Quote Porn
Lamb
"All books reveal perfection, by what they are or by what they are not."
"No sense sitting under a bodhi tree for a few hours when you can get the same thing through thousands of lifetimes of misery."
"In my time we had very few words, perhaps a hundred that we used all the time, and thirty of them were synonyms for guilt."
The Crying of Lot 49
" 'I came', she said, 'hoping you could talk me out of a fantasy.'
'Cherish it!' cried Hilarius, fiercely. 'What else do any of you have? Hold it tightly by its little tentacle, don't let the Freudians coax it away or the pharmacists poison it out of you. Whatever it is, hold it dear, for when you lose it you go over by that much to the others. You begin to cease to be.' "
"But then how can you blame them for being maybe a little bitter? Look what's happening to them. In school they got brainwashed, like all of us, into believing the Myth of the American Inventor: Morse and his telegraph, Bell and his telephone, Edison and his light bulb, Tom Swift and his this or that. Only one man per invention. Then when they grew up they found they had to sign over all their rights to a monster like Yoyodyne; got stuck on some 'project' or 'task force' or 'team' and started being ground into anonymity. Nobody wanted to invent—only perform their little role in a design ritual, already set down for them in some procedures handbook. What's it like, Oedipa, being all alone in a nightmare like that?"
A Few Thoughts
Despite being a nonbeliever who spends more than a little time on the internet, I'm as sick of atheists on the internet as anyone. Had Lamb just been a tired, stock lambasting of Christianity I wouldn't have made it very far before I would've lost interest and returned to rolling my eyes at Neil Degrasse Tyson-based memes instead.
But it's so much more than just "lolz, Christianity". In fact, as told in the epilogue, Christopher Moore went to great lengths to be not only moderately respectful but as historically accurate as he could while writing an adventure occurring between 1 BCE & 1 AD. It's a novel concept; the Bible is light on the antics of Jesus between childhood and adulthood, so Moore posits what might have happened in sincere and hilarious fashion.
I loved the way the plot came out. It's long been cited by aforementioned atheist rhetoric that Christmas is actually a ripoff of Paganism's Saturnalia, Jesus is Mithras in a new robe, Pagans ate their gods before the advent of cheap wine or crappy wafers, etc. While demonstrably true, Moore eschews the idea-stealing accusations for a more spiritual, modest learning from other religions to write "Joshua" (read: Jesus) as a world-wise spiritualist. Along with the humour provided by Biff's antics, it's a story full of levity that's incredibly well-executed.
This praise isn't to say that the book doesn't have its shortcomings. Perhaps related to Moore's endeavors to not contradict the Bible, once the story evolves into Jesus' 30s and the apostles show up, everything got less funny to me. Moore couldn't use his creativity to make Jesus' later life as funny or interesting as the parts where he had free reign to just make it up as he went along. And the ending... meh.
Still: Lamb, to me, is basically the Bible as retold and set by a Chuck Lorre sitcom character. It's got plenty of punch lines, lots of funny tropes that are well executed, and manages to be funny without going out its way to offend. There are so many points when Biff is narrating and the gag is a laugh track shy of casting Jim Parsons as Jesus and Charlie Sheen as Biff.
*shudder*
Please don't let this happen. I ask this in Joshua's name.
I didn't want to commit to Gravity's Rainbow yet (if ever), but Pynchon is on too many best-of-century lists to ignore, so I settled for The Crying of Lot 49.
So often in these blogs, I've found myself bemoaning the ending of books—I know I'm more critical than most in that aspect. That said, The Crying of Lot 49 pulled an ending that I thoroughly enjoyed. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't stare-at-the-last-page-for-minutes-heartbroken good, because the book's a glorified short story that never picked up too much emotional traction... but it's a method seldom attempted and it was incredibly effective. I'd liken it most to the movie Inception; all would be revealed roughly two seconds after the story ends, and the reader is left to decide for themselves or argue on the internet about it. Bonus points also for ending the book with its title, even if it did have to explain what it meant in context.
Speaking of explanations and context, a perusing of book summaries gives so many real-life references Pynchon makes that, perhaps due to its publish date being half a century ago, I didn't catch half as much as I'd've liked. A more thorough reading with this knowledge (or a more perceptive reader) would likely reap more enjoyment than my read-through, which was still pretty fun.
Not only did some of Pynchon's references sail over my head, but some of his language did, too. Not since Infinite Jest have I had to reread so many passages in a book because they were phrased in a way that wasn't intuitive to me. Granted, sometimes on a reread, the passages held hidden treasures of wit or wisdom, but it didn't come easy. I don't mind earning my pleasure from a good read, but it was a little odd in something as short-form as The Crying of Lot 49. By the time I'd adapted to the writer and begun to fully enjoy his style, the book was about ten pages from over.
