The wild, macabre tale of the twentieth century and of two men -- one looking for something he has lost, the other with nothing much to lose -- and "V.," the unknown woman of the title.
V.
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Browse the best books of summer including blockbusters, beach reads, and editors' picks in our Summer Reading Store. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Having just been released from the Navy, Benny Profane is content to lead a slothful existence with his friends, where the only real ambition is to perfect the art of "schlemihlhood," or being a dupe, and where "responsibility" is a dirty word. Among his pals--called the Whole Sick Crew--is Slab, an artist who can't seem to paint anything other than cheese danishes. But Profane's life changes dramatically when he befriends Stencil, an active ambitious young man with an intriguing mission--to find out the identity of a woman named V., who knew Stencil's father during the war, but who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Filled with wild humor, intentive wordplay and a darkly imaginative power." -- -- Philadelphia Inquirer
"This work may well stand as one of the very best works of the century." -- -- Atlantic Review
"[A] brilliant and turbulent first novel." -- -- George Plimpton, New York Times Book Review
"[L]eaves the imagination spent and the mind reeling." -- -- New York Herald Tribune
"This work may well stand as one of the very best works of the century." -- -- Atlantic Review
"[A] brilliant and turbulent first novel." -- -- George Plimpton, New York Times Book Review
"[L]eaves the imagination spent and the mind reeling." -- -- New York Herald Tribune
"Filled with wild humor, intentive wordplay and a darkly imaginative power." -- Philadelphia Inquirer
"This work may well stand as one of the very best works of the century." -- Atlantic Review
"[A] brilliant and turbulent first novel." -- George Plimpton, New York Times Book Review
"[L]eaves the imagination spent and the mind reeling." -- New York Herald Tribune
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Thomas Pynchon was born in 1937. His books include The Crying of Lot 49, Gravity's Rainbow, Vineland, and Mason & Dixon.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
139 of 147 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although not quite unique, Thomas Pynchon's approach to narration is extremely unusual. Often he seems to drone on in endless detail. At times his books read like a description of a vaudeville slapstick routine. Commonly, narrative structure, presumably at the heart of most novels, seems abandoned, or even purposely ignored. The upshot of this is that Thomas Pynchon's novels are strange, and decidedly not for everyone.
Of course the flip side is that for those who find Pynchon to their liking he is a rare treat, an intriguing enigma that you simply cannot stop talking about. Such is the case with V., a novel that over the years has shown a propensity to spark almost endless debate. Ostensibly it is the story of two men, Stencil and Benny Profane. Benny spends the greater part of the novel tramping around New York City with his friends, the Whole Sick Crew, generally not doing much of anything except procrastinating and running through various jobs and friends. Stencil spends most of the novel a quest of sorts, using a unique technique to track down details about an elusive and mysterious woman known only as V.
It has been noted that it is a technique of Pynchon's to surround the reader in layer after layer of detail and leave her to ferret out some sense; V. is certainly in keeping with that tradition. Wrapped up in this book is enough social critique, pop culture, historical theory, hilarious humor, and prediction of the future to make the reader's head spin like the roulette wheel at a casino. Rather than a shortcoming, this overwhelming downpour of data is one of the best parts of V., as there is just enough cohesion among the disparate elements that certain associations, even theories, can be developed. But are the associations really there or just in the reader's head? That is one of the questions Pynchon aches to ask.
Also central to V. is the idea of mechanization and routinization. Several characters in V. (including V herself) become more and more mechanized as time passes. Further, several elements of V. suggest the mechanization of society. Linked to this idea of mechanization is that of routinization, and Pynchon seems to say that the mechanization of modern life has helped create a society that is locked in routine. This theme of routinazation is found in both large and small instances. On the small side is Benny Profane (among others) who is continually unable to break out of the boundaries he has set on his life. ...
