MASON & DIXON by Thomas Pynchon
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 เม.ย. 2020
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Talking about Thomas Pynchon's 1997 novel Mason & Dixon while the sun attempts to melt my face. (The Transit of Venus features in the novel, but I couldn’t think of a clever joke to tie it into my heliocentric battle.)
Wiki site for Mason & Dixon:
masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wi...
“Sloth” essay for the NYTBR:
movies2.nytimes.com/books/97/0...
Steven Moore books mentioned:
www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-nov...
www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-nov...
One of only a very few novels that have left me in tears at the end.
It is rather heartfelt. I hope I touched on that in this video (I can't remember).
Great review: glad to see Pynchon's M&D get some love. I think it's his best work, and if I recall correctly, even Harold Bloom agreed. Good stuff!
Thanks!
“...even Harold Bloom agreed.” Indeed that does say a lot from the late Mr. Bloom. He loved the tiny story of Byron the Lightbulb in Gravity’s Rainbow, though you’re right-MD was given high honors alongside Lot 49.
Finding your channel has definitely been the greatest thing that has happened for me in this tough time. Thank you for your videos! And the passion you share and inspire for literature
Wow, I am humbled and honored by your words. These are tough times indeed and we need each other and literature more than ever. Thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed!
*Agreed!* We need more LitTubers instead of common BookTubers. Sorry for the diss, but I mean... no. As soon as Dan Brown or Ken Follett appear on a channel, it's straight to the unsubscribe button!
@@simgingergirl HAHA! You're savage!
@@LeafbyLeaf I love authors like Pynchon, McCarthy, Wallace etc, for me their prose is just so fun to read...but honestly Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is an excellent novel with some of the greatest characters I've ever read. I haven't read any of his other work but call me a scrub I don't care, POTE is an absolutely fantastic saga.
I’ve been recommended this novel (series?) several times over the years!
Through the labyrinth of 18th century American history, I believe this book is actually a love story between the the two main characters.
The density and flamboyance of the language bring Gerard Manley Hopkins to mind, particularly Pie'd beauty. Great review
Anthony Burgess in one of his books analyzes Joyce's style and at some point mentions Hopkins as a sort of kindred spirit of Joyce, citing their mutual obsession with making music out of compound words and stuff like that. With Pynchon it's a bit different, as he seems less interested in such overtly musical, bombastic displays (Mason & Dixon may be the only exception), and probably doesn't wish to copy the two men's very idiosyncratic sort of writing, unless to parody it. I believe Melville is closer to Joyce and Hopkins in this regard than Pynchon. Anyway, if you're interested check it out, the book is called Joysprick (specifically the last pages of chapter 6, "Musicalisation").
This is an amazing breakdown and exploration of Mason and Dixon! Wow. I've read Gravity's Rainbow, Against the Day, Bleeding Edge, and Inherent Vice and Iove him as a writer, I did take a crack at M&D but I ended up putting it down. Mostly due to its sometimes hard to follow prose I guess.
But man, your intelligent and beautiful dive into its contents here has totally inspired me to give it another go!
Thanks so much for all your extensive and hard work with this channel, it's an extremely high quality resource for talking about and finding new literature for me to read!! Thank you!
Drew, I really appreciate your kind words! It is a pleasure to share these videos. And I'm thrilled you've been inspired to give M&D another go--that's one of the main purposes of the work I do! All my best to you.
@@LeafbyLeaf I'll make sure to give you my take on it when I have finished it!
👊
Speaking of Pynchon introducing historical people, when I was reading Against the Day I was also reading Nikola Tesla's collection "My inventions and other writings" (*highly* recommended btw), and it made for a really delightful pairing. I love Pynchon's usage of historical figures, it's always interesting.
I agree! M&D makes terrific use of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, among others!
Pynchon infuses paranoia into the story. The Jesuit flying duck is essentially a drone. Great Channel.
Indeed. Thanks!
How cool that I stumbled across this generous sharing of insights. M&D has been gathering dust on my nightstand. Back to it!
Yay for algorithmic serendipity!
How did this GREAT NOVEL not win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction? Yes, awards for art are sort of ridiculous, but sometimes the choice is obvious.
