SLOW LEARNER: EARLY STORIES PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Thomas Pynchon | 208 pages | 03 Jan 1998 | Vintage Publishing | 9780099532514 | English | London, United Kingdom Slow Learner ()

Kurt Vonnegut. Come Along with Me. Shirley Jackson. Exile and the Kingdom. Albert Camus. Last Night. James Salter. Lorrie Moore. Music for Wartime. Rebecca Makkai. Carried Away. After Rain. William Trevor. Key West Tales. Sam the Cat. Matthew Klam. The Rachel Papers. To the Lighthouse. Virginia Woolf. Olinger Stories. The Complete Stories. Truman Capote. Quartet in Autumn. Selected Stories. The Summer Before the Dark. Doris Lessing. Travels with My Aunt. Graham Greene. The New York Stories. The Fourth Hand. Friend of My Youth. The Safety of Objects. View all 3 comments. I recently felt motivated to actually read this thing cover to cover. It sort of confirmed my opinion that Pynchon's ideal format is the novel. While they aren't poorly written, these stories will probably disappoint anyone who has read one of his more epic novels. Most of the endings seem abrupt, and Pynchon has always seemed like an elaborate architect when it comes to storytelling, so I often felt like the pace was too fast and the length insufficient. His rather self-deprecatory introduction I recently felt motivated to actually read this thing cover to cover. His rather self-deprecatory introduction on the other hand, is priceless. Which makes me feel alright about treating these stories harshly. In it, Pynchon goes on about how failed most of these stories seem in retrospect. He speaks of mistakes such as starting a story with an over-arching concept or theoretical idea in mind i. Entropy , and forcing the plot and characters to adhere to it like fictional slaves. Also mentioned is his case of poor ear for dialogue, which I've always noticed. The more disconcerting thing to read about is the artistic debt that he seems to feel for most beat literature, which I can see to an extent, it's just that I think he is probably the last writer that should give that movement too much credit. This is basically V. Themes of racism, imperialism, paranoia, left vs. Many passages are laugh-out-loud funny, which is Pynchon's most charming constant as a writer. Oddly enough, I enjoyed the Secret Integration the most; a story about a precocious twelve year old, who basically reads like a merry prankster with a degree from MIT. I wouldn't recommend this as an introductory read for those interested in Pynchon. In retrospect and I'm only about twenty pages into it , I would recommend V. All in all, these pieces just remind me once again, of how integral Pynchon's imperfections are to his accomplishments in the realm of twentieth-century fiction. Worth the read for Pynchon's introduction to the book and the story "Entropy. As for a starting point, it could work, but I still think his novels outpace any of his stories. I read this because Gravity's Rainbow has claimed me as a victim five times now. I've yet to get past page One day. Apr 07, Garima marked it as to-read Shelves: mycents , short-stories , pynchon-quest. Not an ideal Pynchon introduction, so stalled for now. I need a screaming across the sky I guess. View all 5 comments. The issue is all the more curious when reading "Slow Learner," a collection of five of Pynchon's earliest short stories, four of them written while still in college, and annotated in the present day This might change later, but right now, I'm less interested in What Pynchon Has To Tell Me than I am in How Pynchon Became Pynchon. The issue is all the more curious when reading "Slow Learner," a collection of five of Pynchon's earliest short stories, four of them written while still in college, and annotated in the present day by the author in the form of a skeptical, slightly embarrassed 20 page introduction. I tore into the stories first, winding around back to the analysis afterward so that I could enjoy the works on their own merits first. The collection starts with "The Small Rain" , a surprisingly linear and conventional tale of a wannabe lifetime enlisted man and his time spent helping out when his troop is called down south for disaster duty. Nathan "Lardass" Levine plans to spend his life in the military, but everyone around him sees he could probably do better, if he wants. The story has a Salinger feel to it, probably one of the first hints for folks who thought Pynchon might in fact be Salinger under a pseudonym. Our author dismisses this work as hopelessly hack, its contrived accents ringing false and its attempts to shoehorn literary motifs into a slight story its greatest crimes. It's not as bad as all that, but I'd be hard pressed to imagine reading it a second time. Strangeness creeps in with "Low-Lands," originally published in Dennis Flange is kicked out of the house presumably for good by his wife for the crime of inviting the garbage man downstairs to drink and tell dirty jokes in his man-cave. The two join a junkyard operator, who takes them to a back room where they drink wine and tell stories about their enlisted days. Pynchon bemoans the casual racism and sexism of his characters, noting that it probably was less of an ironic and more of a legitimate set of prejudices of his younger self. This is also the start of Pynchon's funny names -- there's Dennis Flange and also Pig Bodine and the junkyard-man Bolingbroke. Flange is brought out of deep sleep by Nerissa, a magical little person who takes him to her trash-city deeper in the junkyard. It's all very dreamy and strange, but elements of later stories are definitely starting to come out. It's set in the wee hours of a multi-day lease-breaking college party, as guests come and go, exclaiming pseudo-profundities and pantomiming silent string quartets for the entertainment of the drunken assemblage. I will spare everyone a detailed discussion of all the overwriting that occurs in these stories, except to mention how distressed I am at the number of tendrils that keep showing up. I still don't even know for sure what a tendril is. I think I took the word from T. I have nothing against tendrils personally, but my overuse of the word is a good example of what can happen when you spend too much time on words alone. For me, I find the story to be an amusing look at the time, the heedless weirdness that came at the tail end of the '50s, when young people started to reach for their first tastes of decadence and freedom. If it's overstuffed with incomprehensible digressions about the nature of entropy, well hey, who hasn't held court on stupider subjects at a college party? It's also the first funny story we've seen so far. I had a hell of a time with "Under the Rose" from start to finish. The story takes place in the late s, just as we're about to become to the 20th century. Its about spies in Egypt and surrounding areas who are assigned to track a dignitary, and it involves love triangles, romantic rivalries, friction between the old guard and the new ways, and a bit of slapstick. Not only is the prose style someone archaic, but Pynchon insists on using every possible street name, city name, and the exact path to get to each. He notes that he had probably pilfered a fair amount of this from an guidebook to modern Egypt. The writer and his first attempts to write something that's outside of his realm of experience. This is also a Golden Age of Weird Pynchon Names, so you'll find yourself re-reading the names Porpentine, Moldweorp, Voslauer, and the most Pynchon name of all, Bongo-Shaftbury, with maddening regularity. This is the first story where Pynchon lets himself off the hook more than I did. I found this an awful, tedious slog towards nothing in particular. A few tumbles down the stairs and police fracases at the opera later, and I really couldn't figure out what more I knew about the spy Porpentine at the end than I did at the beginner, other than, to quote Danny Glover, that he's Getting Too Old For This Shit. The final story is noteworthy, as it's the only one to have been written and published after Pynchon's first novel, "V. Made up of real, fascinating people kids, mostly Pynchon may lambaste himself for making the kids occasionally stupider than they need to be and transplanting his hometown locations and experiences to a more tony New England climate, but there's not much else to dislike here. The kids are still kids, they have fun with their secret inner lives, but also with their inventions, their adventures, and their increasingly ambitious pranks on the town. They see their parents acting horribly to the black family that just moved in, and they want to lash out, but don't quite know how yet. Their one black friend, Carl, is a natural fit for the group, and the four of them are as thick as thieves. The give and take between childhood innocence and the first realizations of the grotesqueries of adulthood is handled as well here as any author I can think of that specializes in this time of life, and the twist at the end comes completely out of nowhere. This story alone makes the book a must-read. There are so many books on the market about how to write better and I've read plenty of them , but there are precious few about how not to write. That's why books like this and the recently published "Drivel" a collection of early, terrible writings by people we now consider great, like Gillian Flynn, Mary Roach, Dave Eggers, and Chuck Palahniuk, seem like such useful tools. No matter where you are in your attempts to write gooder, you can't help comparing yourself to writers that seem to be on another planet altogether. How did they get there? Were they always there? How do I do that? Alas, these books don't contain a magic skeleton key that will help you unlock your great inner writer. They can be comforting, but they all basically tell the same story: to be a good writer, you just need to write more, and if you can, find ways to not suck so much. And don't get too embarrassed by what you wrote before. Everyone