The Crying of me trying to read Lot 49

I'm going to try and say this in the nicest way possible. I hated The Crying of Lot 49 more than any other piece of literature ever, except maybe anything by Gertrud Stein. There. I really did try to like this book. I expected a story about a band and the drugs and confusion of the sixties. Instead I got a book about...well...I'm not even sure. I expected a book full of symbolism and rich detail, and I got nothing. I got a flat story that leads you no where. For the greater part of the book I was confused about what was going on. What in the world does an underground postal system have anything to do with Oedipa. I'm still trying to figure out why she was so interested in the first place. It was not interesting. As for me, I believe that it was all a wild chase created by Pierce. But then how would he know that she would be able to fall into all his traps? For instance, how would he have been able to know that at the end of her wits she would be travel to San Francisco and end up in a gay bar called The Greek Way? I don't know the answers to these questions because the book fails to give you any. The ending was especially frustrating. Not being able to find out who the mysterious buyers identity was icing on the cake. How could Pynchon do that to me. I made it through the confusing play, and the 1003746382 different characters and then he's going leave me hanging. Although I believe that it was pierce and he was in no way deceased my theory is not enough. I need proof, I need to know! This book deliberately evades solutions to the hundreds of questions that are asked. As the reader you are plagued by uncertainty. But, I suppose the uncertainty that the reader feels is similar to the uncertainty that Oedipa is feeling. Perhaps Pynchon chooses to leave us in the dark so we can relate to Oedipa in her unanswered quest for knowledge. That's great and all, however, just as Oedipa is left feeling out of her mind, so am I.

I thought that the first chapter of The Crying of Lot 49 was slightly confusing but very intriguing. Throughout the entire 12 pages I felt like I had come into a book that was many chapters in. The reader was quickly introduced to people that the book makes you feel like you should already know. I felt like I was bombarded with information, and disordered information at that. However, the more you read through the disorder there was order. But even when I began to understand something, I still found it weird. For instance, the fact that Oedipa's psychiatrist is calling her in the middle of the night to ask her to be apart of his study that requires her to take drugs. There were many times throughout the chapter that I felt like it reminded me of Slaughterhouse 5. For some reason the amount of disorder reminded me of the almost random way in which Slaughterhouse 5 is written. Also there were small little additions to the story that were odd, but I'm sure have some deep hidden meaning. For instance, the fact that the radio station that Mucho works at is the word FUCK spelled backwards. Also, the names in this story are very odd. The name Oedipa which could be said to sound like Oedipus, might be a reference to Freud. Also what is with the name Mucho? So he is a lot. But a lot of what? Also, who could look past the name of the psychiatrist. How could you take someone seriously and expect them to take you seriously when their name was Hilarius. I know that there must be something more to these odd additions to the story I am just unable to figure it out at this point. Hopefully these will be questions that will be answered with further reading.

The Family Name

I enjoyed reading the story "There was a Queen" by William Faulkner. I had read the novel The Unvanquished in high school and was surprised to see the Sartoris family again. I found it interesting how the use of southern standards are used as a measuring stick for a person's character. To Miss Jenny the absolute worst thing that a person, a lady to be specific, could do was damage her reputation and the honor of her family. It was not only the responsibility of a southern woman to take care of her family, but also the family name. The Sartoris family is one that has some of the deepest and most respected roots in the south. Their name has managed to make it through wars and family feuds. To Miss Jenny, the fact that Miss Narcissa would threaten the Sartoris name is insulting. Even a letter that might destroy Miss Narcissa's reputation was enough for Miss Jenny to want to call on the aid of the colonel. The very fact that Miss Narcissa thinks the solution to the problem is to sleep with the man is more than Miss Jenny can bear. She dies in the end, not only because Miss Narcissa has dirtied herself and the family name, but because Miss Jenny knows that this marks the end of an era. This is the end of gentility and respect. This is the end of the life she had known and defended. This is the end of the Sartoris family. One of the most interesting points is that Miss Narcissa knows that what she has done will hurt the family. She knowingly moved the rendezvous to Memphis where she hoped that it would not affect the family. In addition, when she returned she cleansed herself and her son in the creek out beyond the pasture. This shows that Miss Narcissa knew that what she had done was damaging to not only her own self respect, but the respect and good name of the Sartoris family. In the end the damages that were made to Miss Jenny's family and name were too much for her to bear.

The old Stalker

I enjoyed the poem, "The Young Housewife" by William Carlos Williams. At first glance it seems as though this man is just describing a woman that he saw. However, as I continued to read I got the feeling that he was fantasizing more than observing. In the first stanza when he states that the housewife, "moves about in negligee", you get the feeling he is describing, or rather directing a fantasy. This is how he wishes to see her. You then realize that he actually can't see her when he says, "behind the wooden walls of her husband's house". This man has probably made this drive everyday on his way to work and is entertained by imagining what the housewife might be doing. This is more clear in the next stanza when he admits that this has been happening over the course of time by saying, "Then again". This is not just a single observation, this is the culmination of a few chance viewings and many fantasies along the way. In addition, it is interesting that he compares the housewife to a fallen leaf. Does he mean that she has fallen from grace, a woman ready to be tempted and taken advantage of? This can further be questioned when he goes on to describe how his car runs over leaves. Is this supposed to represent his domination of the housewife? Perhaps he understands the power he could have over this woman, that he has so thoughtfully imagined needing him as much as he needs her. In an essay on William Carlos Williams Marjorie Perloff describes the possibility that this stanza is describing a rape fantasy. She describes that even though this is possibly a need to have what another man has, this fantasy is quickly overruled by the normalcy of this mans life and his responsibilities. He settles his demons by deciding to simply, "bow and pass smiling."