From the Bookshelf of Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library…

The Crying of Lot 49

Thomas Pynchon

Why we're reading this: It took me over ten minutes to read the first two pages of this book. The pop culture and cultural refere…more
[close] It took me over ten minutes to read the first two pages of this book. The pop culture and cultural references, both real and made up like "Vivaldi's Kazoo Concerto," were so numerous they kept my mind busy as I tried to tie them together in order to make sense of them. Realizing that such progress was too slow even for short book was unacceptable and stressful, I put my head down and my chin up and read then rest at a normal pace. It's a quirky, funny and puzzling read.

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Jun 09, 2011 Chris Blocker rated it liked it · review of another edition

Typically, I have little trepidation expressing my feelings about a book--I like it, I didn't like it, and here's why. With The Crying Lot of 49, however, I'm not sure what to say. Not because I don't know how I felt about--not entirely, anyway. More so, because I know a great many people whose opinions I generally agree with--or at least understand--who love this book.

So rather than rant on and on about why this book didn't work for me, I'd like to open it up to others and have an actual conver ...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Jean Marshall rated it really liked it

It's my second time reading this book. I'm hoping to understand it a little better this time. Good luck to me.

It took me over ten minutes to read the first two pages of this book. The pop culture and cultural references, both real and made up like "Vivaldi's Kazoo Concerto," were so numerous they kept my mind busy as I tried to tie them together in order to make sense of them. Realizing that such progress was too slow even for short book was unacceptable and stressful, I put my head down and my ...more

Like · see review