Throughout the years I've heard so much about the genius of Pynchon so I was excited about finally reading one of his books. After 100 pages of this book, with almost a 1,000 more to go, I was really starting to wonder what all this talk of genius was all about. I was finding the novel to be incomprehensible gibberish. Part of the problem was that the characters weren't introduced. They were merely tossed into the plot as if the reader already knew all about them. Another problem was the long drawn out sentences and paragraphs. I made a conscious effort to slow down my reading pace and let the words sink in . This helped quite a bit and soon after this I started to get a feel for the characters and at about page 200 I finally started to feel myself getting engrossed in the novel.After spending a month in the world of the Traverse brothers and company I'm definitely going to miss them, but overall I'd say reading the book was more work than a piece of fiction should be. ( )

Against the Day is a completely unique novel - both in its ambition and its ability to frustrate the reader. If you don't like Pynchon's tics (jokey character names, bantering inauthentic dialogue, narrative dead ends), then abandon hope all ye who enter. If you are willing to devote a slice of your remaining life to 1085 pages of this, you need to just buckle up and enjoy the ride.

I haven't read any other criticism of this novel yet. Personally, I don't have a clear sense of what Pynchon is on about here. At first I thought he was playing with genre - ATD includes steampunk, historical fiction, Western, adventure, noir, detective, etc. The large swath of the story that takes place in Europe during the lead up to World War 1 seems too baggy and incoherent, with whole sections (in Venice and Bulgaria, for example) that read like travelogue more than narrative fiction. My peak frustration came in the Bulgarian section, wherein Cyprian Latewood joins a nunnery. What is the relevance of Cyprian to the story? He is a secondary character that becomes central and then reverts to the background. There are many many characters like this, who pop out of the woodwork. I was tempted at some points to create a spreadsheet of characters, just to keep them straight.

ATD exemplifies the problem I have with a lot of postmodern fiction. In the end, the idea of a fragmented narrative that reflects the way life really unfolds, seems to make sense. In practice, it feels self indulgent. Pynchon's attitude seems to be that "life is long and confusing, so I will therefore write a long and confusing novel." It doesn't work as satire, because its narrative threads are so diffuse and meandering that any insight on human nature or society is lost. ( )

El mineral transparente conocido como espato de Islandia posee la curiosa propiedad óptica de la doble refracción: duplica en paralelo la imagen del objeto que se mira a través de él. Si se contemplara la Tierra por una lámina de ese espato, la imagen duplicada no sería exactamente la esperada.

No me gusta mucho el título en español, algo se pierde en la traducción del original "Against the Day", pero éste es un libro monumental, en la acepción completa de la palabra. Decenas de tramas y personajes se cruzan de maneras imprevisibles, la trama salta y las escenas se quiebran pero a la vez mantiene un curso lineal y da una visión que intenta ser completa del mundo previo, durante y tras la I Guerra Mundial.

Es de lectura obligada para cualquier escritor que quiera apuntar a hacer unanovela total, un monstruo de muchas cabezas que se coma a los lectores menos preparados, pero que quienes disfrutan de la prosa, las técnicas de narración menos comunes, y la enorme colección de datos históricos (y chistes de cultura popular muy bien disimulados) que conforman este tapiz, no podrán dejar pasar.

Definitivamente no decepciona. Si bien carece de un cierre argumental (son un conjunto de cierres temáticos/epocales) definitivo, el esfuerzo imaginativo y el periplo de sus múltiples personajes lo hacen de lectura indispensable, si bien algunos pueden hallarlo denso por momentos. Es un libro para disfrutar con tiempo, leyéndolo por las noches un par de páginas a la vez, disfrutándolo como un buen coñac (y si se lo acompaña con uno, mejor). ( )

«Questo romanzo è ambientato negli anni che vanno dal 1893 all'immediato primo dopoguerra. E si muove tra la Chicago dell'Esposizione Mondiale, Londra, Gottinga, Venezia, la Siberia, il Messico della rivoluzione, Hollywood e anche alcuni luoghi che non si trovano sulle mappe. I personaggi sono anarchici, aviatori, avventurieri, magnati, tossici, innocenti e decadenti, scienziati pazzi, sciamani, spie e killer. Fanno anche una fugace apparizione speciale Nikola Tesla, Bela Lugosi e Groucho Marx. Tutti abitano un'era in cui domina l'incertezza, e cercano in qualche modo di raccappezzarsi nelle proprie vite. A volte riuscendoci a volte no. L'autore del libro intanto si comporta come suo solito. Ogni tanto fa cantare loro all'improvviso canzoni stupide, li infila in situazioni promiscue e fa accadere eventi improbabili. Descrivendo il mondo non così com'è ma come potrebbe essere con appena qualche ritocco. Che secondo alcuni è uno degli scopi principali della letteratura. Ma lasciamo che siano i lettori, ormai avvisati, a giudicare. Buona fortuna». (Thomas Pynchon)