started out writing about Crazy College Students and their invisible sonatas. Mar 28, Gauri rated it liked it Shelves: thomas-pynchon. Oh, Thomas Pynchon! The only author who has fully convinced me of two polar opposite things at once: 1 that I am terribly stupid and 2 that he is terribly stupid. I think the only reason you would want to read this compilation of short stories would be to study Pynchon's work further than you already have. This is not a good introductory book to read to understand Pynchon's writing. There are five stories in this novel, written from - , from when he was in college at Cornell, to a coup Oh, Thomas Pynchon! There are five stories in this novel, written from - , from when he was in college at Cornell, to a couple of years after he graduated. Pynchon was quite skilled at this young age, though still had many faults, which, interestingly enough, he addresses in his introduction written decades later. His introduction, I think, is just as valuable as his short stories to readers who study Pynchon, because this is the only account which he has provided something of autobiographical detail -- which is unlike him, as he has always been a recluse. I mean I can't very well just 86 this guy from my life. On the other hand, if through some as yet undeveloped technology I were to run into him today, how comfortable would I feel about lending him money, or for that matter, even stepping down the street to have a beer and talk over old times? He believes that the younger him treated and wrote about death in an unaffected, roundabout way, that should have instead have been more vivid and matter-of-fact. He also states that he was far too heavy handed in his use of allusions to other pieces of literature, especially works of Hemingway. What you can appreciate through this book is his progression throughout his career as a writer. You can see that heavy-handedness in his earlier works, and slowly start to see it be more subtle in his novels. You can see his love for certain sentences structures growing, as you see more and more of them throughout the stories and novels. He is a good example to study if you want to see writing skills developing. He also comments about his ignorant views as a young man, which are starkly apparent and even shocking in his earlier stories. I wish I could say that this is only Pig Bodine's voice, but, sad to say, it was also my own at the time. The best that I can say for it now is that, for its time, it is probably authentic enough. Perhaps, once you tackle The Crying of Lot 49 and then one of his larger ones, such as V. But really, I wouldn't even recommend this then, if you read his books for plot and interesting writing, because he is a bore in this. He makes average sounding plots even more mundane with his writing. Five early stories and a confessional but invaluable introductory essay by the Bard of Oyster Bay. If you've read at least two of his novels and have any extant interest, you should read this as well. For die-hard fans the fun will be in searching out characters, events, scenes, and themes that reappeared in later works. For casual Pynchon readers seeing the author's maturation as a writer will be food for Five early stories and a confessional but invaluable introductory essay by the Bard of Oyster Bay. For casual Pynchon readers seeing the author's maturation as a writer will be food for thought. Already he was uniquely incorporating science into his fiction. My suggestion is to read the Introduction to Slow Learner after reading the stories. It will make ever so much more sense and will save re-reading. This will be difficult for acolytes who tend to salivate after any scrap of information they can obtain about the maestro. In the Introduction, Pynchon not only enthusiastically deprecates his early works, but also provides useful advice for beginning writers. Through his humility, Pynchon is trying to lower expectations, to discourage reading too much into work from his 20's when he was experimenting with and exploring his craft, and perhaps to assuage his own wincing and cringing when looking back. Else why release them at all? Since there are only five stories here and this is one of the notable writers of our time, each deserves its own bit, along with year of publication. Here Pynchon aims at a big statement, but subtly and in an offhand manner befitting an enlisted man. A soldier story in the vein of Norman Mailer The Naked and the Dead , or more distantly, Ernest Hemingway who comes in for a mention. His first published story and the most conventional. Rather than a story consisting of symbols, here the story is the symbol. Rich, Baroque, complex, historical. I can't say that reading this story will provide the key to understanding any facet of that book. It actually doesn't seem like a short story at all. Pynchon had decided that he knew how to write a short story. Along with "The Small Rain," the least Pynchon-like story in the bunch though he can't help but flash moments of shtick , and the most conventional was published in The Saturday Evening Post , after all. This is Pynchon making social commentary and exploring the idea that children may be wiser than adults. Also recommended are the more often suggested The Crying of Lot 49 and his first novel V. In these early stories we discover that Pynchon had already digested several encyclopedias, lived several lifetimes, and had mastered the art of looking at everything the way no one else does. Given his cybernetic store of knowledge, he makes disturbing and surprising connections. The writing is bizarre, but beautiful. Review 7 of "Year of the Review All Read Books" The following is a recently recovered collection of notes and feedback given to Thomas Ruggles Pynchon from his writing workshop classmate [redacted] at Cornell University. The Small Rain I was liking the Hemingway tone of it until you ruined it with the self-referential dig at him. Also felt like the charact Review 7 of "Year of the Review All Read Books" The following is a recently recovered collection of notes and feedback given to Thomas Ruggles Pynchon from his writing workshop classmate [redacted] at Cornell University. Also felt like the characters were more interesting to you than they were to the reader. Good names though, Lardass, Picnic. The action didn't really seem intense though, huh? I guess the climactic point of the story seemed to be the one paragraph about the death detail. I get the mechanic efficiency and the dehumanization therein points for casual vomiting on the job though but aside from that it was like a diary of some army guys looking for ways to kill time. I was pretty bored man, sorry. Low-lands I'm not so crazy about a story in which the characters tell a bunch of stories. But you did backdrop it against some interesting elements. Junkyard and secret societies are brilliant, but they feel more novel yes, pun intended, puns are always intended. I don't know if you have any plans to make this a novel, but I feel like I've seen the name Pig Bodine in one of your earlier pieces? Entropy "Tell a girl 'I love you. Just you and she. But that nasty four-letter word in the middle, that's the one you have to look out for" OMG so relevant!! I still feel like you're not quite getting to the "plotness" of a good story y'know? What about all those great spy thrillers you've been recommending me? Those have tons of actions and consequences. To be honest it's really obvious that you enjoy a good metaphor had to look up what entropy was, this is grade-a stuff here. I'm not saying you can't have plotless stories. Hell, look at Joyce. Also, I have no idea who the main character is. I think you want it to be Callisto? PS: Just a fun creative idea. What if, to expand on the Entropy theme, you eventually have people talking in different languages by the end of the party? Just a thought. Under the Rose Hell yeah, now we're getting somewhere. Chase scenes. It's a little occluded and I don't know that I buy the whole "broke the gentlemanly code among spies" or whatever. A spy depending on intuition is interesting, but not necessarily, idk, believable? I mean, happens to me all the time, but I hear there are these pills you know… The Secret Integration There's so much good stuff here Tom. The best is that it's a gang of kids and almost dressed up like a kids adventure but you're tackling serious themes of race drawing really cool parallels with underground societies and reactionaries. Plus you get really deep and emotional especially with McAfree. It's a maturity I haven't seen in you before. In the past I feel like you've depended on men who are literally too mechanical but even your deployment of the young kid in AA ends up simultaneously absurd and beautiful. Now, the ending was a little goofy. Where you come and tell us straight out who exactly Carl was or wasn't. It's like showing you how the magic trick is done after you've just performed it. I kind of want to believe in the magic still. The stories are a bit up and down, with the first one being the most forgettable, although it has some particularly vivid writing about some very disturbing sights and smells. The second story, Low Lands, is a surreal tale of a man who loses his wife and finds himself in a junkyard with friends and an unexpected visitor, and I quite enjoyed it. Entropy was cool, and I loved the ending, though I feel like most of it flew way over my head. And, Under the Rose will be familiar to readers of V, as i The stories are a bit up and down, with the first one being the most forgettable, although it has some particularly vivid writing about some very disturbing sights and smells. And, Under the Rose will be familiar to readers of V, as it's an early version of what would soon become chapter 3 of that novel. The real heart of this book, though, and the reason I'm giving an otherwise up-and-down collection of early stories a 5 star rating along with the introduction, a rare treat of the man himself talking