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A Leap in Literature

A selection of books I have read in recent years include:

  • Jack Kerouac
    • Big Sur
    • On the Road
    • The Dharma Bums
  • Hunter S. Thompson
    • Hells Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga
    • Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1: The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (Did not finish)
    • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
    • Gonzo Papers, Vol. 3: Songs of the Doomed: More Notes on the Death of the American Dream
  • Chuck Klosterman
    • IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

I have loved everything I have ever read by Kerouac and thoroughly enjoyed most works by Thompson.  I look forward to diving deeper into Kerouac’s catalog, but am writing today to say that I am done for awhile in the realm of gonzo journalism and beat era novels.  They are of course different genres altogether, but have many similar traits.  I believe to have worn out my interest in these styles (worn out meaning bored with, not undercutting what they are or their value by any stretch.)

I picked up what is considered that best American novel since the end of WWII, Gravity’s Rainbow by the great Thomas Pynchon.  The near 800 page epic novel will be difficult to digest, with some 400 characters and complex themes, but I look forward to the challenge.  I can say in reading the first few episodes I am already refreshed to be reading literature and not some form of journalism and/or play-by-play writings of beat encounters.

Plenty of reaction to follow…Pynchon

One of the only photos of recluse, Pynchon (c. 1957)

gravitys-rainbow-penguin

The 1974 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, Gravity’s Rainbow

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 at 9:17 am and is filed under Books, Entertainment, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “A Leap in Literature”

  1. Rick Dale says:
    August 22, 2009 at 11:31 am

    You might enjoy Pynchon’s collection of short stories, Slow Learner. He provides a foreword with a retrospective critical commentary of each story (since they were written across his lifespan).

    Sorry you’re giving up on Jack. If you get re-interested, maybe you’d get a kick out of my Kerouac-obsessed blog at http://www.thedailybeatblog.blogspot.com.

  2. Shawn says:
    August 22, 2009 at 12:52 pm

    It’s not that I’m giving up on Jack – I plan on diving back in in the near future. I just have an urge for something else at the moment. I’ll check out your blog, thanks for the comment ;)

  3. kevin woisnet says:
    August 23, 2009 at 4:33 pm

    I am so happy for you. Follow it up with Rushdies midnights children and you and i need to get together and talk literature. If you ever need clarification or understanding or a hand to guide you through any of pynchons work get at me. I almost want to tell you to start with the crying of lot 49 becuase gravitys rainbow is such a massive undertaking. Reguardless of what it does for you or the history of american literature or the canon itself or even postmodernism, it’s fucking incredible. And it’s importance it’s undeniably obvious. I was played on on both beat era musings and anything by directly influenced by thompson years ago, for likely similar reasons. But i dug into the writers that directly influenced all of them and really even on a philosophical level they do more for me then re-reading kerouacs catalog ever could. I’m glad you finally took my adivice, bro ;-) . Be well and call me sometime.
    -kevin

  4. I’m back, baby! « Cleveland, Curveballs and Common Sense says:
    October 18, 2009 at 9:20 pm

    [...] the lead of a friend, I too decided it was time to get back into reading [...]

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