The Difficult(y) of Thomas Pynchon

Well boy howdy . . . here's Thomas Pynchon! He's kind of a difficult read, no? So anyway, here's an entire "internet page" of advice for how to make your way through Pynchon for the first (and second and third) time. Some excepts:

Steven Maas
I tell Pynchon newbies:

• It's the most fun you can have without risking arrest in many states.
• Leave your preconceptions at the door and enjoy your new and exotic surroundings.
• If something baffles you, read on for the next moment of searingly bright light and don't worry about it. With time and re-readings everything (well, many things) will be made clear.

Difficult, schmifficult!

Lindsay Gillies:
Four short principles for newbies:

• Read each word, one after the other. Gravity's Rainbow is a deeply interconnected stream of jazz — you can't skim it.
• Let the stream affect you without trying to figure it out. Give up to it.
• Commit to getting through the first 50 pages. It's something very different than most other stuff you've read; not harder, just harder to hear.
• If, after 1, 2 & 3, you still don't connect, don't write it off, just put it away for a while.

And as my office mate and fiction writer Dave Nicholas says about writers: "If you've been on The Simpsons, you've achieved something."