about writing, and just about the 50s and 60s, in general is the final story, The Secret Integration. This is a young Pynchon dealing with Jim Crow and he pulls it off brilliantly. The best character work by far in the whole collection, these kids seem to me very similar to the Chums of Chance, who wouldn't make their debut for another 40 years in Against the Day. Though maybe I'm just forcing the connection, as I'm an obsessive fan of that novel. Either way, these kids are real in a way that few of the other characters are in the earlier stories. The ending is truly stellar. If you've been putting this collection off because you think it's only for the hardcore completists, as I had been doing for years now, don't. If you've read a novel or two of his and you're a fan, go for it. Mar 31, J. Thomas Pynchon's short story "Entropy" is what kick started my interest in modern well, post-modern literature and it's a little odd to see it again, not quite as good as I remembered it though still good and ripped to shreds by the author in the preface. So what is there to say? Some of these stories are just good, some are pretty darned good and some are outright wonderful. It is a collection of short stories that I would recommend for those too tentative to dive right into V. I mean, it worked for me. Still he was a great writer from the beginning and he is one of the greatest now. Some tiresome heavy-handed symbolism and quite a few contrived narrative choices here and there, thus leading to an overall inconsistent and flawed collection of short stories, but even when Pynchon's juvenile impulses are at their worst, he still manages to conjure up vivid epiphanies that leave one aghast, as if consumed with some rare, hallowed knowledge. However, in order to experience this, do yourself a favour and leave his renowned autobiographical introduction for last—as tempting it may Some tiresome heavy- handed symbolism and quite a few contrived narrative choices here and there, thus leading to an overall inconsistent and flawed collection of short stories, but even when Pynchon's juvenile impulses are at their worst, he still manages to conjure up vivid epiphanies that leave one aghast, as if consumed with some rare, hallowed knowledge. However, in order to experience this, do yourself a favour and leave his renowned autobiographical introduction for last—as tempting it may be to go through the man's sole direct account of his own artistic process and influences, his merciless, coruscating self-ridiculing remarks about his early prose would probably just lead you to believe that these stories should have never seen the light of the day, let alone be published under the author's real moniker. Really a fascinating glimpse into a portrait of the artist as a young, furiously creative and unrestrained man, which contains—in nuce—all his fixations and fetishes, together with a whimsical preoccupation for zany character names Meatball Mulligan might just be my very favourite. The Secret Integration , in particular, might feature some of Pynchon's most candid, unexpectedly fragile and heart-rending writing yet. Dec 22, Koen rated it liked it. Of this book's five stories I give five stars to "The Secret Integration" - one of the best stories I ever read - the one picked by other readers - the one I therefore started with. Then read the introduction - all of twenty-four pages, a bit too long - in which the writer himself elaborately puts down the other stories written twenty years previously when in college: ' It is only fair to warn even the most kindly disposed of readers that there are some mighty tiresome passages here, juvenile an Of this book's five stories I give five stars to "The Secret Integration" - one of the best stories I ever read - the one picked by other readers - the one I therefore started with. Then read the introduction - all of twenty-four pages, a bit too long - in which the writer himself elaborately puts down the other stories written twenty years previously when in college: ' It is only fair to warn even the most kindly disposed of readers that there are some mighty tiresome passages here, juvenile and delinquent too. So I refrained from reading the others. Suggest you do too. These stories are proof that Thomas Pynchon was once not the behemoth of a writer he is now. Even though, 'The Secret Integration' was oddly sweet which is a story about a few little kids in post-segregationist America. Also, the introduction was very funny. I didn't care so much for the other stories. They were still very Pynchonesque except not fully developed. After these, Pynchon went on to write 'V. Dec 01, Descending Angel rated it really liked it Shelves: pynchon. A collection of 5 short stories from the late 50's early 60's. While they are early Pynchon where Pynchon was still finding his voice, they are all really enjoyable, especially the last two stories. The first 3, again while they are enjoyable do seem a little bit forced or rushed. The 4th story "under the rose" a weird spy thriller is more alive character wise and plot wise and has a hard connection to his first novel "V" which is cool. Slow Learner: Early Stories by Thomas Pynchon, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®

The collection consists of five short stories: 'The Small Rain', 'Lowlands', 'Entropy', 'Under the Rose', and 'The Secret Integration', as well as Slow Learner is a compilation of early stories written between and , before Pynchon achieved recognition as a prominent writer for his novel, V and containing a revelatory essay on his early influences and writing. The collection consists of five short stories: 'The Small Rain', 'Lowlands', 'Entropy', 'Under the Rose', and 'The Secret Integration', as well as an introduction written by Pynchon himself for the publication. The five stories were originally published individually in various literary magazines but in , after Pynchon had achieved greater recognition, Slow Learner was published to collect and copyright the stories into one volume. The introduction also offers a rare insight into Pynchon's own views on his work and influences. Get A Copy. Paperback , pages. Published February 16th by Vintage Classics first published More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Slow Learner , please sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Slow Learner: Early Stories. Aug 15, Michael Finocchiaro rated it liked it Shelves: fiction , short-stories , post-modern , americanth-c , novels. While not essential to the Pynchon canon, these stories provide insight into how Pynchon started created his stories and his universes. We even get to see a few characters that appear in Gravity's Rainbow and Against the Day later on. I would say this is for the Pynchon-addicts like myself who are waiting impatiently for yet another Pynchon masterpiece. View all 4 comments. Oct 18, Mattia Ravasi rated it it was amazing. Worth its price for the introduction alone, the five stories in Slow Learner show a writer trying his hand at different things. Paradoxically enough, the least Pynchonian stories in the collection 1st and 5th are also the most effective if you ask me, but even in the less elegant middle stories one can find sparks of true genius. Must read. This one is definitely for the die-hards and completionists, Slow Learner: Early Stories is probably most intriguing to Pynchonites merely for the introductory material where we learn a lot about Pynchon's fictioneer-ing process and progress from the man himself. When the intro opens with the author warning of the "juvenalia" that lurks in the stories in the collection, he's kind of put himself into a defensive position. Sometimes this is a rhetorical move, but in Pynchon's case, turns out tha This one is definitely for the die-hards and completionists, Slow Learner: Early Stories is probably most intriguing to Pynchonites merely for the introductory material where we learn a lot about Pynchon's fictioneer-ing process and progress from the man himself. Sometimes this is a rhetorical move, but in Pynchon's case, turns out that there's fair reason for the reader to be warned. At least 3 of these stories are mediocre, one is good, and the other is clearly superior. Even the better stories here offer only the slimmest glimmer of Pynchon's heights across all of his fictions. So the real value here for the Pynchonite is to see the progress of a genius in growth. There's a reassuring thing to see The Master struggling with mediocre short stories early in his career, as if to remind you that greatness can be a process. There is no more new Pynchon for me. This is profoundly sad. Re-reading Pynchon is always a delight, but if Mr. Paranoid's listening, throw us a bone, man! Sep 27, E. View 1 comment. Shelves: My first reaction, rereading these stories, was oh my God , accompanied by physical symptoms we shouldn't dwell upon. This, from the opening paragraph of Thomas Pynchon's introduction to his earliest published stories, appears at first to be a self-conscious oversell of false modesty. Even after watching him pick apart the stories for the first 25 pages, one by one and with an assiduous efficiency, you still don't believe they are going to be bad. But then you read the first story, and you start t My first reaction, rereading these stories, was oh my God , accompanied by physical symptoms we shouldn't dwell upon. Young Pynchon doesn't come off as a dick or even mostly unlikeable, but he doesn't come across as very interesting either. Or, perhaps most surprisingly, as very talented. And here's the silver lining: these stories firmly place the virtuosic talents Pynchon later developed into the realm of possibility for the modestly talented but ambitious would-be writer. Granted, all but one of these stories were written in college, but even so, any previously tempting apotheosis of the man will be permanently erased upon reading these. So that's the good news I guess. But they aren't much fun to read, and I