I feel my review of V. would not be complete without a few words about Pynchon's amazing breadth of knowledge. Diverse places such as New York City, Malta, Paris, and Africa are made the setting for several of the book's scenes and these locations are discussed with such authority, knowledge, and familiarity that the reader is convinced that Pynchon must have spent five years living in each. Additionally Pynchon integrates a great deal of information into the plot of V. A sampling of such information would include: explicit procedures for a nosejob, World War I fighter pilots, naval vessels, jazz musicians, Machiavelli, modern art, classical art, automobile safety tests, and the Holy Bible. Even at the tender age of 24 Pynchon had filled his head with enough information to inscribe nearly each of the 500 pages of V. with a certain subtext or reference.
Rather than review V. by presenting a plot summary I have tried to express a few of the ideas Pynchon works with. I have done this because V. thrives on non-linearity and a plot summary would be pointless and would do little to give a potential reader a true feel for what V. might be like. Instead I have chosen a few elements that I feel are at the heart of V., and have discussed them. For those who enjoy immersing themselves in a book and look forward to thorough discussions when they are done there are few books I can recommend above V. But for those who prefer more traditional, even formulaic, books I should warn that V., while in my opinion excellent, may not be to their liking. Despite these admonitions I would recommend this book to as many people as possible, as I do believe that everyone should experience V. This fine book may be a difficult taste to acquire, but one well worth the effort.
37 of 40 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Thomas Pynchon's first book V. is one of the great
books of the last 50 years. It is a book that is
filled with symbol and meaning and portent. At the
simplest level it is a story about Benny Profane,
a poor "schlemil" whose pathetic life is filled
with almost surreal adventures that lead him to
gangs and love and alligators in the sewers! But
Benny's adventures become inexplicablyintertwined
with those of Stencil and the mysterious V. And
therein lies the great challenge and great pleasure
of Pynchon. There is a search to discover meaning
and perhaps to discover one's own history. Pynchon's
tale leads back to the diplomatic intrique
preceding World War I and somehow connects us with
the misadventures of Benny. And all the while, like
some great mystery thriller in reverse, the deeper
one gets into V., the more information that is
revealed, the more complex the mystery becomes.
Indeed, the thrill of Pynchon is to become ensnared
in that mystery and try to find meaning in that
complex and interconnected web. Ultimately, perhaps,
like all the great questions in life, the question
of the meaning of who V. is and the meaning of the
book itself may never be answer. But the power of
this novel is that it draws you in to consider that
mystery. The book, somehow, finds connections
between the great historical events of the beginning
of this century and several generations of
characters who themselves are all interconnected
and the ever-changing technology of this century.
Is V. a mysterious woman, a cause of the wars of
this century or the essential meaninglessness
of modern society? Read V. and discover that answer
for yourself!
books of the last 50 years. It is a book that is
filled with symbol and meaning and portent. At the
simplest level it is a story about Benny Profane,
a poor "schlemil" whose pathetic life is filled
with almost surreal adventures that lead him to
gangs and love and alligators in the sewers! But
Benny's adventures become inexplicablyintertwined
with those of Stencil and the mysterious V. And
therein lies the great challenge and great pleasure
of Pynchon. There is a search to discover meaning
and perhaps to discover one's own history. Pynchon's
tale leads back to the diplomatic intrique
preceding World War I and somehow connects us with
the misadventures of Benny. And all the while, like
some great mystery thriller in reverse, the deeper
one gets into V., the more information that is
revealed, the more complex the mystery becomes.
Indeed, the thrill of Pynchon is to become ensnared
in that mystery and try to find meaning in that
complex and interconnected web. Ultimately, perhaps,
like all the great questions in life, the question
of the meaning of who V. is and the meaning of the
book itself may never be answer. But the power of
this novel is that it draws you in to consider that
mystery. The book, somehow, finds connections
between the great historical events of the beginning
of this century and several generations of
characters who themselves are all interconnected
and the ever-changing technology of this century.
Is V. a mysterious woman, a cause of the wars of
this century or the essential meaninglessness
of modern society? Read V. and discover that answer
for yourself!
