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The Crying of Lot 49
Thomas Pynchon
Context
Thomas Pynchon was born on Long Island, New York, in 1!"# $e
ser%ed in the na%y andgrad&ated 'rom Cornell, a'ter which he
worked as a technical writer 'or (oeing )ircra't# *&ring
this time, he t&rned to 'iction writing and +&blished
his 'irst no%el, V.,in 1!, to ra%e re%iews#
$e 'ollowed &+ this no%el two years later with The Crying of
Lot 49,a short b&t extremelycom+lex no%el# In a sense, The
Crying of Lot 49was a ty+e o' dress rehearsal 'or his long
no%el
that s&cceeded it, Gravity's Rainbow,which won the National
(ook )ward and is +erha+s the
best-known long no%el to emerge a'ter .orld .ar II# Pynchon/s
'o&rth ma0or no%el was called
Vineland,and two years ago, he +&blished his historical
no%elMason and Dion.Thro&gh all o'these books, with his &se
o' s&rrealism and creation o' %ast, %aried, and incredible
cons+iracy
theories, Pynchon has remained one o' the most original and
im+ortant o' )merican no%elists#
)lmost all works by Pynchon are deliberately com+lex# The +lots
are o'ten di''ic< to 'ollowboth beca&se o' their
intricate twists and t&rns and their sometimes incredibly
esoteric s&b0ect
matter# Pynchon/s characters, '&rthermore, can be hard to
relate to# Pynchon has a tendency to 'illhis no%els not with real
characters b&t rather with 'acades or brie' cameo 'ig&res
that exist in the
no%el only 'or some s+eci'ic +&r+ose, a'ter which they
disa++ear# Indeed, Gravity's Rainbowhas
o%er 22 o' these ty+es o' characters# In The Crying of Lot
49,exam+les o' s&ch characters are3anny di Presso and 4es&s
)rrabel#
The Crying of Lot 49is tho&ght by many to be Pynchon/s best
work# 5thers s&rely disagree,
arg&ing that The Crying of Lot 49is sim+ly Pynchon/s most
accessible work, its short length and
streamlined 6'or Pynchon7 +lot allowing the reader to 'ollow
along with less work than his longerno%els re8&ire# (&t no
matter where The Crying of Lot 49stands within Pynchon/s body o'
work,
there is no do&bt that in its h&mor, story, and dee+
insight into )merican c<&re and beyond, thebook is an
)merican landmark#9&mmary
5edi+a 3aas, the yo&ng wi'e o' a man named 3&cho, li%es
in :inneret, Cali'ornia# 5ne day, sherecei%es a letter 'rom a law
'irm telling her that her ex-boy'riend, Pierce In%erarity, has died
and
named her the exec&tor o' his estate# 5edi+a resol%es to
'aith'&lly exec&te her d&ty, and she
tra%els to 9an Narciso 6Pierce/s hometown7 where she meets the
lawyer, 3et;ger, assigned to
hel+ her, with whom she s+ontaneo&sly begins an a''air#
)s they go abo&t sorting thro&gh Pierce/s tangled
'inancial a''airs, 5edi+a takes note o' the 'act
that Pierce owned an extensi%e stam+ collection# 5ne night,
5edi+a and 3et;ger go to a barcalled The 9co+e, where they meet
3ike
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s&ing the In%erarity estate on behal' o' his client, who
reco%ered and sold h&man bones to
In%erarity b&t did not recei%e +ro+er +ayment# Pierce wanted
the bones to make charcoal 'or
cigarette 'ilters# ) member o' The Paranoids, a hi++ie band that
'ollows 5edi+a aro&nd, +ointso&t that 3anny/s story is
similar to that o' the 1"th-cent&ry +lay The Co!rier's
Tragedy.5edi+a
and 3et;ger decide to see a +rod&ction o' the +lay nearby#
The +lay mentions the word
>Tristero,> a word that 'ascinates 5edi+a beca&se o'
its +lacement within the +lay# 9he goesbackstage to s+eak with the
