V - Thomas Pynchon

As spread thighs are to the libertine, flights of migratory birds to the ornithologist, the working part of his tool bit to the production machinist, so was the letter V to young Stencil. He would dream perhaps once a week that it had all been a dream, and that now he'd awakened to discover the pursuit of V. was merely a scholarly quest after all, an adventure of the mind, in the tradition of "The Golden Bough" or "The White Goddess".

The first of Pynchon's novels launched him into the literary spotlight. Many call this a precursor to his most-acclaimed novel- Gravity's Rainbow. This is my first reading of Pynchon and the book is quite dazzling. The writing reminds me of a blend of Kerouac with its fast pace and irreverance and Joyce with his mastery of language and style. The novel is vast and dense. The reader is challenged by characters too numerous to count, wild scenes, and exotic locations. Still, Pynchon is able to pull together this menagerie into a compelling and smart novel.

Great writers are always a pleasure, albeit a challenging one at times, to read. Pynchon belongs on the list of great writers. Nearly every page of this book had phrases, sentences, or entire paragraphs that caused me to pause and read again to savor.