Against the Day

What Hacker News says

1. seanhunterOct 2025
   There are basically two sorts of Pynchon novels[1]:

   Gravity’s Rainbow, V and Against the Day are these monumental books which are sometimes really harrowing and hard to read (amazing in my opinion, but tough to read none the less).

   Lot 49, Inherent Vice, Vineland and the new one are kind of “weird noir” gumshoe novels - funny and full of whacky conspiracies etc.

   Bleeding edge is more like the second lot. I would definitely recommend people to read The Crying of Lot 49 and/or Inherent Vice to make up their minds whether they like Pynchon. Then you’ll know whether you want to invest in reading V or Gravity’s Rainbow etc.

   [1] I’m gonna leave Mason & Dixon to one side because it’s sort of its own thing.

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2. mickhead23Oct 2025
   Gravity's Rainbow was a favorite in my 20s. I recently turned 40 and picked it up again, but something was different: the chapter pertaining to African-Americans are incredibly dated.

   Having said that, check out the illustrated "Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow."

   Against the Day is life changing.

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3. cghAug 2025
   Anyone interested in a fictional take on this period could consider Pynchon's "Against the Day", although it is no light challenge. It takes place between the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the years following WW1 and, appropriately, tells a sprawling, disorienting story that feels overwhelming at times.
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4. ofalkaedAug 2025
   Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day is an interesting read on this and explores the rapid changes in a far more human way than anything else I have read on the period. He renders it as the period when technology and knowledge ceased being things of the select few and become a large enough part of the average person's life, and this being what caused the real change; knowledge fundamentally changed society's relationship with the unknown and technology played a shell game with what is inconvenient. His treatment of photography and the development of film is really interesting and does an amazing job of showing what we lost as well as what we gained.
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5. ofalkaedFeb 2025
   I never noticed it until I read Pynchon's Against the Day, I assume I just ignored quaternion posts before then. Great book, enjoyed the way he used quaternions and vectors towards literary ends.

   Edit: just noticed we also have a thread on bifurcation, another big topic in Against the Day.

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6. downutOct 2024
   That's interesting. I never had a problem ploughing through Pynchon, and as I mentioned I bounced off Ulysses in my early 20s. I am right now in the last pages of my 1st reread of Gravity's Rainbow. I have to say I prefer Joyce now. And I think I liked my recent read of Against the Day over GR, an unexpected development.

   Gotta say though, GR is still awesome. Fearless.

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