struggled to remain engaged through each one of them. I'm not going to go into detail about the problems here, mainly because Pynchon does such a damn good job of it in his introduction. It probably goes without saying, however, that any book that peaks with the introduction is in pretty serious trouble. View 2 comments. Thomas Pynchon is no different in his perspective on the five short stories in this collection which were originally published between and Some of the text is common to both works, although they stand separately. Thus, to criticise the short story is to be equally critical of at least part of the novel. I think the characters are a little better, no longer just lying there on the slab but beginning at least to twitch some and blink their eyes open, although their dialogue still suffers from my perennial Bad Ear Today we expect a complexity of plot and depth of character which are missing from my effort here. It features a company of army men of different levels of responsibility and intelligence. The Introduction certainly provides plenty of fodder for this opinion. It was actually OK to write like this! Who knew? The effect was exciting, liberating, strongly positive. One reason was the presence of real, invisible class force fields in the way of communication between the two groups. Worth it for the introduction alone. This was my 4th Pynchon, and probably a good time for it. Would probably be a bit anticlimactic if I had saved this for last. Highlights: "Entropy" and "Under the Rose". Also, a Slothrop relative, wart Doctor makes an appearance. Good enough writing, but experience enhanced if you're all-in with Pynchon, natch. I read Pynchon's intro weeks ago on a sample. That's pretty much the best thing in this book; still it's interesting to watch development in style and motifs through these stories, which were first published The Small Rain A lot of this is a pretty conventional short story, not a bad one though, about an army battalion sent to clear up after a natural disaster. An amazing few sentences almost summarise why I like Pynchon, as well as being an idea close to my own heart. What I mean is something like a closed circuit. Everybody on the same frequency. And after a while you forget about the rest of the spectrum and start believing that this is the only frequency that counts or is real. While outside, all up and down the land, there are these wonderful colors and x-rays and ultraviolets going on. Most books feel to me like they're stuck in that one place. Reading Pynchon is being on the road and seeing all the other spectacular stuff, - though with someone who seems to share some of the same opinions and neuroses, and apparently contains much of one's own general knowledge plus that of a few friends with different specialties. Low-lands Another fairly conventional story, about an ex-Navy guy and his drinking partners one with the fabulous name Rocco Squamuglia, Squamuglia later making an appearance in Lot 49 as a fictional Italian city-state — though it's more anarchic than 'The Small Rain' and in the last few pages spills into a fantasy section reminiscent of a children's book. One of the things I've really enjoyed about Pynchon so far is that his writing actually distracts me from a lot of the stuff other books make me dwell on, and so it is much more fun. I thought Cindy was pretty intolerant; the relationship I had which worked best for the longest time was with someone who sometimes disappeared on multi-day drinking binges and might turn up a couple of hundred miles away. However, rather like Miriam in what seems like a satirical scene in the next story 'Entropy' — albeit without breaking windows - I was upset by the same ex's views on philosophy of science. Though we still remain friends fourteen years after first meeting. Entropy The whole thing must be intended to represent entropy; it meanders and moves in a way that would be easier to draw as a shape or a graph than to summarise with words. Partly an account of an anarchic lads' house party from the Beat era when jazz was the coolest thing. In other scenes a couple named Aubade and Callisto, apparently living in a greenhouse in the garden, ponder various cultural and scientific phenomena. It's very rare I even consider applying the word pretentious — to those scenes I did. A development of immersive digression, fantasy blurring with reality and, well, entropy from the previous piece. There are a couple of paragraphs here better appreciated by someone with a thorough knowledge of physics. Like quantum mysticism only with thermodynamics. Most of it was somehow uninvolving and a chore, and I kept wishing I was reading more John Le Carre instead — even though the idea of this story sounds great and there are some marvellous character names, including Hugh Bongo- Shaftsbury. The Secret Integration Pynchon writes Peanuts. This story, three years and the other side of V from its predecessor, is so much better. Also it's longer which gives the author more space to freewheel. There isn't exactly a beginning, a middle and an end. A bunch of nice and well- meaning pre-teen mostly boys of varying degrees of eccentricity including reluctant child genius Grover as the brains of the operation — not to mention their dog - get up to various escapades in a middle American town including home made explosives, pranks with water balloons, being an Alcoholics Anonymous buddy to an old jazz musician, and trying to thwart local racists including their parents. Really really charming. These stories aren't amazing, a bit of a fans-only thing. Saw one post mentioning they'd been a set text on the reviewer's course — I'm not sure why a tutor would set an author's poorest work. But they were good enough that I enjoyed them as a break from the duller parts of the contemporary novel I was also reading, The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner. Mar 02, erock rated it did not like it Recommends it for: people who hate their sad, sad lives. Any book that starts out in the preface saying that what you are about to read sucks and then makes a series of apologies about how bad it is and how much he learned and how smart he actually is and on and on with the pretentious 'I really am one of the greatest writers in the 20th century, you just won't be able to tell from the shit you are about to read' litany. That is just self indulgent and embarassing. But, he was right, it all pretty much didn't do a lot except bore. I bought an Elvis Co Any book that starts out in the preface saying that what you are about to read sucks and then makes a series of apologies about how bad it is and how much he learned and how smart he actually is and on and on with the pretentious 'I really am one of the greatest writers in the 20th century, you just won't be able to tell from the shit you are about to read' litany. I bought an Elvis Costello re-issue album once that did the same thing. I thought, well, no one ever says anything about this album, I'll give it a shot. Then the first line of the liner notes read: 'Congratulations, you just purchased my worst album ever' I mean really, couldn't you put that on the cover? And for that, I am a little upset at EC as well. The most interesting aspect of this volume of short stories is the introduction by its author Thomas Pynchon. He's very funny and there is a certain amount of charm in how he looks at his work when he was young The only book I have read all the way through is his last novel "Inherent Vice" which I loved, because it reminded me of my youth in Southern California and all the references both culturally and actual stores in actual locations are just p The most interesting aspect of this volume of short stories is the introduction by its author Thomas Pynchon. The only book I have read all the way through is his last novel "Inherent Vice" which I loved, because it reminded me of my youth in Southern California and all the references both culturally and actual stores in actual locations are just perfect. The other book I love is "Against the Day" and I stopped reading it half-way through. Not due to the book itself, but I think more due to life at the time. It was such a rich experience to go through that book, and it is one of the few pieces of literature, where I thought this guy is actually a genius. And yes i will finish that book! The short stories here are very so-so, but has touches of his brilliance but not totally formed yet. I think the short story format is too restrictive for Pynchon - he needs the big scale 70mm book print to get his ideas across. And even that its difficult due to his narratives, which are deeply textured and not simple by any means. He's a writer where you really think about the research he has done and the way he conveys or writes his thoughts down on paper - it is not a book about his personal life, but the life that lives in his head. The last story is one of my favorite short stories that I have ever read. The introduction as well is great, just for the insights into the standards he holds over his writing. Even if you dislike his novels, you may enjoy these stories as they almost all are very accessible. The self-deprecating introduction really sets the tone, downplaying expectations and welcoming the reader to just relax a bit and enjoy the flawed stories. These five stories include the first four stories Pynchon published. They were apparently no m They were apparently no minor item, as they got noticed and put Pynchon on the map of a small literary crowd before his first book came out. The introduction alone was worth the book. Pynchon is notoriously reclusive, but his introduction is very open. He complains about how amateur these works are and expresses regret over the things he forced into these stories to try to make them more literary. This self-criticism is somehow both a bit in mock and very sincere. It's also spot on, interesting, and charming. The Small Rain A low level army tech takes a minor roll in hurricane response. Come Along with Me. Shirley Jackson. Exile and the Kingdom. Albert Camus. Last Night. James Salter. Lorrie Moore. Music for Wartime. Rebecca Makkai. Carried Away. After Rain. William Trevor. Key West Tales. Sam the Cat. Matthew Klam. The Rachel Papers. To the Lighthouse. Virginia Woolf. Olinger Stories. The Complete Stories. Truman Capote. NOOK Book. Home 1 Books 2. Read an excerpt of this book! Add to Wishlist. Sign in to Purchase Instantly. Members save with free shipping everyday! See details. Overview Early short stories by Thomas Pynchon, introduced by the author and praised as "an exhilarating spectacle of greatness discovering its powers" by the New Republic. Thomas Pynchon's literary career was launched not with the release of his widely acclaimed first novel, V. In his introduction to Slow Learner , the author reviews his early work with disarming candor and recalls the American cultural landscape of the early post-Beat era in which the stories were written. Time magazine described this introductory essay as "Pynchon's first public gesture toward autobiography. All five of the pieces have unusual narrative vigor and inventiveness. Product Details About the Author. Slow Learner: Early Stories by Thomas Pynchon

