History Literature / TheCryingOfLot49

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: A lot of this is more on the part of the characters than Pynchon himself (who usually knows his stuff) and the basic errors in facts probably indicate their loose grasp on history. Mike Fallopian for instance notes that the Russian Tsar who abolished serfdom (and according to him, attacked Peter Pinguid to prevent France and England intervening on behalf of the South) is Nicholas II. The Tsar is actually Alexander II, while Nicholas II was the last tsar in Russian history, executed alongside his family by the Bolshevik regime at Yekaterinaburg.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: [[Theatre/OedipusTheKing Oedipa]] Maas, Dr. Hilarius, Genghis Cohen, Mike Fallopian, and a radio station called [[SdrawkcabName KCUF]].

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Very small compared to Pynchon's other work, however.

->“I came,” she said, “hoping you could talk me out of a fantasy.”

->“Cherish it!” cried Hilarius, fiercely. “What else do any of you have? Hold it tightly by its little tentacle, don’t let the Freudians coax it away or the pharmacists poison it out of you. Whatever it is, hold it dear, for when you lose it you go over by that much to the others. You begin to cease to be.”

''The Crying of Lot 49'' is a 1966 novel (or perhaps novella) by Creator/ThomasPynchon. It is about a woman named Oedipa Maas who unravels the rivalry between two mail distribution companies, Trystero and Thurn und Taxis. Possibly. Or maybe it’s an elaborate prank. [[MindScrew Or maybe she is actually hallucinating it all.]]

Though it is significantly shorter than the rest of Pynchon’s novels (especially ''Literature/AgainstTheDay'' and ''Literature/MasonAndDixon''), it has become one of Pynchon’s most popular books, after ''Literature/GravitysRainbow'' and possibly ''Literature/{{V}}'' Time magazine included it in its “TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005”.

Pynchon’s style evolve further in ''Lot 49'' after ''V.'', which is straightforward and basic in comparison. The novel can also be seen as a bridge between Modernism and {{Postmodernism}}, which will be fully engaged in ''Gravity’s Rainbow''.

Not to be confused with “[[Literature/LotNo249 Lot No. 249]]”, a {{Mummy}} horror story by Franchise/SherlockHolmes creator Sir Creator/ArthurConanDoyle.

* BloodyHilarious: ''The Courier’s Tragedy'', a (fictional) Jacobean revenge play that features in Chapter 3.

* FunWithAcronyms: '''D'''on’t '''E'''ver '''A'''ntagonize '''T'''he '''H'''orn, '''W'''e '''A'''wait '''S'''ilent '''T'''ristero’s '''E'''mpire, etc.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Several real people, such as William of Orange, appear in Trystero’s backstory.

* ItWasHereISwear: Evidence of Trystero’s activities often swiftly vanishes when Oedipa returns to them.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Very small compared to Pynchon’s other work, however.
* MagicalRealism: Once the (possibly functional) Maxwell’s demon device shows up the novel moves firmly into this territory.
* MeaningfulName: Deliberately subverted at multiple points. Oepida fails to solve a riddle and never commits incest, Mr. Thoth isn’t especially wise, and Genghis Cohen is not a barbarian overlord. Dr. Hilarius, however, is pretty funny.
* MindScrew: It wasn’t clear what is real and what is not.

* NoEnding: Because it’s a Pynchon novel. [[spoiler:The novel ends just as Oedipa is making headway into her investigation, without telling us what she finds.]]

* PostModernism: More strictly than ''V.'' It can be seen as a bridge between Modernism and {{Postmodernism}}, which will be fully engaged in ''Gravity’s Rainbow''.

* ShoutOut: When Serge of The Paranoids loses his 16-year old girlfriend to a middle-aged man, he writes a song that namechecks [[Literature/{{Lolita}} Humbert Humbert]]. As you would expect from a Pynchon novel, there are dozens of others. He then contemplates hanging around playgrounds to pick up a 8-year-old girlfriend, since his own was stolen by a man twice her age. It also contains an early usage of the term “nymphet”, which might have helped popularize it. Now you could tell that Pynchon was Nabokov’s student at Cornell University (ironically, Nabokov himself didn’t remember him at all).
* ShowWithinAShow: ''The Courier’s Tragedy'', a fictional Jacobean revenge play.
* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: It’s never explained whether the events of the novel are really happening, or if it's all a big practical joke carried out by Pierce Inverarity, or if Oedipa is simply going mad. Oedipa herself acknowledges that all of these are eminently plausible.

%% * UnfortunateName:
%% ** Mike Fallopian
%% ** Metzger
%% ** Dr. Hilarious

* TheReveal: Which makes it ''even worse'' for the reader. We get to know what [[TitleDrop the 49th lot]] is... and pretty much nothing else.

** [[spoiler:The final moments of the novel cement this, with it ending just before the title event, the Crying of Lot 49, is to begin, an event that promises to provide some sort of answer to the all of the questions that the novel holds. The reader is left without any answer in its wake.]]

* ShoutOut: When Serge of The Paranoids loses his 16-year old girlfriend to a middle-aged man, he writes a song that namechecks [[Literature/{{Lolita}} Humbert Humbert]]. As you would expect from a Pynchon novel, there are dozens of others.He then contemplates hanging around playgrounds to pick up a 8-year-old girlfriend, since his own was stolen by a man twice her age. It also contains an early usage of the term “nymphet”, which might have helped popularize it. Now you could tell that Pynchon was Nabokov’s student at Cornell University (ironically, Nabokov himself didn’t remember him at all).

* ContinuityNod: Bloody Chiclitz and the Yoyodyne company from ''V.'' appears in this.

[[caption-width-right:299:some caption text]]

* UnfortunateName: Mike Fallopian, Metzger, Dr. Hilarious and the likes.

%%* UnfortunateName

* {{Mockspiracy}}: Trystero may be a delusion of Oedipa or an elaborate practival hoke by her deceased husband. Or it may be real after all.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Very small compared to Pynchon’s other work.

Pynchon’s style evolve further in ''Lot 49'' after ''V.'', which is straightforward and basic in comparison. The novel can also be seen as a bridge between Modernism and {{Postmodernism}}, which will be fully explore in ''Gravity’s Rainbow''.

* PostModernism: More strictly than ''V.'' It can be seen as a bridge between Modernism and {{Postmodernism}}, which will be fully explore in ''Gravity’s Rainbow''.

%%* MindScrew

%%* PosthumousCharacter: Pierce Inverarity.

%%* TitleDrop: The very last words of the novella.

%%* PostModernism: More strictly than ''V.''