- Hardcover: 704 pages
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd; First edition (1 May 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 022405001X
- ISBN-13: 978-0224050012
- Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 16 x 5.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 489,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
A hugley ambitious, epic work from this most inventive and creative author
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were 18th-century British surveyors who ran the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland - the Mason-Dixon Line. This is their story, featuring Native Americans and frontier folk, ripped bodices, erotic and political conspiracies, naval warfare and caffeine abuse.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A mechanical duck, a talking dog, trigonometry, flying along lay-lines, an ear that hears all, real history and total fantasy all rolled into one. Written in an unusual style of almost phonetic 18th Century English, with totally irregular capitalisation, this is far from a light read in more ways than one as it is also over 700 pages long. Follow the adventures of Mason and Dixon as they carve a line across America and into history. Pynchon has mixed real events, folk-lore, real and imaginary people into a novel that I will have to read again to fully appreciate. Very very funny at times, totally perplexing at others but always crying out for you to read just one more page before you put it down for the night. If you are looking for a book that you actually have to read, rather than just look at the words, then this could just be it.
27 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
You want great writing? Pynchon can write. Sometimes jaw-dropping images and ideas stop you in your tracks, and make you put the book down for a bit just to take it in.
At other times, the writing is deceptively simple. Just read the first line of this book. "Snow-Balls have flown their Arcs, starr'd the Sides of Outbuildings, as of Cousins..." With a few simple words we can hear the thump of snowballs on wood, we know that we are talking about a large family ("Cousins", not "Children"), the tense tells us we are probably at the darkening end of a winter day, and in describing buildings and kids as equal targets, we have a gentle wit.
So far, so what, maybe? Well, call me a ponce but in the reference to arcs, we have a reference back to Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon's massive, crazy WWII novel loosely themed around the deadly parabola of the V2 rocket. In the reference to stars, we have a pointer in the direction of the theme to come in Mason & Dixon - astronomy and the cosmos, at the time of a shift in society's relationship to it. Mason and Dixon are brought together to carry out astronomical observations, and Mason uses the stars to navigate his line across America.
There you go, a couple of hundred words about the first line. You're in for a rich, astonishing read - just take your time.
At other times, the writing is deceptively simple. Just read the first line of this book. "Snow-Balls have flown their Arcs, starr'd the Sides of Outbuildings, as of Cousins..." With a few simple words we can hear the thump of snowballs on wood, we know that we are talking about a large family ("Cousins", not "Children"), the tense tells us we are probably at the darkening end of a winter day, and in describing buildings and kids as equal targets, we have a gentle wit.
So far, so what, maybe? Well, call me a ponce but in the reference to arcs, we have a reference back to Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon's massive, crazy WWII novel loosely themed around the deadly parabola of the V2 rocket. In the reference to stars, we have a pointer in the direction of the theme to come in Mason & Dixon - astronomy and the cosmos, at the time of a shift in society's relationship to it. Mason and Dixon are brought together to carry out astronomical observations, and Mason uses the stars to navigate his line across America.
There you go, a couple of hundred words about the first line. You're in for a rich, astonishing read - just take your time.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the search for the mythical "Great American Novel", too many are guilty of forming their idea of what this should be before reading any of the contending texts. Hence, the likes of Don De Lillo, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth and John Updike are those most often mentioned in this context. The assumption is that the beast should deal with twentieth century material - the America of skyscrapers, mass immigration, tenement buildings and baseball.
However, what better way of getting to the soul of a country than an exploration of the initial conditions at that nation's birth? Thomas Pynchon obviously agreed and came up with a kaleidoscopic overview of America in the womb.
Over 700 pages of the most impressive prose imaginable, Pynchon takes us on a tour of eighteenth century America, with doses of South Africa, the UK and St. Helena thrown in. But this isn't just an academic exercise designed to create dazzling prose, this is a touching novel with larger than life characters and a big heart - a human novel that emphasizes decency, open-mindedness and human frailty.
However, what better way of getting to the soul of a country than an exploration of the initial conditions at that nation's birth? Thomas Pynchon obviously agreed and came up with a kaleidoscopic overview of America in the womb.
Over 700 pages of the most impressive prose imaginable, Pynchon takes us on a tour of eighteenth century America, with doses of South Africa, the UK and St. Helena thrown in. But this isn't just an academic exercise designed to create dazzling prose, this is a touching novel with larger than life characters and a big heart - a human novel that emphasizes decency, open-mindedness and human frailty.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Morse and Dixon, er.... Lewis and Clarke, er....
Not much to add to the other reviews - they are spot-on, this is a wonderful book.
But just one point for you to ponder: did anybody else imagine John Thaw and Kevin... Read more
But just one point for you to ponder: did anybody else imagine John Thaw and Kevin... Read more
Published on 7 April 2010 by M. J. Mooney
Inimitable
To be fair, and perfectly honest, this is the best book ever written. Do yourself a favor and read this masterpiece of modern literature.
Published on 13 Oct 2006 by Piers Montague
An antidote to "Rainbow."
I cannot add much to the long and detailed analyses of this book written by other reviewers. Suffice to say that, when I heard it discussed ( B.B. Read more
Published on 12 July 2004 by "pavano"
Lost or Found
This book will reward you enormously if you stick with it. It is a book for anyone who has ever lost anything or found something. Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2003 by Mark Dwyer
A surprisingly accurate piece of "fiction"
I must confess my bias towards this book before I start. My name is Richard Dixon-Teasdale, my Grandmother was MH Dixon of Cockfield, County Durham. Read more
Published on 20 Dec 1999
A surprisingly accurate piece of "fiction"
I must confess my bias towards this book before I start. My name is Richard Dixon-Teasdale, my Grandmother was MH Dixon of Cockfield, County Durham. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 1999
Out Of The Nightmare Of History
Thomas Pynchon keeps demanding that we answer a few simple questions. What is it to be Human? And what have we made of our Humanity? Read more
Published on 2 July 1999
Out of The Nightmare of History
Thomas Pynchon keeps demanding that we answer a few simple questions. What is it to be Human? And what have we made of our Humanity? Read more
Published on 2 July 1999
a post- postmodern miracle of deliberate style
Pynchon's novel, like all his previous, deals with themes of paranoia, conspiricy and how, ultimately, we construct our own meaning (unfolding as we probe, because we probe) which... Read more
Published on 9 Jun 1999
if you'd like a journey
Pynchons latest is an elaborate trip into American history, written in a weird historical style, that's somehow very affecting, and, at times, sounds kind of contemporary. Read more
Published on 20 May 1999
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