I've decided to replace my word-limit-breaching tirade with a single word: Alas.
i must say that your grasp and understanding towards this work is spotless, tbh most people give out limerick kind of description which are more likely dull and shorter than wikipedia's digest. the reference to klein bottle and mathematical topology incorporates perfectly with this obscure script. no wonder pynchon's reclusive tendency fueled some of the best piece of work of art! also if u ever get the chance to review marcel schwob ( this guy influenced some bad boys like georges bataille, roberto bolano and borges), pls do! he incorporated surrealism and phenomenology with literature.
Many, many thanks! Much appreciated!
I’ve been reading Schwob’s Imaginary Lives off and on for a month or so, but I want to read more of his stuff. I actually just read a compendium of French Decadent and Symbolist stories. Huysmans and Schwob, et al.
Just got the book a few months ago before this whole chaos, and started reading it yesterday. Already cried twice, DUDE, it's so beautifuuuul, geez. Will comment again after watching your video but 🥰🥰
also, freaking bonus that Mark Knopfler led me to this book, dat man ❤
So glad you're savoring its treasures! I cannot wait to reread this one. Stop back by and let me know your final thoughts. Happy reading!
So glad you enjoyed it. I had misgivings about M&D when I started it -- it seemed so unlike any of the Pynchon that came before it, I thought I'd be disappointed. Was I wrong. It's unlike, and so like, Pynchon. It's one of his best, IMHO, and for me right up there with my favs Gravity's Rainbow and Against the Day. Great review, as always.
Hear! Hear! I totally agree. Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent review. Mason & Dixon may be my favorite Pynchon along with The Crying of Lot 49. When M&D was scandalously remaindered soon after its release, I felt it was just too great and the public had behaved as if didn’t deserve it. LOL. I wound up buying ~10 hardback 1sts for $5/ea at the time. I think you successfully conveyed so much of its richness and the pleasure of reading it. Thank you.
I've only just gotten through the episode where they meet George Washington but as I was watching I was hoping you would bring up the Lost 11 Days thing. My own take was that Pynchon was poking fun at the way even trivial questions about big subjects that can never have a material impact on us still capture people's minds in an almost obsessive way. And how such an immaterial controversy still became a point of contention that caused people to take sides against the opposing schools of thought on the matter, despite knowing (they must know?) that the answer doesn't really matter. I think it fits into Pynchon's larger theme in MD but also GR that the so-called Age of Reason may have replaced religious narratives with scientific ones, but it hasn't delivered us from our human-ness and all the un-reason that this entails. Great content and I'm glad to have found you so early in your TH-cam career!
Hello and thanks! I actually explicitly address the Eleven Lost Days, complete with an image of a famous painting from the time. I position it in an analysis of Pynchon’s constant search for a space or fold outside of time, as well as the larger theme to which you refer. Perhaps watch the video again? :-)
@@LeafbyLeaf going back now I realize my writing was ambiguous, I was saying "I was hoping" in a cathartic way, as in I'm glad you did. Sorry for the confusion haha
@@nickboline3630 Ahhhhh, gotcha! I take credit for the misinterpretation. Boy, language can be such a slippery thing, eh? Well, again: thanks and hello! Glad you enjoyed the video and I look forward to more conversation together.
Great breakdown of my favourite Pynchon!
Excellent presentation. Happy to subscribe. I think this is one of the greatest books ever written.
Thanks so much! This book was indeed amazing. I’ll be retreading it for sure!
Wonderful review and really made me want to read this. I promised myself this would be the year I focused on longer books -- given the bounty it may be my lifetime reading plan.
Thanks! Glad to have inspired you. This is definitely one big book worth reading.
One of my favorite books. And plug for the Pynchon in Public podcast. Can't wait until we get to this one
Thanks for plugging the podcast!
never clicked on a video so fast.
Wow, thanks! Hope you enjoy!
I've only read The Crying of Lot 49 by Pynchon, which I thought was excellent, but, as a non-native English speaker, I've always been intimidated by Mason & Dixon because of the language. I already own Gravity's Rainbow and V., so I'll explore those first, before attempting to read this one.
It’s no secret that his verbal hijinks require a good command of the language (and cultural history) to grasp everything. BUT-and I’m just thinking through this-I believe one could still have a grand time reading his big books without getting all the linguistic nuances. Still, from what I can tell you have an above average command of English and obviously a passion for literature, so you’ll easily conquer it. I think V. is a great starting point for the big books, though I think Lot 45 the best starting point overall. Since you read and enjoyed that one, I think V. will be a lot of fun. Just watch out for the alligators!
