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Pynchon’s Sound of Music by Christian Hänggi

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As a music fan, music collector and composer, I am always interested in finding musical references in works of fiction. American author Thomas Pynchon is one of my favourite writers and over the course of his work there are countless references to music.

At one point in time, I thought that it might be interesting to re-read his books and make note of the various musical references just for my own amusement. Luckily, I no longer have to consider this arduous task as author Christian Hänggi has now done all of the heavy lifting. And what a load it is!

Over the course of Pynchon’s Sound of Music, Hänggi has spotted and identified hundreds of musical mentions which encompass real works by real people, fictitious works by real people and fictitious songs and artists which have sprung from the mind of the author.

Since 1963 when Thomas Pynchon published his first book, V., he has only issued a total of eight novels and one collection of short stories. For his research on his subject, Hänggi has also included other uncollected short works which he considers as a tenth book. So, the task would not appear to be quite as daunting as considering the endless oeuvre as someone like Stephen King. But, a daunting task it was, taking some four and a half years to collate.

During the course of his research, countless areas were explored. These include the context in which music is mentioned, the mode in which it is presented (live, a recording etc…), its part in progressing the story-line etc…

He also catalogues the various instruments which play a part in the stories such as saxophone, guitar, accordion, ukulele, harmonica, kazoo etc… This includes the number of references in total as well as in each book or story.

The first three sections of the book: The Job of Sorting It All Out, Lessons in Organology and The Sounds of Societies to Come serve to open up the many worlds of Pynchon and to connect the dots within the various references to music.

In addition to real-world references to artists such as Pat Boone or Jimi Hendrix, Pynchon would introduce his own world of performers such as Sick Dick and the Volkswagens or the Paranoids in The Crying of Lot 49. But, there are also fictitious works by real people such as Vivaldi’s Kazoo Concerto.

Pynchon’s work is also scattered with songs from the author’s own imagination. From “Have a Banana” in Gravity’s Rainbow to “Polecat in the Parlor” in Mason & Dixon, the author carries the story with his own take on a musical moment.

In the chapter Analysing the Pynchon Playlist, numbers have been crunched to produce graphs and spreadsheets which highlight various details across the spectrum. The types and frequency of references are put under the microscope as well as detailing their distribution throughout the works.

In the end, the real icing on the cake is The Pynchon Playlist. This is the section in which each book is taken and had each of its musical references noted. This includes specific references to songs, composers and performers.

So, if this particular aspect of Thomas Pynchon’s work is of specific interest to you, you can stop googling the multiple sources scattered all over the internet. Pretty well everything that you will want to know is contained within the covers of this exhaustive volume. Sit back and soak it all in.

Isolation Reading: Fiction

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Isolation can be fine when you have some good reading material

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Over the years, the bulk of my reading has been non-fiction books. These have mainly been art-related books with a heavy emphasis on music. It’s really not been until recent years that I have gotten into the habit of reading fiction to any extent. In fact, fiction has made of about three quarters of my reading for the past few years as I play catch-up with a lot of interesting stuff.

Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo. This is the story of Eric Packer who is a financial industry billionaire living in New York City. Eric simply wants to go out to get a haircut. So, he gets into his limousine and heads across Manhattan. But, the trip is not so straight-forward. Along the way, he hops out of the limo for various interactions. Other times, he is stuck in traffic while at the same time dealing with others who have jumped into the car for meetings of different natures. Often hilarious and sometimes a bit frightening. Always involving.

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I first read this book three years ago. Since that time, seeing it on my bookshelf has often beckoned me to re-read it. I finally decided that now was the time.

For some reason, this book seems to have a reputation of being a difficult read. It seems to wind up on lists mentioning the likes of Gravity’s Rainbow and Ulysses. But, other that being a very long book, it really isn’t a particularly difficult book to get into.

The three main plots involved include a tennis academy for young people, the residents of a rehab house and the search for an illusive media called the Entertainment. As the story unfolds, the three plots are seen to intersect at various junctions.

