The Crying of Lot 49

By: Thomas Pynchon

Narrated by: George Wilson

Oedipa Maas discovers that she has been made executor of a former lover's estate. The performance of her duties sets her on a strange trail of detection, in which bizarre characters crowd in to help or confuse her. But gradually, death, drugs, madness, and marriage combine to leave Oepida in isolation on the threshold of revelation, awaiting The Crying of Lot 49.

©1966 Thomas Pynchon (P)2005 Recorded Books LLC

The desire for meaning that never gets fulfilled.

The action was tough to follow because the author repeatedly brings about new elements and seemingly arbitrary details, which makes coherence hard to obtain. The story was mystical but left me right where I began without trying to convey me of a resolved narrative. I felt as if I was the commuter on a train which traveled through a magical forest but never made a stop to let me out to explore. I got no affirmation of anything besides the fact that something is beyond my experience and the circumstances off-putting. The whole book could be summarized as finding meaning in the resolving of something which is behind the vail of our ordinary ignorance and disinterest.

Postmodernist Chaos

This book is a prime example of Postmodernism, which puts into question what is real and what is not. The audio reading is done very well and it makes the book very easy and enjoyable to read.