Travels with My Aunt. Graham Greene. The New York Stories. The Fourth Hand. Friend of My Youth. The Safety of Objects. Marcel Proust. Under the Net. Exit Ghost. Death in Venice. Cakes and Ale. Somerset Maugham. A Rose for Emily and Other Stories. William Faulkner. Winesburg, Ohio. Sherwood Anderson. Related Articles. Looking for More Great Reads? Download Hi Res. LitFlash The eBooks you want at the lowest prices. Read it Forward Read it first. Sort order. Start your review of Slow Learner: Early Stories. Aug 15, Michael Finocchiaro rated it liked it Shelves: fiction , short-stories , post-modern , americanth-c , novels. While not essential to the Pynchon canon, these stories provide insight into how Pynchon started created his stories and his universes. We even get to see a few characters that appear in Gravity's Rainbow and Against the Day later on. I would say this is for the Pynchon-addicts like myself who are waiting impatiently for yet another Pynchon masterpiece. View all 4 comments. Oct 18, Mattia Ravasi rated it it was amazing. Worth its price for the introduction alone, the five stories in Slow Learner show a writer trying his hand at different things. Paradoxically enough, the least Pynchonian stories in the collection 1st and 5th are also the most effective if you ask me, but even in the less elegant middle stories one can find sparks of true genius. Must read. This one is definitely for the die-hards and completionists, Slow Learner: Early Stories is probably most intriguing to Pynchonites merely for the introductory material where we learn a lot about Pynchon's fictioneer-ing process and progress from the man himself. When the intro opens with the author warning of the "juvenalia" that lurks in the stories in the collection, he's kind of put himself into a defensive position. Sometimes this is a rhetorical move, but in Pynchon's case, turns out tha This one is definitely for the die-hards and completionists, Slow Learner: Early Stories is probably most intriguing to Pynchonites merely for the introductory material where we learn a lot about Pynchon's fictioneer-ing process and progress from the man himself. Sometimes this is a rhetorical move, but in Pynchon's case, turns out that there's fair reason for the reader to be warned. At least 3 of these stories are mediocre, one is good, and the other is clearly superior. Even the better stories here offer only the slimmest glimmer of Pynchon's heights across all of his fictions. So the real value here for the Pynchonite is to see the progress of a genius in growth. There's a reassuring thing to see The Master struggling with mediocre short stories early in his career, as if to remind you that greatness can be a process. There is no more new Pynchon for me. This is profoundly sad. Re-reading Pynchon is always a delight, but if Mr. Paranoid's listening, throw us a bone, man! Sep 27, E. View 1 comment. Shelves: My first reaction, rereading these stories, was oh my God , accompanied by physical symptoms we shouldn't dwell upon. This, from the opening paragraph of Thomas Pynchon's introduction to his earliest published stories, appears at first to be a self-conscious oversell of false modesty. Even after watching him pick apart the stories for the first 25 pages, one by one and with an assiduous efficiency, you still don't believe they are going to be bad. But then you read the first story, and you start t My first reaction, rereading these stories, was oh my God , accompanied by physical symptoms we shouldn't dwell upon. Young Pynchon doesn't come off as a dick or even mostly unlikeable, but he doesn't come across as very interesting either. Or, perhaps most surprisingly, as very talented. And here's the silver lining: these stories firmly place the virtuosic talents Pynchon later developed into the realm of possibility for the modestly talented but ambitious would-be writer. Granted, all but one of these stories were written in college, but even so, any previously tempting apotheosis of the man will be permanently erased upon reading these. So that's the good news I guess. But they aren't much fun to read, and I struggled to remain engaged through each one of them. I'm not going to go into detail about the problems here, mainly because Pynchon does such a damn good job of it in his introduction. It probably goes without saying, however, that any book that peaks with the introduction is in pretty serious trouble. View 2 comments. Thomas Pynchon is no different in his perspective on the five short stories in this collection which were originally published between and Some of the text is common to both works, although they stand separately. Thus, to criticise the short story is to be equally critical of at least part of the novel. I think the characters are a little better, no longer just lying there on the slab but beginning at least to twitch some and blink their eyes open, although their dialogue still suffers from my perennial Bad Ear Today we expect a complexity of plot and depth of character which are missing from my effort here. It features a company of army men of different levels of responsibility and intelligence. The Introduction certainly provides plenty of fodder for this opinion. It was actually OK to write like this! Who knew? The effect was exciting, liberating, strongly positive. One reason was the presence of real, invisible class force fields in the way of communication between the two groups. Worth it for the introduction alone. This was my 4th Pynchon, and probably a good time for it. Would probably be a bit anticlimactic if I had saved this for last. Highlights: "Entropy" and "Under the Rose". Also, a Slothrop relative, wart Doctor makes an appearance. Good enough writing, but experience enhanced if you're all-in with Pynchon, natch. I read Pynchon's intro weeks ago on a sample. That's pretty much the best thing in this book; still it's interesting to watch development in style and motifs through these stories, which were first published The Small Rain A lot of this is a pretty conventional short story, not a bad one though, about an army battalion sent to clear up after a natural disaster. An amazing few sentences almost summarise why I like Pynchon, as well as being an idea close to my own heart. What I mean is something like a closed circuit. Everybody on the same frequency. And after a while you forget about the rest of the spectrum and start believing that this is the only frequency that counts or is real. While outside, all up and down the land, there are these wonderful colors and x-rays and ultraviolets going on. Most books feel to me like they're stuck in that one place. Reading Pynchon is being on the road and seeing all the other spectacular stuff, - though with someone who seems to share some of the same opinions and neuroses, and apparently contains much of one's own general knowledge plus that of a few friends with different specialties. Low-lands Another fairly conventional story, about an ex-Navy guy and his drinking partners one with the fabulous name Rocco Squamuglia, Squamuglia later making an appearance in Lot 49 as a fictional Italian city-state — though it's more anarchic than 'The Small Rain' and in the last few pages spills into a fantasy section reminiscent of a children's book. One of the things I've really enjoyed about Pynchon so far is that his writing actually distracts me from a lot of the stuff other books make me dwell on, and so it is much more fun. I thought Cindy was pretty intolerant; the relationship I had which worked best for the longest time was with someone who sometimes disappeared on multi-day drinking binges and might turn up a couple of hundred miles away. However, rather like Miriam in what seems like a satirical scene in the next story 'Entropy' — albeit without breaking windows - I was upset by the same ex's views on philosophy of science. Though we still remain friends fourteen years after first meeting. Entropy The whole thing must be intended to represent entropy; it meanders and moves in a way that would be easier to draw as a shape or a graph than to summarise with words. Partly an account of an anarchic lads' house party from the Beat era when jazz was the coolest thing. In other scenes a couple named Aubade and Callisto, apparently living in a greenhouse in the garden, ponder various cultural and scientific phenomena. It's very rare I even consider applying the word pretentious — to those scenes I did. A development of immersive digression, fantasy blurring with reality and, well, entropy from the previous piece. There are a couple of paragraphs here better appreciated by someone with a thorough knowledge of physics. Like quantum mysticism only with thermodynamics. Most of it was somehow uninvolving and a