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By Steve Fisch
Format:Paperback
As far as I'm concerned, V, the enigmatic understated protagonist in Pynchon's first novel defies pigeonholing, and those readers who expect to be paid off for simply moving their eyes across the page, investing the same intellectual capital that might sustain a made for TV movie, will be sadly disappointed. Yes, Pynchon, like Joyce, Burgess, Borges, T.S. Eliot, Faulkner, et al., forces the reader to think, and for any genuine understanding, the reader must work, must do research, must have some basic knowledge of the references, must not be afraid to translate, for example, Schoenmacher into beauty maker and Mondaugen into moon eyes. A book like this challenges the reader rather than simply attempting to entertain him with a good yarn. So if you don't like word puzzles or obscure symbolism then stay away. If however veiled references to Stravinsky's Rites of Spring and how the WWII icon "Kilroy" originated and the mechanics of yo-yo-ing intrigues you, then plunge in.
The book is ostensibly about Herbert Stencil's quest to discover the identity of a mysterious woman who makes several appearances in his father's journal, but it's really Stencil's quest to understand his father (in German father is Vater) and perhaps, ultimately, to find himself. Also, there are the colorful escapades of the Whole Sick Crew, the group that Herbert hangs with, including Benny Profane, a navyman, and Rachel Hourglass who has a fetish for her automobile.
In a sense, fetishism, fondness for things, is the gist of the book; everytime V. appears she has one more artificial limb, or glass eye. She is less human and more thing, and perhaps this is what Pynchon is saying about the twentieth century and the World Wars that helped to shape it. In another sense the subject of the book is defined by its negative space. The holocaust and concentration camps of WWII are never discussed, but the theme of man's inhumanity to man is so central that the lack of mention seems intentional.
Finally, however, V. comes to mean so many things more than just the systemized dehumanization of modern man: Vanishing Point, Vector, Velocity, Verboten, and Vater are but a few of the many possibles (see Alan Moore's V is for Vendetta for more)so that it becomes impossible to capture who and what V. really is. Like Moby Dick she is everything and nothing. Worth reading and re-reading for those who are more concerned with literary content then a good story.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Many Typos
Thomas Pynchon is a literary genius, and this wild, difficult novel is up to his high standards, is a splendid work of art. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Raketemensch
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent read
First of all: i will not try to really pass judgement on the book's quality or justify my grade. Instead, i will try to describe the book. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Francisco Toniazzo Machiavelli
1.0 out of 5 stars
Hated it
My bookclub choose to read this last month, out of 8 members only three finished, the rest of us opted to pay the $5 we have agreed to pay if we don't read the book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by TBuf
5.0 out of 5 stars
Anticipated Gift
This was a gift for my son. It was at the top of his Christmas list. He was very pleased. Shipment was very fast. Thank you.
Published 4 months ago by Logsdon
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good read
Last post got censored by Amazon because I mentioned another book (Gravity's Rainbow) by same author for comparison. imagine that! Read more
Published 5 months ago by Stuart Clark
2.0 out of 5 stars
Less Than Visionary
I have tried for over a decade to like this work. When I was 20, I met a Pynchon-obsessed man who found some reference to V. in just about everything I did or said. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Simone Runyan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful first novel
I finally got back to finishing this book. I think I started it twenty years ago, was overwhelmed by it, and just dropped it. Read more
Published 9 months ago by B. VanPelt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pynchon's First Novel
This is the first novel by the American master, Thomas Pynchon. Like many first novels, there may be a bit of Thomas Pynchon in the novel. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jeffrey M. Hopkins
5.0 out of 5 stars
50 Books That Made Me the Person I Am Today (#2 of 50)
A novel comprised of "micro-fiction"! (Try it! You can read any chapter -- and any "sub-chapter" -- as a "story" on its own!)
Someone actually published "V. Read more
Someone actually published "V. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Crabby McGrouchpants
4.0 out of 5 stars
Down in the sewers
V. is like some weird, half dreamed dispatch from a mind that is hermetically sealed off from the world. Read more
Published 15 months ago by jafrank
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 3
books:
- South Africa by Roberta James Paola on page 393
- Birth of Venus by BOTTICELLI on page 224
- Adolf Hitler (World War II Leaders) by Bob Italia on page 256