But it's so much more than just "lolz, Christianity". In fact, as told in the epilogue, Christopher Moore went to great lengths to be not only moderately respectful but as historically accurate as he could while writing an adventure occurring between 1 BCE & 1 AD. It's a novel concept; the Bible is light on the antics of Jesus between childhood and adulthood, so Moore posits what might have happened in sincere and hilarious fashion.
I loved the way the plot came out. It's long been cited by aforementioned atheist rhetoric that Christmas is actually a ripoff of Paganism's Saturnalia, Jesus is Mithras in a new robe, Pagans ate their gods before the advent of cheap wine or crappy wafers, etc. While demonstrably true, Moore eschews the idea-stealing accusations for a more spiritual, modest learning from other religions to write "Joshua" (read: Jesus) as a world-wise spiritualist. Along with the humour provided by Biff's antics, it's a story full of levity that's incredibly well-executed.
This praise isn't to say that the book doesn't have its shortcomings. Perhaps related to Moore's endeavors to not contradict the Bible, once the story evolves into Jesus' 30s and the apostles show up, everything got less funny to me. Moore couldn't use his creativity to make Jesus' later life as funny or interesting as the parts where he had free reign to just make it up as he went along. And the ending... meh.
Still: Lamb, to me, is basically the Bible as retold and set by a Chuck Lorre sitcom character. It's got plenty of punch lines, lots of funny tropes that are well executed, and manages to be funny without going out its way to offend. There are so many points when Biff is narrating and the gag is a laugh track shy of casting Jim Parsons as Jesus and Charlie Sheen as Biff.
*shudder*
Please don't let this happen. I ask this in Joshua's name.
I didn't want to commit to Gravity's Rainbow yet (if ever), but Pynchon is on too many best-of-century lists to ignore, so I settled for The Crying of Lot 49.
So often in these blogs, I've found myself bemoaning the ending of books—I know I'm more critical than most in that aspect. That said, The Crying of Lot 49 pulled an ending that I thoroughly enjoyed. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't stare-at-the-last-page-for-minutes-heartbroken good, because the book's a glorified short story that never picked up too much emotional traction... but it's a method seldom attempted and it was incredibly effective. I'd liken it most to the movie Inception; all would be revealed roughly two seconds after the story ends, and the reader is left to decide for themselves or argue on the internet about it. Bonus points also for ending the book with its title, even if it did have to explain what it meant in context.
Speaking of explanations and context, a perusing of book summaries gives so many real-life references Pynchon makes that, perhaps due to its publish date being half a century ago, I didn't catch half as much as I'd've liked. A more thorough reading with this knowledge (or a more perceptive reader) would likely reap more enjoyment than my read-through, which was still pretty fun.
Not only did some of Pynchon's references sail over my head, but some of his language did, too. Not since Infinite Jest have I had to reread so many passages in a book because they were phrased in a way that wasn't intuitive to me. Granted, sometimes on a reread, the passages held hidden treasures of wit or wisdom, but it didn't come easy. I don't mind earning my pleasure from a good read, but it was a little odd in something as short-form as The Crying of Lot 49. By the time I'd adapted to the writer and begun to fully enjoy his style, the book was about ten pages from over.
Head-to-Head
Characters: Biff and Joshua are a comedy all-star team. Oedipa Maas is often little more than a vessel to the hijinks happening around her.
Advantage: Lamb.
Plot: Even if it sags a little towards the end, Lamb manages 350-400 pages of enthralling and hilarious adventures. It's hard to beat in that respect.
Advantage: Lamb.
Ending: When I recommend Crying of Lot 49 to people, it'll be based on the ending above all else. So well played.
Advantage: The Crying of Lot 49.
Language/Writing: I had to grasp at it from Pynchon, and the payoff was only maybe worth the effort. Lamb has the art of the punchline down to a tee.
Advantage: Lamb.
Philosophy: While C49 closely echoed my thoughts on conspiracy theory in an intelligent way, Lamb's visits with other religions are fun and clever tributes.
Advantage: Lamb, even though they're both neat.
Winner Winner Turkey Supper
Not even close today, really. I feel like Crying of Lot 49 would be better as a second or third Pynchon book, and it's probably better than I'm giving it credit for. Still, I think I'd make the same decision regardless of what else I'd read before or after.
Lamb moves to round two by a lambslide.
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