director, ?andol+h *riblette, who tells her to sto+ o%eranaly;ing
the
+lay# 9he resol%es to call him back later#
)'ter rereading Pierce/s will later on, 5edi+a goes to a
stockholders/ meeting 'or the Yoyodynecom+any, a 'irm owned in +art
by In%erarity# )'ter taking a brie' to&r, she st&mbles into
the
o''ice o' 9tanley :oteks, who is drawing the m&ted +ost horn
symbol on his +ad o' +a+er# $e
tells her abo&t a scientist named 4ohn Ne'astis who has
b&ilt a ty+e o' 3exwell/s *emon, or a
+hysically im+ossible machine that allows 'or +er+et&al
motion by %iolating the 9econd Law o'Thermodynamics# :oteks
enco&rages 5edi+a to meet with Ne'astis#
.anting to learn more abo&t The Co!rier's Tragedy,5edi+a
gets an anthology o' 4acobean
re%enge +lays# 9he notices that the +a+erback co+y has no
mention o' the Tristero, howe%er,
which +&;;les her# 9he decides to go to (erkeley to meet
with the +&blisher# In the meantime,she sto+s by an elderly
care home that Pierce had owned, where she meets an old man with a
ring
de+icting the m&ted +ost horn# 9he also hires a +hilatelist
6stam+ ex+ert7 named @enghis Cohento go thro&gh Pierce/s stam+
collection# )'ter doing so, @enghis tells her that some o'
Pierce/s
stam+s ha%e a m&ted +ost horn in their watermark# 5edi+a
begins to reali;e that she is
&nco%ering a large mystery#5edi+a goes to (erkeley to meet
with 4ohn Ne'astis, who shows her his +er+et&al motion
machine# It can only be o+erated by +eo+le with s+ecial mental
ca+abilities allowing them to
comm&nicate with the machine, and he tells 5edi+a that she
has no s&ch mental skills# $e then
+ro+ositions her, ca&sing her to r&n o&t screaming#
5edi+a then begins a %ery, %ery long night o'wandering aro&nd
aimlessly all o%er the (ay area# 9he enco&nters the m&ted
+ost horn symbol
almost e%erywhere, leading her to belie%e that she may be
hall&cinating# 4&st be'ore dawn,
howe%er, she enco&nters an old man who hands her a letter
and asks her to deli%er it %ia.#)#9#T#=# &nder the 'reeway#
)'ter hel+ing the man to his room, 5edi+a 'inds a .#)#9#T#=#
'acility &nder the 'reeway, dro+s in the letter and waits
'or the deli%ery man, whom she 'ollows
to 5akland and back to (erkeley a'ter he +icks &+ the
letters and deli%ers them# 5edi+a ret&rns toher home in
:inneret to see her doctor, who begins shooting at her as she
+&lls &+# $e has gone
cra;y, obsessed with the idea that Israelis are coming to kill
him beca&se he assisted the Na;is in
.orld .ar II# )'ter he is arrested, 5edi+a sees her h&sband,
3&cho, and s+ends some time with
him, altho&gh she 8&ickly sees that he has become
addicted to L9*, making it di''ic< tocomm&nicate
e''ecti%ely#
Increasingly alone, 5edi+a seeks o&t =mory (ort;, an =nglish
+ro'essor at 9an Narciso College
who has extensi%e knowledge o' 4acobean re%enge +lays# .ith his
hel+, she +ieces together thehistory o' the Tristero, which dates
back to mid-1th-cent&ry =&ro+e# 9he learns that
*riblette
has died, which means she will ne%er know why he incl&ded
the lines abo&t the Tristero in his
+rod&ction o' The Co!rier's Tragedy6these lines are not
ordinarily incl&ded in the +lay7# 5edi+abegins to gi%e &+
as she reali;es that she is %ery lonely and has no real 'riends#
9he %isits 3ike
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hel+s her +iece together some mysteries abo&t Pierce/s stam+
collection, which is to be a&ctioned