@@LeafbyLeaf Thanks, that's great to hear! I've added V. to my 2020 priority reading list :)
I realize this reply is a year later, but V. is a fantastic work, one you can read many times and find new information each time. I recommend reading it before Gravity's Rainbow, which is purely and simply a masterpiece.
My favorite book. Just discovered this channel. Thanks for the wonderful content
Awesome! Great to have you here!
Saving this for when I start m&d. I like the way the vid is shot to show the movement of the sun and its attendant shadows. 😊
I so wanted to make some reference or comment to the sun in this video! But I couldn't think of anything clever. :)
@@LeafbyLeaf it certainly fit the opening regarding arcs and stars 😁 just assumed it was supporting ambience 🌞
@@fadista7063 😁
The duck is excellent! Great review
Haha, yes it is! A great example of Pynchon right there: taking a historical fact and then going to the comic absurd with it. Animating the duck, making it fall in love with a chef known for his specialty of...duck. And another tie-in to Pynchon’s thoughts on something only being visible when it’s completely still. I wish I had taken more time to bring in Vaucanson’s duck, but I had to be selective.
Love your bookshelves. Nice review. Great author.
Thanks so much! Re: great author: agreed!
Convinced me to reread it! Great video.
Superb news! Thanks!
Thank you. A very good book review. You have certainly given me a greater appreciation of what this book is about. (I recently completed ‘Against The Day’, so I expect it will be a month or two before I begin reading Mason & Dixon.)
You’re welcome! Glad you got something out of it. I can’t wait to reread and post of a video of Against the Day. Thanks for your kind words. Enjoy!
Looking forward to that video! Atd is my favourite.
Thank you, that is very useful
Such a great book, thank you for this video!
Thanks so much! Boy oh boy was that a fun book!
This needs a few remarks. First, there is a good reason for the South Africa part being so large. It gives the technological tools for what they do then in America. The, I would mention the leylines as complementary to the lines of the surveyor. And finally, the coffee houses were suspect for being revolutionary hothouses and not a point at consumerism.
Thanks so much for this valuable insight!
Excellent review! I, too, have been picking that book up for years just to marvel at the first sentence. I'm sure that's pretty common. I have a short list of long books that I'll be attempting to read during this quarantine. I'm starting Ulysses today, and next up will be W&M. Hopefully this thing doesn't last long enough for me to finish both, but if it does I'll be moving on to M&D after that.
Thanks! Ulysses, then Women and Men?! Whoa now! Well, like you say, now is a good time for those ambitious reads. I hope you make it to Mason & Dixon after that, but not because of prolonged quarantine. I'm getting ready to embark on 2666, The Manifold Destiny of Eddie Vegas, and a reread of The Mad Patagonian myself. Cheers!
Checking in on your progress...
Just so enjoyable. Love the insight and nuances you bring to the table . Watched Gravity's Rainbow it seems above me you made it relatable .Off Topic Any:Thoughts on Haruki Murakami ?
So glad you enjoy the videos! My thoughts on HM are probably best captured in this video: th-cam.com/video/qFlSA6z84FQ/w-d-xo.html
Great review Chris, another masterpiece by Pynchon. How many great novels does he need to have to win the Nobel?
Thanks! And-no kidding!
I think he may well rescind a Nobel considering that they have awarded the peace prize to war mongers.
Why a Nobel. What is this obsession with prizes?
I think that the Nobel is significant for a writer because it’s essentially the highest honor your can receive. Not to mention a very nice cash prize. For someone as hardworking as Pynchon, receiving a Nobel is the least the Swedish Academy could do to thank him.
@@LeafbyLeaf I believe the whole prize industry makes for a generic paradigm and of course is there to promote sales. I myself am extremely tired of the : 'why didnt this person get an Emmy?, this person should get an Oscar' etc etc yada yada. As if changes anything in their life (the people needing status segments in their paradigm to know where they stand...its insanely small and just insane).People are insecure about their own views or taste, that they need a quote on a book or filmposter or they need it to have a prize : which is just a pet on the head by some grey white elite. And some money yes.
I often wish and imagine a world without prizes.
You say its the highest honour. I can't see why.. Especially not in this case. The fact that people adore his books and write dissertations on it, is higher praise than any aristocratic trophy or dead president - bills.
I trust you have a long list of potential videos in the works, but I just started Against The Day this week and can already tell I'm going to love it. We all know your love for behemoth books, so I thought this might be the space to ask if you've read it and if so, if there's any chance at a video at some point?
