the book crying of lot 49

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what is the setting of this book.

― gina Donaldson, Wednesday, 16 November 2005 05:00 (twenty years ago)

I know it's France, but I can't remember the year. 1983?

― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 16 November 2005 05:05 (twenty years ago)

A postapocalyptic word in which physical books cannot exist due to some change in the acidity of paper- so the only way books live on is by being memorized and recited by traveling "book criers."

― k/l (Ken L), Wednesday, 16 November 2005 05:21 (twenty years ago)

Ah, yes. I was getting it mixed up with 'V'. It's a wonderful device, really - youth are born not knowing books but the few chosen discover an inate longing for knowledge, causing them to seek out the 'criers' via a secret global communications network.

― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 16 November 2005 05:41 (twenty years ago)

it comes set at about '7' but readers often find it preferable to choose a lower setting for a more comfortable experience.

― Josh (Josh), Wednesday, 16 November 2005 06:03 (twenty years ago)

A lot of the backstory is in The Book Crying of Lot 47 and 48

― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 16 November 2005 06:26 (twenty years ago)

Chicago. It traces the history of a single plot of land from the city's foundation to the time when the book was written (1983). The final, longest section is set in an old folks home that now stands on lot 49, and draws together many of the characters who had appeared in earlier sections.

― Ray (Ray), Wednesday, 16 November 2005 09:50 (twenty years ago)

HI DERE, I WAHNT TALK ABOUT BOOK

― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 16 November 2005 16:04 (twenty years ago)

the actual crying of the lot moved me to tears, but the lot itself was a disappointment.

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Thursday, 17 November 2005 07:28 (twenty years ago)

Wait. I thought it was set in Southern California? Did I miss something?

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 20:05 (nineteen years ago)

Best ILB thread ever

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 20:15 (nineteen years ago)

It really helped open me up to new interpretations of the book. Previous to this thread, I wasn't clued in on the significance of the words in the book. They are generally considered vital to a proper understanding of what Pynchon was trying to achieve.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 00:22 (nineteen years ago)

the thread is unpersuasive. i still consider words to be mainly the concern of fusty, hidebound traditionalists.

― Josh (Josh), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 02:47 (nineteen years ago)

Not having read the book, I find it difficult to express an opinion, but circumstances dictate. It is a small book.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 14:17 (nineteen years ago)

you might also note its lightness.

certainly not very dense paper then, in this book.

― Josh (Josh), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 16:25 (nineteen years ago)

nor ink.

― Josh (Josh), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 16:25 (nineteen years ago)

i feel this book toots its own horn, too much

― W i l l (common_person), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 18:56 (nineteen years ago)

huh, this has popped up the night before i have a class on it i am not looking forward to. ("In his introduction to Slow Learner, a collection of early stories, Pynchon praised Ginsber's Howl and Kerouac's On the Road as examples of "that which had been made luminous, undeniably authentic having been found and taken up, always at a cost, from deeper, more shared levels of life we all really live." How might we read The Crying of Lot 49 in light of this comment?")

― tom west (thomp), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 20:22 (nineteen years ago)

!!! PAGING JOSH KORTBEIN

themodernword.com has zak smith's page-by-page illustrations of gravity's rainbow up

!!!

― tom west (thomp), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 20:26 (nineteen years ago)

actually that can be its own thread.

― tom west (thomp), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 20:30 (nineteen years ago)

those are great. can't wait to check them out in full.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 21:05 (nineteen years ago)

P. J. K.

― tom west (thomp), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 21:08 (nineteen years ago)

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