chore, and I kept wishing I was reading more John Le Carre instead — even though the idea of this story sounds great and there are some marvellous character names, including Hugh Bongo-Shaftsbury. The Secret Integration Pynchon writes Peanuts. This story, three years and the other side of V from its predecessor, is so much better. Also it's longer which gives the author more space to freewheel. There isn't exactly a beginning, a middle and an end. A bunch of nice and well-meaning pre-teen mostly boys of varying degrees of eccentricity including reluctant child genius Grover as the brains of the operation — not to mention their dog - get up to various escapades in a middle American town including home made explosives, pranks with water balloons, being an Alcoholics Anonymous buddy to an old jazz musician, and trying to thwart local racists including their parents. Really really charming. These stories aren't amazing, a bit of a fans-only thing. Saw one post mentioning they'd been a set text on the reviewer's course — I'm not sure why a tutor would set an author's poorest work. But they were good enough that I enjoyed them as a break from the duller parts of the contemporary novel I was also reading, The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner. Mar 02, erock rated it did not like it Recommends it for: people who hate their sad, sad lives. Any book that starts out in the preface saying that what you are about to read sucks and then makes a series of apologies about how bad it is and how much he learned and how smart he actually is and on and on with the pretentious 'I really am one of the greatest writers in the 20th century, you just won't be able to tell from the shit you are about to read' litany. That is just self indulgent and embarassing. But, he was right, it all pretty much didn't do a lot except bore. I bought an Elvis Co Any book that starts out in the preface saying that what you are about to read sucks and then makes a series of apologies about how bad it is and how much he learned and how smart he actually is and on and on with the pretentious 'I really am one of the greatest writers in the 20th century, you just won't be able to tell from the shit you are about to read' litany. I bought an Elvis Costello re-issue album once that did the same thing. I thought, well, no one ever says anything about this album, I'll give it a shot. Then the first line of the liner notes read: 'Congratulations, you just purchased my worst album ever' I mean really, couldn't you put that on the cover? And for that, I am a little upset at EC as well. The most interesting aspect of this volume of short stories is the introduction by its author Thomas Pynchon. He's very funny and there is a certain amount of charm in how he looks at his work when he was young The only book I have read all the way through is his last novel "Inherent Vice" which I loved, because it reminded me of my youth in Southern California and all the references both culturally and actual stores in actual locations are just p The most interesting aspect of this volume of short stories is the introduction by its author Thomas Pynchon. The only book I have read all the way through is his last novel "Inherent Vice" which I loved, because it reminded me of my youth in Southern California and all the references both culturally and actual stores in actual locations are just perfect. The other book I love is "Against the Day" and I stopped reading it half-way through. Not due to the book itself, but I think more due to life at the time. It was such a rich experience to go through that book, and it is one of the few pieces of literature, where I thought this guy is actually a genius. And yes i will finish that book! The short stories here are very so-so, but has touches of his brilliance but not totally formed yet. I think the short story format is too restrictive for Pynchon - he needs the big scale 70mm book print to get his ideas across. And even that its difficult due to his narratives, which are deeply textured and not simple by any means. He's a writer where you really think about the research he has done and the way he conveys or writes his thoughts down on paper - it is not a book about his personal life, but the life that lives in his head. The last story is one of my favorite short stories that I have ever read. The introduction as well is great, just for the insights into the standards he holds over his writing. Even if you dislike his novels, you may enjoy these stories as they almost all are very accessible. The self-deprecating introduction really sets the tone, downplaying expectations and welcoming the reader to just relax a bit and enjoy the flawed stories. These five stories include the first four stories Pynchon published. They were apparently no m They were apparently no minor item, as they got noticed and put Pynchon on the map of a small literary crowd before his first book came out. The introduction alone was worth the book. Pynchon is notoriously reclusive, but his introduction is very open. He complains about how amateur these works are and expresses regret over the things he forced into these stories to try to make them more literary. This self-criticism is somehow both a bit in mock and very sincere. It's also spot on, interesting, and charming. The Small Rain A low level army tech takes a minor roll in hurricane response. The hurricane was unexpected, deadly, and actually happened. The response becomes body recovery. This was my favorite story as it works on a simple level - an unusual and casual, almost accidental confrontation with death. It just manages to become more than it is. Low-Lands A man's wife kicks him out of the house. He spends a night in a garbage dump with the overseer. There is a lot of Greek mythology references and a element of horror. Entropy Actually a kind of cool story that involves a wacky party and the odd young couple one floor below, pondering entropy. But, if I can pretend to give analysis, and this kind of story will encourage you to pretend to do the same, the point seems to be his use of the word entropy in a story context - both giving new meaning to and coloring the entire story. It's one of those interesting ideas I find hard to grasp of all at once. The wild parties become something that cannot hold, if you like. They expend more than what can be replaced. And they become directional, leading toward an end, without ever touching on this directly. Not sure I have it right, or close, but it makes sense to me. It also really defines the sense of everything in V. But for three days now, despite the changeful weather, the mercury had stayed at 37 degrees Fahrenheit. This becomes a chapter in V. I didn't like it in V. I found it a snobbish effort. To make matters worse, an old rowdy college "friend" of the Flanges, named Pig Bodine , shows up in a stolen MG to see his old friend. At this, Cindy orders the three men off the premises. They all get in Rocco's garbage truck, and head down to the dump, patrolled by an old man named Bolingbroke. There, Dennis waxes philosophical about the dump, thinking of it as an allegory for his life up to that point, and possibly his life in the future. Rocco leaves for home, and Bolingbroke, Bodine, and Dennis turn in for the night, swapping sea stories as they doze off. Then, in the middle of the night, Dennis hears a woman's voice calling "Anglo! Anglo with the golden hair! Realizing this is him, Dennis runs off into the dump looking for the woman. Remembering that Bolingbroke said that gypsies were in the area, Dennis wonders if the woman he's looking for is a gypsy. Then he sees her. She is the most beautiful woman he's ever seen She takes him to her home, tunneling deep into the dump, where she asks him to marry her. He declines, saying he's already married. To this, she starts crying, thinking Dennis won't take her. He then thinks she looks like a child, and that he always wanted children, but Cindy was too busy. He then tells her he'll stay A weekend-long lease-breaking party devolves into disarray as Meatball Mulligan entertains a revolving door of cronies, servicemen, and jazz musicians while, in a hothouse room, Callisto and his lover Aubade ponder the everpresent condition of enclosed systems creating disorder while trying to nurse a baby bird back to health. The temperature outside remains 37 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the day, fueling apocalyptic paranoia in Callisto, who pontificates on the discoveries of the Laws of Thermodynamics , the Clausius theorem , and Gibbs and Boltzmann , finally deciding that entropy is an adequate metaphor to apply to American consumerist society, "a similar tendency from the least to the most probable, from differentiation to sameness, from ordered individuality to a kind of chaos. As the musicians discuss music theory, the girls and sailors chant drunken songs together, and childish chicanery break out all over, Meatball debates whether to hide in a closet until the party subsides its second wind or try to calm everyone down, one by one. He decides on the latter, patching up each out-of-control situation until the party tapers down to a din. Callisto's bird fails to improve under the unchanging conditions, which causes Aubade to smash out a window of the hothouse with her bare hands, displacing the constant temperature of inside and outside and leaving the story in a state of hovering uncertainty of where the next moment will lead. Their mission is to find out what their nemesis, Moldweorp, is up to in the area. Porpentine theorizes his plan is to assassinate the Consul-General, and so they travel to Cairo to intercept him, along with Goodfellow's new girlfriend, named Victoria Wren, her family, and a man named Bongo- Shaftsbury. During the trip, Bongo-Shaftsbury attempts to attack Victoria's younger sister Mildred, but Porpentine stops him. He then realizes that the man is a spy working for Moldweorp, and Bongo-Shaftsbury is put under guard.