Read it and loved it! I will indeed be making a video on it. Perhaps 2022. Enjoy the book!
Dang, you’re on fire, great video. I’d love to know more about the meta fictional and recursive aspects of Pynchon’s work, do you know about some good paper or article about it? I don’t hear people going into narrative recursion in detail, and As I recall you work in a computer sciences related field(maybe I’m mistaken) so, you probably know from first hand what recursion is.
Thanks so much! I would get your hands on that book of essays I show at the end of the video.
Leaf by Leaf Thank you. I’m gonna try to get my hands on it, btw, I got a couple of PDFs on the subject, and I got this paper about a supposed David FW’s literary program and it’s contrast with Harold Bloom’s AoI theory. Maybe you’re interested? I can email it to you.
On this topic, the best essay in the collection is this one: www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-multiple-worlds-of-pynchons-mason-and-dixon/the-space-that-may-not-be-seen-the-form-of-historicity-in-mason-and-dixon/F247607FB0DCE377F40AF9F78910499C#.
You’ve lit up many of my favorite buzzwords! Send it over to chrisviabooks@gmail.com. Thanks!
To tell the truth, you aroused my curiosity so much that I think I'll give m&d a try. Today I've watched all youtube videos about m&d and I have to say that yours, dear friend, is the awesomest. Honestly by miles. I've seen this video 2 times. And maybe more if I'll start reading m&d. You are born to be a literary critic/ writer. I'm looking forward to your next "scientific" book tour!
Amazing compliment-grazie attente! It is a joy to inspire someone to read some work like this one!
Great review Chris. Of the unread books on my shelf, this one is toward the top of my list of ones I want to read. Unfortunately I haven’t read any Pynchon before and I’ve heard this isn’t the best place to start. Would you recommend reading something shorter like The Crying of Lot 49 or something easier like Inherent Vice first, or is it fine to just jump into Mason & Dixon?
I would start with his short story “Entropy” and then read Lot 49. This will lay the foundation for all that is Pynchon!
Jump in! No prerequisites needed
While the novel's play with archaic language is fun and explosive and ingenious, I don't think the xviii century lingo calque, aside from some of the dialogue, actually makes it feel like an xviii century novel or text of any sort. While prolixity and long periods were ever present in the literature and essays of the time, the syntax, and by extension the prose in M&D is nothing like the style of writing one would find in texts by Richardson, Fielding, Defoe, Johnson, Pope ecc. Pynchon always writes like Pynchon, he can't help it, and his (very modern) prose is recognizable a mile away even when dressed up in whigs and petticoats. Also, if I had to take a guess, I'd say this 'fake mimesis' is done on purpose, just as all of his characters never stray too much away form being very clear, and purposeful, caricatures. This is what he's always done, treating reality as pure artifice. It's why sentient lightbulbs and pendulum clocks and 'Learn' d' dogs which lead one to palm readings can be treated as mere fact within his novels' crazy, artificial worlds.
Very well done man!,,,,!!!
Thanks!
I am Jeremiah Dixon 🎵
I am a Geordie Boy
A glass of wine with you, sir
And the ladies I'll enjoy 🎼
Great review! I will be picking it up soon.
I actually first heard of this book as the inspiration for Mark Knopfler's song Sailing to Philadelphia.
Thanks! It's one of Pynchon's best. Happy reading!
This was a Harold Bloom recommendation also.
Oh, really?! I knew he was really keen on the story of Byron the Lightbulb in _Gravity's Rainbow_ , but I haven't encountered his thoughts on this one.
Brilliant doing it with the fiery orb casting creeping glare to and near past your hair! (Imagine my luck as this comes while I am finally swimming about mothly the Gravity's Rainbow.)
Haha! I’ve seen your updates on GR (that is, Goodreads). What a book, that GR (that is, Gravity’s Rainbow)!
I love this book! That is all.
Preach!
I began reading this one last week after giving up on Gravity's Rainbow in spite of your great and interesting 3 hour pitch.
I tried Mason and Dixon a few years ago, but gave up after a while, but this time through, i'm finding it surprisingly 'easy' to read, in the sense that once you get acquainted with the 18th century style language, the main story not difficult to follow (I'm sure that I've missed a million references by now) and the chapters are very digestible.
