Entropy

By Thomas Pynchon

1960

First Published

3.59

Average Rating

Number of Pages

0H29M

Audio Length

"Entropy" is extremely significant for students of Pynchon in that it provides us with an early peak into the development of the author's thought in terms of ideas which carry as themes in later works. Many concepts which play a key role throughout the bulk of Pynchon's fiction can be found here in various stages of infancy. For example, the notion of entropy itself is reexamined and more deeply probed in both V. and the Crying of Lot 49. Another example: Saul's wife is "bugged by the idea of computers acting like people:" Pynchon years later probes the boundaries of 'acting like' and 'being' through the development of his theme concerning the Animate vs. the Inanimate in V. In fact, in V. we find robots acting like people and vice versa: Miriam would be "bugged" to no end had she been included in this novel as well. Pynchon's discussion of Noise vs. Signal in terms of communication theory and information transfer strongly carries through to a number of his later works, most importantly The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow. Sandor Rojas' conditioned behavior when a woman walks into the room is set in motion by certain cues "like a contralto voice or a whiff of Arpege." He is described as salivating like Pavlov's dog: later, in Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon intimately works with Pavlovian notions and theories concerning conditioned behavior with regard to the major character of Tyrone Slothrop. Music, too, utilized as the general metaphor throughout "Entropy," constantly asserts itself as a recurring motif all the way across the spectrum of Pynchon's work, as does the setting used here in "Entropy:" ridiculously intense parties lasting not hours but days if not weeks and months, as is the case with, among others, Mondaugen's story in V.

Avg Rating

3.59

Number of Ratings

558

5 STARS

26%

4 STARS

27%

3 STARS

30%

2 STARS

13%

1 STARS

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Author

Thomas Pynchon

Author · 16 books

Novels, such as Gravity's Rainbow (1973), of American writer Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, often depict individuals, struggling against shadowy technocratic forces. People note dense and complex works of fiction of Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Junior, based in city of New York. Hailing from Long Island, Pynchon spent two years in the Navy of the United States and earned an English degree from Cornell University. After publishing several short stories in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he began composing the novels for which he is best known today: V. (1963), The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), Gravity's Rainbow (1973), Vineland (1990), Mason & Dixon (1997), and Against the Day (2006). Many readers and critics regard Pynchon as one of the finest contemporary authors. He is a MacArthur Fellow and a recipient of the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Both his fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, styles, and themes, including (but not limited to) the fields of history, science and mathematics. Pynchon is also known for his avoidance of personal publicity: people published ever very few photographs and since the 1960s circulated rumors about his location and identity.