult Pynchon can be, often associating difficulty with vocabulary. M&D taught me a hard lesson on this with the sheer density.

M&D gets really boring at times for a non-American but GR just keeps throwing weird shit at you constantly so it's much more of an adventure.

I have around 100 pages of M&D left. I am beginning to agree with your assessment. It's fucking slow for a Pynchon book. I couldn't care less about muh references and shit.

M&D is an odd beast because you have to simultaneously enjoy hardcore historical fiction on top of Pynchon absurdity. If you aren't completely enthralled with the setting then M&D really fucking drags.