“I hope this was a free choice book. I’m sorry, I can’t believe that a teacher would assign Pynchon in high school,” my dad says to me as I walk downstairs in the morning. "That stuff is dense.”
I kind of agree with him. Vineland was a tough read. Almost every other sentence was an allusion to something obscure, and for every reference I picked up on, there were three or four I did not. Often I would understand that something was an allusion, but not know what it was alluding to or how to look it up, as it was often a concept or an event clearly drawn from something that I obviously don’t know.
Large sections of the book, such as the meandering chapters detailing the ins and outs of DL, Takeshi, Vato and Blood, Vond’s henchman Roscoe, and Serena, seemed to be more of an expansion of themes and concepts rather than actually important to the storyline. By the time I arrived back in 1984, it was hard to remember the circumstances in which I left.
And yet, thematically, that worked well for Vineland. The past would unexpectedly become the present, drawing attention to the relationship between the two. Every character’s life becomes like a massive scrapbook of past memories that builds upon itself, triggering emotions, making connections and shaping them into their present selves. The attention to absolutely pointless detail is kind of jarring sometimes, but it almost makes it more true to life. It can be amazing sometimes, how you could barely remember the Statue of Liberty from your first trip to New York, but you can very clearly remember a weird bird feather on the sidewalk. Sometimes its the weird details that stick in people’s heads for years, and the inclusion of this not only helps to develop a scene and characters but also ties into this odd trait of memory without seeming forced or hackneyed.
Pynchon’s writing in general also seems this way. I like his work because, in some ways, it feels more organic and natural than the work of other authors. The way he structures a plot can feel messy and bizarre, but never “wrong.” And yet even though his writing seems natural, I tend to think of his stories as existing in some sort of parallel universe. As I read the book, I imagined it taking place in some alternate version of American history, and not our own. Though the book reads organically, the theatricality of many of the events, such as the divine retribution dealt upon Bud Scantling, the man who tried to silence Frenesi’s father Jess by toppling a tree over on to him, as it is revealed that he had died in an automobile accident after driving into a truck filled with wood chips, and Brock’s demise, caused by the government he devoted his life to. Yet for all its structural oddities, this book does not lack a heart. The focus on family as a walking history and a living connection to an individual’s past, is made clear, as the final scene of the book takes place at a reunion of Frenesi’s family. This book lacks the paranoid tone that often pervades novels that are rooted in politics.
Vineland was a good book. A plot summary would be too convoluted, but since the very first few flashbacks, it was pretty easy for me to zero in on “dealing with the past, whether actively or passively” as a theme. But I read that other article about fascism in Vineland, and it was clear that whoever had written it had seen the political forces at play in Vineland to be the most important theme. I think the relationship between reactionary and radical politics is probably the second most significant theme I noticed about the work. To someone with a larger knowledge of politics during this time period, the political and cultural themes may have been more relatable and easily understandable, but because I wasn’t able to connect with those, less historical themes took precedence in my personal analysis.
Do I think I understood the book? No, but I think I understood it enough to realize that I wasn’t going to understand it on the first read. There are too many different themes to focus on in a single reading, too many little details that take a second or third go to fully experience. Still, I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for an AP English class because of how complex it is (and the amount of time it would take to “fully” analyze it), but it would be nice to read it alongside other people who could possibly expand on some confusing allusions or just understanding it in general.
I feel like this novel invites analysis: there are books that I can read without looking too deeply into literary devices, but even when reading Pynchon for pleasure I have to think about it more seriously than I do with other novels. Like I mentioned before, when analyzing a Pynchon book, it isn’t necessarily about whether or not your analysis is wrong as much as it is about what you decide to analyze. While I think this novel invites discussion of politics, I wouldn’t say that I believe it to be a purely political novel. I thought it was more about relationships in the midst of, or should I say in spite of, political restructuring. I did not really discuss the cultural ramifications of the novel that are tied into the politics of Vineland as deeply as I tried to discuss politics and the past, but I think that that would be what I would be drawn to on a second read.
Overall, good book. The plot was insane, with Thanatoids, cults, ninjas, the Mafia, pot farmers, Native Americans and the DEA. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys long flashbacks, weirdly placed funny anecdotes and recent American History
Love your dad's comment, and am happy it was a free choice book. You've intrigued me though, as it does sound like an interesting read. This post is probably my favorite, as I get to hear a bit more of what you thought of the book.
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