Hey there! Yes, M&D is a far cry from GR in terms of general difficulty. And I'm sure you'll likely agree that, once you get used to the diction, it's actually a treat to read!
Would you recommend reading some 18th century novels before Mason and Dixon? If so which ones?
I presume you're asking because of the dialect Pynchon employs. But his, like Barth's (Sot-Wed Factor) and Vollmann's (Argall) is a bit of a hybrid. I don't think one needs to necessarily read any 18th-century novels as a prerequisite.
I've read a lot more non-fiction from that time than fiction, but my fiction is limited to Robinson Crusoe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, The History of Tom Jones, Gulliver's Travels, Tristram Shandy (in parts), and Candide. None of these, to me, would have given me any special preparation for Mason & Dixon.
What I found with M&D is that I acclimated to the prose style fairly quickly.
Hope this helps!
@@LeafbyLeaf Dang it.. why did I just buy Clarissa and Tom Jones. Oh well.. maybe when I'm done those in a couple of years I'll pick up my M&D. Thanks. Great videos! Your reading room is an inspiration.
Those are still great books! Clarissa is even better than Pamela!
Maybe just my resding of it, but I don't think I've ever read a book that was so, on the surface, lighthearted and funny, hopeful even, only by the end realizing how brutally cynical and sad it was. Mason and Dixon, as figures, represent this sort of hopeful idea Pynchon has for the average American, that through wordliness, experience, camaraderie, joy and wit we can overcome prejudices, violence and morosity to love one another and cast away the genocidal, slave-driving project at the heart of whatever is called "the West." But he realizes even such hopes are just purposeful historiography, Euro-American propaganda, sensationalism and pure fiction--metafiction, even. It is, in the end, just as brutal of a story as V. and Gravity's Rainbow, containing, like those two, messages to those hepcats faithful enough to see them to hang on and to not give up just yet. An incredible, melancholic and sobering read.
Also just now stupidly realized that the repeated imagery of stars and lines was meant to evoke the image of the American flag lol
Can you post a link to the other book you talked about (by Stephen Moore?)
Thanks for pointing out that omission! I’ll update the video description with them too. Here they are:
www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-novel-an-alternative-history-9781441145475/
www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-novel-an-alternative-history-1600-1800-9781441188694/
Leaf by Leaf thank you!
I live to give!
great work. you should review Vineland
Thanks! Good suggestion, too!
My favorite things are the Warebeaver and the duck.
And with that comment I'm ready to read this one again!
@@LeafbyLeaf that duck is no canard
Hur går det med svenskan? As a Swedish speaker I was not able to read this in the original 18th century English. Took my so long to understand the first few pages so I went with the Swedish version instead. I feel like the nuances and flow in a translation of this book could differ a lot from the original.
Your review is awesome as usual. But after having read the crying of lot 49 and gravity's rainbow, I've understood that pynchon is not among my favourite authors. Maybe in the future I'll give him another try by starting from "mason & dixon". In these days I'm reading an astonishing novel "the discovery of heaven" by harry mulisch. One of the best novel I've ever read since the beginning of the year. If you have not read it yet, I heavily recommend you.
Too bad. Though I will say Mason & Dixon is a work of art beyond those two books. Still, if Pynchon isn’t your cup of coffee, no biggie. Plenty of great books out there. Funny you mention that book. I found paperbird’s channel on here looking for reviews of it early last year. And that was directly what made me start thinking about making my own YT channel. Outstanding book!
I Barley Started Reading This Book. The Reference Of Bill Clinton Made Me Laugh
meh, he’s no cormac mccarthy
You know, I never thought to compare those two.
Advanced crossword puzzles? Lmao, I don't even know English then.
🤣
Enjoyed it, except for the silly stuff. It was distracting.
Yeah, Pynchon is a bit of a man-child; he can't help himself, it seems.
@@LeafbyLeaf self-indulgent
PhD in English here and my god, for me, Pynchon's such a bore and a chore; I don't see why one wouldn't just read a READ 18th cent. novel like Clarissa, Humphrey Clinker (hilarious and light on its feet, as it were), or Tom Jones. notwithstanding the--yes, admittedly--poetic bursts of his prose, it's just so bloody silly. punt.
Hahaha! Now I'm very curious to know what the focus of your PhD is.
@@LeafbyLeaf the semi-colon and doggerel in Pynchon, mate.
@@LeafbyLeaf kidding, mate. Ford and Woolf.
Hahahaha!