In-Betweenies
Sunday November 19, 2006
in books |
I’m about halfway through Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
I was expecting a pulp sci-fi novel that I would easily tire of but it’s actually an excellent book. I’ve rediscovered science fiction and I’m a convert to Philip K.Dick.
I’m also pretty close to pre-ordering Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon’s new novel. I’ve never been much of a fan of his but somehow I feel drawn to his latest. I keep returning to the Amazon website and hovering the cursor over ‘pre-order this item’. Now’s the time to decide whether he really is as good as they say, or if I still think it’s a case of the emperor’s new clothes…
I tried to read Pynchon’s “Mason & Dixon” a few months ago. I got three chapters into it and I was actually enjoying it. But, for some reason, I just stopped reading it and I haven’t picked it up since. I’m not sure why. I’d also like to read “Against the Day” just out of curiosity than anything else. He’s one of those “love-him-or-hate-him” authors, but all the raves seem to be coming from people who enjoy his work. I just wonder where I’d fit in.
I don’t know if I could read “Gravity’s Rainbow,” though. It seems interesting, but I’m also a bit intimidated by it. One reader told me it took him nine months to get through “GR” and he hadn’t made up his mind whether or not it was worth it. He just said it was exhausting. I’m just not sure I could put that kind of time into a book.
Brandon Monday November 20, 2006
I've always been so unenthusiastic about Pynchon that I never notice the huge gaps between his novels. It's more like "another Pynchon novel? Already?"
You're doing better than me. I've not attempted any of his recent books and I never made it more than a few pages into Gravity's Rainbow. I've read The Crying of Lot 49 but that's very short!
But I like challenges so I might give Against the Day my best shot.
The Book Tower Monday November 20, 2006
|