Probably the aspect of the book that is most at the forefront is the detail. Wallace is one to stack detail upon detail upon detail. It often makes for very dense passages of text. And there is another aspect of the book that also makes it even more dense. End-notes. At the back of the book there are nearly 100 pages of notes regarding the main text. The reader is expected to pause their reading and flip to the back of the book in order to discover the subtext involved as they hit the number of an end-note. And I highly recommend getting involved in the practice – at least the first time you read it – as it often does lead to a deeper understanding of what is happening (although some seem a bit superfluous).

Stick to it and you will find yourself with a highly rewarding reading experience. It’s just as good the second time around, as well.

Ulysses by James Joyce. OK. Now, this truly is a difficult one. It certainly makes Infinite Jest seem like a walk in the park. Ulysses has a reputation of being one of the landmarks of twentieth century literature. It also has the reputation of being a notoriously difficult book to read. Correct on both counts.

I recently picked up the Dover reprint of the 1922 version of this book. It has undergone several revisions in succeeding years but, this was the way that it was first published (in a form corrected by Joyce).

It is basically the story of an advertising salesman called Leopold Bloom. The entire volume covers twenty-four hours of his life. During this time, he meets up with friends, goes to a funeral, goes out to drink and dine and other seeming mundane activities. All the while, he does his best to stay away from home as he knows that his wife is having an affair.

While the book seems to start as a fairly straight-forward read, Joyce changes styles quite drastically from section to section. There are sections that read like a play and other parts which unfold as a dense run-on sentence.

Often perplexing, it is worth the effort to soldier on. I can’t say that it is an easy task to make it through to the end. But, I certainly did find it an intriguing read.

The King by Donald Barthelme. What seems to start out as a fairly normal tale of King Arthur eventually starts to take a turn in an unexpected direction. This comes when the characters start making references to photographs printed in the newspaper and listening to speeches by Winston Churchill on the radio.

For some reason, King Arthur and the others have found themselves living in England during the second world war. It’s best to just go with the flow and see how things progress. A very amusing read.

The Yips by Nicola Barker. I first became aware of the author from a Guardian article last year. It made me curious to check out her work. This was the first book that I found. The story mainly revolves around the golfer Stuart Ransom. His life – professionally, financially and personally – is on a downward spiral. His encounters with such characters as a female priest and puzzling barmaid take his life into often comic turns.

Despite the book’s length, the rapid unfolding of the various story elements seem to make the book whip by at an accelerated pace. Very enjoyable, indeed.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend. Adrian Mole has just entered his teenage years and like most people of that age is finding the going a bit rough. He’s a self-proclaimed intellectual and he seems to attribute that fact as to why he has a difficult time relating to other people.

Adrian’s daily journal entries follow his relationship with his parents, girlfriend and others involved in his life on a daily basis. It’s apparently not an easy life for Adrian and this leads to countless chuckles and many laugh-out-loud moments. It reads like a modern day take on the classic British book The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith from the 1890s (which is still in print and highly recommended!). A great read for some comic relief… especially in difficult times.

Thomas Pynchon to receive $100,000 arts award

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Although I own several hundred books, I’ve mainly been a reader of non-fiction works (music, art, film etc…).  So, last year I decided to make a concerted effort to expand my fiction reading horizons.

One of the authors whose work I had enjoyed in the past was Thomas Pynchon. In the late ’70s and early ’80s I read his debut novel V. and the follow-up The Crying of Lot 49. Like many other people, I made and attempt to read his classic volume Gravity’s Rainbow but, ended up putting it back on the shelf with a bookmark still in it.

After re-reading The Crying of Lot 49, I decided to once again tackle Gravity’s Rainbow. This time I did manage to complete it while both enjoying it and being perplexed. That set me on the road to read even more of his work.

Having recently completed his epic (1,200 pages) Against the Day, I have read six of his eight novels (only Vineland and Mason & Dixon to go). I’ve also read his collection of short stories called Slow Learner.

While many of his works are definitely challenging, they do reward the reader for their efforts.
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So, I was quite pleased when the Washington Post published a story on March 20 that Pynchon was to be awarded $100,000 by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Of course, Thomas Pynchon is well known for not being known. That is… he is never photographed, interviewed or available for any type of affair normally attributed to an author hawking his wares.

It’s not expected that Pynchon will make any effort to collect his award in person. In 1973, he sent Professor Irwin Corey to accept the National Book Award in his absence. It will be interesting to see if he attempts a similar gesture this time around.