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| Plot Summary of The Crying of Lot 49 |
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"Oedipa Maas, the protagonist of Pynchon's satire novella, finds herself named executor of ex-boyfriend Pierce Inverarity's estate. As she reluctantly takes on the task, she discovers there's more to Pierce than she knew--a gigantic stamp collection. As she goes around California to examine the estate with lawyer/lover Metzger, Oedipa stumbles upon a mysterious conspiracy--the symbol of a muted post horn and the acronym W.A.S.T.E. Mildly interested, Oedipa seems to find the symbol all around her, wrapped up in the perplexing Tristero conspiracy, an illegal courier system, which she discovers is tied to Inverarity's stamp collection. Wracked with paranoia, Oedipa finds her world falling apart, husband Mucho has lost himself to drugs, as has her psychiatrist, and the only dominating force in her life--the mystery of the
Tristero--is providing no solid answers. Oedipa is forced to examine herself as she plunges deeper into the Tristero conspiracy."
Angela Allan, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Crying of Lot 49 |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- humorous
Time/era of story
- 1960's-1970's
Internal struggle/realization?
Yes
Struggle over
- nature of existence (heavy philosophy)
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Battle with a psychiatrist
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- homemaker
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental
Yes
Eccentric:
- eccentric
- deluded
- emotionally unstable
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 3 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- actual description of hetero sex
Unusual Style:
- a lot of play on words
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Thomas Pynchon Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Angela Allan
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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