o'' by a local dealer as Lot # @enghis has heard that a
secreti%e bidder will attend the a&ction
to bid on Lot , b&t he will not re%eal himsel' be'orehand#
5edi+a goes to the a&ction, excitedto 'ind o&t who the
bidder is, thinking that he may know the key to the Tristero# The
no%el ends
as 5edi+a sits in the room waiting 'or the crying o' Lot , when
she will disco%er the identity o'
the mystery bidder#Characters
Oedipa Maas- The no%el/s +rotagonist# )'ter her ex-boy'riend,
Pierce In%erarity, names herexec&tor o' his immense and com+lex
estate, she disco%ers and begins to &nra%el a worldwide
cons+iracy in so&thern Cali'ornia# 5edi+a '&nctions in
the no%el as a ty+e o' detecti%e, altho&gh
the story is as m&ch abo&t her own sel'-disco%eries as
it is abo&t the mystery she attem+ts to
+iece together#)
Mucho Maas- The h&sband o' 5edi+a, 3&cho once worked in
a &sed-car lot b&t recently
became a disc 0ockey 'or :CA< radio in :inneret# )t the end
o' the no%el, he goes cra;y on
L9*, alienating 5edi+a#Pierce Inverarity- 5edi+a/s ex-boy'riend
and a 'ab&lo&sly rich real-estate tycoon# .e ne%er
meet him exce+t in 5edi+a/s memories, which tell &s that he
liked to +lay with his own %oice bydoing %ocal im+ersonations# $e
was a general 0okester in real li'e and may be +laying a mean
trick on 5edi+a by in%enting this whole Tristero cons+iracy#
Metzger- ) lawyer who works 'or .ar+e, .ist'&ll,
:&bitschek and 3c3ing&s# $e has beenassigned to hel+ 5edi+a
exec&te Pierce/s estate# $e and 5edi+a ha%e a brie' a''air in
9an Narciso
as they go abo&t &ntangling the mystery# $e disa++ears
aro&nd the middle o' the no%el#
Miles, ean, !erge and Leonard - The 'o&r members o' the
hi++ie band called The Paranoids#
They ser%e as a means o' satiri;ing the so&thern Cali'ornian
yo&th hi++ie c<&re in the mid-2s#
Mi"e #allopian- ) member o' the Peter Ping&id 9ociety, a
right-wing anti-go%ernment
organi;ation# 5edi+a and 3et;ger meet him in a bar called The
9co+e early in cha+ter threeB he
a++ears s+oradically thro&gh the rest o' the no%el#
Manny di Presso- ) lawyer and old 'riend o' 3et;ger, he resides
near Lake In%erarity# 5ne o'
his client/s is s&ing In%erarity/s estate 'or money
In%erarity owed# The client sent In%erarity
h&man bones reco%ered 'rom an Italian lake 'or &se in
charcoal +rod&ction#
$andolph ri%lette- The director o' the +rod&ction o' The
Co!rier's Tragedyseen by 5edi+a
and 3et;ger in cha+ter three# *riblette is a leading .har'inger
scholar, b&t he commits s&icide
toward the end o' the no%el be'ore 5edi+a can extract any
&se'&l in'ormation 'rom him abo&t
.har'inger/s mention o' the Tristero#
Clayton Chiclitz- The +resident o' Yoyodyne# 5edi+a meets him in
Cha+ter
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)ohn *efastis- ) scientist obsessed with +er+et&al motion#
$e has tried to in%ent a ty+e o'
3axwell/s *emon# 5edi+a %isits him to see the machine a'ter
learning abo&t him 'rom 9tanley
:oteks# $e shows her the machine b&t ca&ses her to
r&n away when he +ro+ositions her#
+enghis Cohen- ) stam+ ex+ert whom 5edi+a hires to go
thro&gh Pierce/s extensi%e stam+
collection in order to a++raise it# @enghis +ro%ides some more
cl&es to hel+ 5edi+a sol%e the
Tristero mystery#mory -ortz- )n =nglish +ro'essor who &sed
to teach at AC-(erkeley b&t later mo%ed to 9an
Narciso College# $e hel+s 5edi+a &ntangle some o' the
mysteries related to the .har'inger
+lay/s mention o' Tristero#
