Emperatrix Oedipa -- The Crying of Lot 49

The first chapter of The Crying of Lot 49 introduces us to Oedipa Maas, a woman who has strangely been chosen to execute the will of her former boyfriend Pierce Inverarity. The reason for this was unknown as Oedipa and Pierce had not had contact for a long time, the last time having been a weird three-in-the-morning call. Still, Oedipa is such a new character that I can expect anything from the novel; however, Pynchon foreshadows big and strange things, “As things developed, she was to have all manner of revelations. Hardly about Pierce Inverarity, or herself; but about what remained yet had somehow, before this, stayed away (pg 10).
The chapter and maybe the whole novel are written in a style that is pretty hard to follow. I felt very confused with Pynchon’s writing. His sentences are very long and are structured in a way hard to follow. Hopefully, I will get used to Pynchon’s writing.

The book seems to have interesting ideas, for example Mucho’s previous job of used car salesman seemed to have made a great mark on him, something I wouldn’t expect from that harmless job. When Pynchon begins describing how each car has part of its owner in it, his hopes and dreams and they are “an extension of themselves”. When we see that job from that perspective it is easier to understand Mucho’s situation. If Pynchon has such a unique perspective of the world, this book will prove very interesting.

Despite being confusing, the novel contains some very interesting descriptions, “There had hung the sense of buffering, insulation, she had noticed the absence of an intensity, as if watching a movie, just perceptibly out of focus, that the projectionist refused to fix (pg 10). That feeling is pretty strange, not fully shown by a word and Pynchon cleverly describes it like that slight annoyance in the movies which gives the reader a very vivid image of the emotion.

I found Pynchon’s choice for the character’s names deliberate and well developed. Oedipa obviously alludes to Oedipus, the famous Greek hero. The reason for this is yet to come but it gives perhaps an idea or it makes the reader purposely think of Oedipus while reading the novel. “Mucho” Maas describes the character’s personality. He has a lot going on in his head, with his obsession with the car lot and his personality as a DJ. Maybe further on in the book the name will become even more appropriate. Oeadipa’s shrink, Dr. Hilarius is very appropriately named as his whole personality is hilarious. His call in the middle of the night, his questions, his “connection” with Oedipa, his attempt to test LSD, all this makes him a very funny character.