Slow Learner - Thomas Pynchon - Google книги

All five of the pieces have unusual narrative vigor and inventiveness. Product Details About the Author. About the Author. Thomas Pynchon is also the author of the novels V. Hometown: New York, New York. Date of Birth: May 8, Education: B. Related Searches. View Product. John Patrick Addis was a state trooper, crime scene investigator, bush pilot, ex-convict, UFO fanatic, John Patrick Addis was a state trooper, crime scene investigator, bush pilot, ex-convict, UFO fanatic, survivalist-and a pro at manipulating women. His criminal madness stretched from Alaska to Mexico-leaving countless victims in his wake. In Persuasion Nation. View all 3 comments. I recently felt motivated to actually read this thing cover to cover. It sort of confirmed my opinion that Pynchon's ideal format is the novel. While they aren't poorly written, these stories will probably disappoint anyone who has read one of his more epic novels. Most of the endings seem abrupt, and Pynchon has always seemed like an elaborate architect when it comes to storytelling, so I often felt like the pace was too fast and the length insufficient. His rather self-deprecatory introduction I recently felt motivated to actually read this thing cover to cover. His rather self-deprecatory introduction on the other hand, is priceless. Which makes me feel alright about treating these stories harshly. In it, Pynchon goes on about how failed most of these stories seem in retrospect. He speaks of mistakes such as starting a story with an over-arching concept or theoretical idea in mind i. Entropy , and forcing the plot and characters to adhere to it like fictional slaves. Also mentioned is his case of poor ear for dialogue, which I've always noticed. The more disconcerting thing to read about is the artistic debt that he seems to feel for most beat literature, which I can see to an extent, it's just that I think he is probably the last writer that should give that movement too much credit. This is basically V. Themes of racism, imperialism, paranoia, left vs. Many passages are laugh-out-loud funny, which is Pynchon's most charming constant as a writer. Oddly enough, I enjoyed the Secret Integration the most; a story about a precocious twelve year old, who basically reads like a merry prankster with a degree from MIT. I wouldn't recommend this as an introductory read for those interested in Pynchon. In retrospect and I'm only about twenty pages into it , I would recommend V. All in all, these pieces just remind me once again, of how integral Pynchon's imperfections are to his accomplishments in the realm of twentieth-century fiction. Worth the read for Pynchon's introduction to the book and the story "Entropy. As for a starting point, it could work, but I still think his novels outpace any of his stories. I read this because Gravity's Rainbow has claimed me as a victim five times now. I've yet to get past page One day. Apr 07, Garima marked it as to-read Shelves: mycents , short-stories , pynchon-quest. Not an ideal Pynchon introduction, so stalled for now. I need a screaming across the sky I guess. View all 5 comments. The issue is all the more curious when reading "Slow Learner," a collection of five of Pynchon's earliest short stories, four of them written while still in college, and annotated in the present day This might change later, but right now, I'm less interested in What Pynchon Has To Tell Me than I am in How Pynchon Became Pynchon. The issue is all the more curious when reading "Slow Learner," a collection of five of Pynchon's earliest short stories, four of them written while still in college, and annotated in the present day by the author in the form of a skeptical, slightly embarrassed 20 page introduction. I tore into the stories first, winding around back to the analysis afterward so that I could enjoy the works on their own merits first. The collection starts with "The Small Rain" , a surprisingly linear and conventional tale of a wannabe lifetime enlisted man and his time spent helping out when his troop is called down south for disaster duty. Nathan "Lardass" Levine plans to spend his life in the military, but everyone around him sees he could probably do better, if he wants. The story has a Salinger feel to it, probably one of the first hints for folks who thought Pynchon might in fact be Salinger under a pseudonym. Our author dismisses this work as hopelessly hack, its contrived accents ringing false and its attempts to shoehorn literary motifs into a slight story its greatest crimes. It's not as bad as all that, but I'd be hard pressed to imagine reading it a second time. Strangeness creeps in with "Low-Lands," originally published in Dennis Flange is kicked out of the house presumably for good by his wife for the crime of inviting the garbage man downstairs to drink and tell dirty jokes in his man-cave. The two join a junkyard operator, who takes them to a back room where they drink wine and tell stories about their enlisted days. Pynchon bemoans the casual racism and sexism of his characters, noting that it probably was less of an ironic and more of a legitimate set of prejudices of his younger self. This is also the start of Pynchon's funny names -- there's Dennis Flange and also Pig Bodine and the junkyard-man Bolingbroke. Flange is brought out of deep sleep by Nerissa, a magical little person who takes him to her trash-city deeper in the junkyard. It's all very dreamy and strange, but elements of later stories are definitely starting to come out. It's set in the wee hours of a multi-day lease- breaking college party, as guests come and go, exclaiming pseudo-profundities and pantomiming silent string quartets for the entertainment of the drunken assemblage. I will spare everyone a detailed discussion of all the overwriting that occurs in these stories, except to mention how distressed I am at the number of tendrils that keep showing up. I still don't even know for sure what a tendril is. I think I took the word from T. I have nothing against tendrils personally, but my overuse of the word is a good example of what can happen when you spend too much time on words alone. For me, I find the story to be an amusing look at the time, the heedless weirdness that came at the tail end of the '50s, when young people started to reach for their first tastes of decadence and freedom. If it's overstuffed with incomprehensible digressions about the nature of entropy, well hey, who hasn't held court on stupider subjects at a college party? It's also the first funny story we've seen so far. I had a hell of a time with "Under the Rose" from start to finish. The story takes place in the late s, just as we're about to become to the 20th century. Its about spies in Egypt and surrounding areas who are assigned to track a dignitary, and it involves love triangles, romantic rivalries, friction between the old guard and the new ways, and a bit of slapstick. Not only is the prose style someone archaic, but Pynchon insists on using every possible street name, city name, and the exact path to get to each. He notes that he had probably pilfered a fair amount of this from an guidebook to modern Egypt. The writer and his first attempts to write something that's outside of his realm of experience. This is also a Golden Age of Weird Pynchon Names, so you'll find yourself re-reading the names Porpentine, Moldweorp, Voslauer, and the most Pynchon name of all, Bongo-Shaftbury, with maddening regularity. This is the first story where Pynchon lets himself off the hook more than I did. I found this an awful, tedious slog towards nothing in particular. A few tumbles down the stairs and police fracases at the opera later, and I really couldn't figure out what more I knew about the spy Porpentine at the end than I did at the beginner, other than, to quote Danny Glover, that he's Getting Too Old For This Shit. The final story is noteworthy, as it's the only one to have been written and published after Pynchon's first novel, "V. Made up of real, fascinating people kids, mostly Pynchon may lambaste himself for making the kids occasionally stupider than they need to be and transplanting his hometown locations and experiences to a more tony New England climate, but there's not much else to dislike here. The kids are still kids, they have fun with their secret inner lives, but also with their inventions, their adventures, and their increasingly ambitious pranks on the town. They see their parents acting horribly to the black family that just moved in, and they want to lash out, but don't quite know how yet. Their one black friend, Carl, is a natural