Mason & Dixon: A Novel
by Thomas Pynchon
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Book Summary Information
Author: Thomas PynchonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-01-03
ISBN: 0312423209
Number of pages: 784
Publisher: Picador
Book Reviews of Mason & Dixon: A Novel
Book Review: A Three Ring Circus
Summary: 4 Stars
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon are minor historical figures who identified a line of latitude that became the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania. On a basic level, MASON & DIXON is about the experiences of these surveyors before, during, and after this plum professional assignment.
In a way, this linear activity is the trunk of this novel's narrative tree. Meanwhile, the offshoot branches are the chapters (there are 78 in all). These are whatever Pnychon wants them to be. For example:
o Chapter 33 shows Mason, Dixon, and their crew on the job. This is a whistle-while-we work interval and captures Mason and Dixon as hard working professionals
o Chapter 35 has hilarious moments with pre-revolutionary Americans, just like their descendants, in impassioned discussion about real estate.
o Chapter 45 is a meditation on a mechanical duck (introduced in chapter 37), to which people attribute the inexplicable.
o Chapter 54 is a caricature of a romance novel, which turns disturbing and dark and then circles back to illuminate the melancholy Mason, who mourns his deceased wife.
Like every chapter in MASON & DIXON, each of these is very well done, with the Pynch often reaching out or doubling back to some narrative point that pulls everything together in the chapter's final lines. This is no-net fiction with no wasted words, even with the novel's quasi-eighteenth century style.
At the same time, this structure doesn't generate much narrative momentum. Instead, I read MASON & DIXON as interlocked stories, with certain chapters (those featuring Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, for example) adding very little--except wackiness--to the flow.
As a result, I'd say this book is more about the ingenuity and narrative skills of Pynchon than it is about his characters. Indeed, I was constantly aware of the Pynch, ringmaster extraordinaire, as he introduces the clowns, the lion tamer, the human cannonball, and so on. In MASON & DIXON, Pynchon is in the middle of everything. It's brilliant but highly author-centric.
Regardless, I eagerly await AGAINST THE DAY.
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