fit for the group, and the four of them are as thick as thieves. The give and take between childhood innocence and the first realizations of the grotesqueries of adulthood is handled as well here as any author I can think of that specializes in this time of life, and the twist at the end comes completely out of nowhere. This story alone makes the book a must-read. There are so many books on the market about how to write better and I've read plenty of them , but there are precious few about how not to write. That's why books like this and the recently published "Drivel" a collection of early, terrible writings by people we now consider great, like Gillian Flynn, Mary Roach, Dave Eggers, and Chuck Palahniuk, seem like such useful tools. No matter where you are in your attempts to write gooder, you can't help comparing yourself to writers that seem to be on another planet altogether. How did they get there? Were they always there? How do I do that? Alas, these books don't contain a magic skeleton key that will help you unlock your great inner writer. They can be comforting, but they all basically tell the same story: to be a good writer, you just need to write more, and if you can, find ways to not suck so much. And don't get too embarrassed by what you wrote before. Everyone started out writing about Crazy College Students and their invisible sonatas. Mar 28, Gauri rated it liked it Shelves: thomas-pynchon. Oh, Thomas Pynchon! The only author who has fully convinced me of two polar opposite things at once: 1 that I am terribly stupid and 2 that he is terribly stupid. I think the only reason you would want to read this compilation of short stories would be to study Pynchon's work further than you already have. This is not a good introductory book to read to understand Pynchon's writing. There are five stories in this novel, written from - , from when he was in college at Cornell, to a coup Oh, Thomas Pynchon! There are five stories in this novel, written from - , from when he was in college at Cornell, to a couple of years after he graduated. Pynchon was quite skilled at this young age, though still had many faults, which, interestingly enough, he addresses in his introduction written decades later. His introduction, I think, is just as valuable as his short stories to readers who study Pynchon, because this is the only account which he has provided something of autobiographical detail -- which is unlike him, as he has always been a recluse. I mean I can't very well just 86 this guy from my life. On the other hand, if through some as yet undeveloped technology I were to run into him today, how comfortable would I feel about lending him money, or for that matter, even stepping down the street to have a beer and talk over old times? He believes that the younger him treated and wrote about death in an unaffected, roundabout way, that should have instead have been more vivid and matter-of-fact. He also states that he was far too heavy handed in his use of allusions to other pieces of literature, especially works of Hemingway. What you can appreciate through this book is his progression throughout his career as a writer. You can see that heavy-handedness in his earlier works, and slowly start to see it be more subtle in his novels. You can see his love for certain sentences structures growing, as you see more and more of them throughout the stories and novels. He is a good example to study if you want to see writing skills developing. He also comments about his ignorant views as a young man, which are starkly apparent and even shocking in his earlier stories. I wish I could say that this is only Pig Bodine's voice, but, sad to say, it was also my own at the time. The best that I can say for it now is that, for its time, it is probably authentic enough. Perhaps, once you tackle The Crying of Lot 49 and then one of his larger ones, such as V. But really, I wouldn't even recommend this then, if you read his books for plot and interesting writing, because he is a bore in this. He makes average sounding plots even more mundane with his writing. Five early stories and a confessional but invaluable introductory essay by the Bard of Oyster Bay. If you've read at least two of his novels and have any extant interest, you should read this as well. For die-hard fans the fun will be in searching out characters, events, scenes, and themes that reappeared in later works. For casual Pynchon readers seeing the author's maturation as a writer will be food for Five early stories and a confessional but invaluable introductory essay by the Bard of Oyster Bay. For casual Pynchon readers seeing the author's maturation as a writer will be food for thought. Already he was uniquely incorporating science into his fiction. My suggestion is to read the Introduction to Slow Learner after reading the stories. It will make ever so much more sense and will save re-reading. This will be difficult for acolytes who tend to salivate after any scrap of information they can obtain about the maestro. In the Introduction, Pynchon not only enthusiastically deprecates his early works, but also provides useful advice for beginning writers. Through his humility, Pynchon is trying to lower expectations, to discourage reading too much into work from his 20's when he was experimenting with and exploring his craft, and perhaps to assuage his own wincing and cringing when looking back. Else why release them at all? Since there are only five stories here and this is one of the notable writers of our time, each deserves its own bit, along with year of publication. Here Pynchon aims at a big statement, but subtly and in an offhand manner befitting an enlisted man. A soldier story in the vein of Norman Mailer The Naked and the Dead , or more distantly, Ernest Hemingway who comes in for a mention. His first published story and the most conventional. Rather than a story consisting of symbols, here the story is the symbol. Rich, Baroque, complex, historical. I can't say that reading this story will provide the key to understanding any facet of that book. It actually doesn't seem like a short story at all. Pynchon had decided that he knew how to write a short story. Along with "The Small Rain," the least Pynchon-like story in the bunch though he can't help but flash moments of shtick , and the most conventional was published in The Saturday Evening Post , after all. This is Pynchon making social commentary and exploring the idea that children may be wiser than adults. Also recommended are the more often suggested The Crying of Lot 49 and his first novel V. In these early stories we discover that Pynchon had already digested several encyclopedias, lived several lifetimes, and had mastered the art of looking at everything the way no one else does. Given his cybernetic store of knowledge, he makes disturbing and surprising connections. The writing is bizarre, but beautiful. Review 7 of "Year of the Review All Read Books" The following is a recently recovered collection of notes and feedback given to Thomas Ruggles Pynchon from his writing workshop classmate [redacted] at Cornell University. The Small Rain I was liking the Hemingway tone of it until you ruined it with the self-referential dig at him. Also felt like the charact Review 7 of "Year of the Review All Read Books" The following is a recently recovered collection of notes and feedback given to Thomas Ruggles Pynchon from his writing workshop classmate [redacted] at Cornell University. Also felt like the characters were more interesting to you than they were to the reader. Good names though, Lardass, Picnic. The action didn't really seem intense though, huh? I guess the climactic point of the story seemed to be the one paragraph about the death detail. I get the mechanic efficiency and the dehumanization therein points for casual vomiting on the job though but aside from that it was like a diary of some army guys looking for ways to kill time. I was pretty bored man, sorry. Low-lands I'm not so crazy about a story in which the characters tell a bunch of stories. But you did backdrop it against some interesting elements. The Fourth Hand. Friend of My Youth. The Safety of Objects. Marcel Proust. Under the Net. Exit Ghost. Death in Venice. Cakes and Ale. Somerset Maugham. A Rose for Emily and Other Stories. William Faulkner. Winesburg, Ohio. Sherwood Anderson. Related Articles. Looking for More Great Reads? Download Hi Res. LitFlash The eBooks you want at the lowest prices. Read it Forward Read it first. Pass it on! Stay in Touch Sign up. We are experiencing technical difficulties.

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