Pynchon Wiki: V.
To become a contributor/editor, Create an account.
This is the Wiki for Thomas Pynchon's V.. Besides using the Alphabetical Index and the page-by-page annotation, you can also take a look at V. covers, read the reviews, or provide insights or observations.
Contents
How to Use this Wiki
Pagination: We are using the 492-page pagination of the original editions of V. and the 547-page later editions. There are other paginations out there (why do they do this???), but these are the two we've chosen. Page numbers referred to as xx/xx are indicating first the 492-page edition page number and, after the slash, the 547-page edition page number.
There are two major ways to use this wiki. The first is the V. Alphabetical Index, used to keep track of the myriad characters, real and imagined, as well as events, arcana, and lots of other stuff. The second is the Spoiler-Free Annotations by Page, which allows the reader to look up and contribute allusions and references while reading the book, in a convenient and spoiler-free manner. These two sections are so far almost entirely different, but we're working on integrating them.
Apart from those, it's up to you.
Alphabetical Index
Information on the characters, events, and everything else in V., organized alphabetically:
Page by Page Annotations
An alternate form of commentary on the text. The guiding principle of these annotations is to remain spoiler-free, so that readers can follow along without the fear that later parts of the book will be revealed.
Chapter 1 In which Benny Profane, a schlemihl and human yo-yo, gets to an apocheir 9/1 |
Chapter 2 The Whole Sick Crew 44/39 |
Chapter 3 In which Stencil, a quick-change artist, does eight impersonations 61/59 |
Chapter 4 In which Esther gets a nose job 95/97 |
---|---|---|---|
Chapter 5 In which Stencil nearly goes West with an alligator 111/115 |
Chapter 6 In which Profane returns to street level 134/141 |
Chapter 7 She hangs on the western wall 152/161 |
Chapter 8 In which Rachel gets her yo-yo back, Roony sings a song, and Stencil calls on Bloody Chiclitz 213/229 |
Chapter 9 Mondaugen's story 229/247 |
Chapter 10 In which various sets of young people get together 280/305 |
Chapter 11 Confessions of Fausto Maijstral 304/333 |
Chapter 12 In which things are not so amusing 347/385 |
Chapter 13 In which the yo-yo string is revealed as a state of mind 367/407 |
Chapter 14 V. in love 393/437 |
Chapter 15 Sahha 415/461 |
Chapter 16 Valletta 424/471 |
Epilogue, 1919 456/507 |
Pynchon Wiki Help and Contributor Guidelines
Click here for help with editing and creating pages.
We have a few conventions we ask that you follow:
- When creating a new page, first check to make sure a page/article about what you want to write about hasn't already been created, by checking the list of all Wiki pages on Pynchon Wiki. If a page already exists, please modify that one.
- To open a discussion on an individual listing of the Alpha Index or Page by Page Annotations, give it a name that identifies the alpha listing (eg [[Discussion Subject|'''DISCUSSION''']]) and notice that the visible name will be "DISCUSSION" in bold and full caps, so it stands out a bit.
External Links
- The Modern Word: V.
- The Fictional Woods - a Pynchon forum
- "Reading Pynchon Today" in the New Partisan
- "Pynchon From A to V" - Excellent!
- Pynchonoid Blog
- Pomona V. page
- Wikipedia: V.
- Glossary of German Military Terms
- Uncyclopedia's Entry for V. (Fantastic!)
- Chinese page on V. that includes the full text of the novel!
Featured Article
This Malta Independent article, by Noel Grima, published on April 13, 2014, explores Pynchon's relationship with Malta, which began in the 1950s when, in the Navy, he was stationed there. It also talks about modern Malta. Read the Malta Independent article...Pynchon's Malta This is a wonderful article by David J. Alworth, published in Post45. Excerpt:
- Here, site reading takes the form of an extended analysis of chapter 11 of Pynchon's novel, which, set in a ruined Malta, narrates the death of The Bad Priest, one of the many embodiments of V. in the story. A humanoid figure trapped at a bombsite, The Priest recalls the mannequins of "Operation Cue," while functioning most emphatically, I will argue, as a riposte to Norbert Wiener and the vision of the cybernetic being that he develops in The Human Use of Human Beings, a text Pynchon knew well.
A must-read for fans of V.. The article...
This article from the June 25, 2008 New York Times Travel section has a video of Malta's history, photographs, and is a pretty good read (but check out the comments!):Malta’s historical significance, however, outweighs its tiny weirdness. For 2,000 years, it was one of the most important strategic locations in the Mediterranean, a key to controlling naval traffic between the sea’s east and west. More recently, Malta has occupied a strategic spot in the American imagination, from The Maltese Falcon to Thomas Pynchon’s V. and Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, both of which had significant scenes set here. And Hollywood has gotten into Malta, too: Troy, Gladiator and even Popeye were shot here.
Read the New York Times article...
Image Gallery
Below are some of the images you will find on Pynchon Wiki.Malta-Independent-logo...
WikiAdmin
15:18, 14 April 2014
55 KB
Ornette2.jpg
WikiAdmin
20:11, 16 June 2013
7 KB
Botticelli-birth-venus...
WikiAdmin
11:43, 14 July 2012
192 KB
Savonarola title-page...
WikiAdmin
11:38, 14 July 2012
42 KB
Chessie cropped.jpg
WikiAdmin
18:43, 24 June 2012
25 KB
Chessie.jpg
WikiAdmin
18:41, 24 June 2012
85 KB
Logo NYT.gif
WikiAdmin
15:13, 14 July 2008
2 KB
MaltaVallettaStradaStr...
Ievans
14:10, 28 April 2008
344 KB
Birthofvenus.jpg
WikiAdmin
10:54, 31 December 2007
103 KB
Ismar-david.jpg
WikiAdmin
10:46, 31 December 2007
15 KB
Snow-shroud.jpg
WikiAdmin
13:35, 10 December 2007
39 KB
Packard-Patrician-1954...
WikiAdmin
13:34, 10 December 2007
23 KB
Fuzzy-Wuzzy Hadendoa-W...
WikiAdmin
14:48, 19 May 2007
26 KB
Lothar von Trotha.jpg
WikiAdmin
22:10, 17 May 2007
56 KB
Hendrik-Witbooi.jpg
WikiAdmin
22:06, 17 May 2007
46 KB
Theodor-Leutwein.jpg
WikiAdmin
21:58, 17 May 2007
14 KB
Quinze-chair.jpg
WikiAdmin
23:58, 16 May 2007
6 KB
Rossetti.jpg
WikiAdmin
23:53, 16 May 2007
18 KB
La-Bella-Mano.jpg
WikiAdmin
21:06, 16 May 2007
26 KB
Shepheards-Hotel2.jpg
WikiAdmin
20:34, 16 May 2007
92 KB
Shepheards-Hotel.jpg
WikiAdmin
20:19, 16 May 2007
40 KB
Zenobia.jpg
WikiAdmin
17:04, 13 May 2007
32 KB
Hedy-Lamarr.jpg
WikiAdmin
09:49, 13 May 2007
33 KB
Mahahero.jpg
WikiAdmin
08:14, 13 May 2007
36 KB
Monk-Gottlieb.jpg
WikiAdmin
16:46, 12 May 2007
24 KB
Miraculousmedalapparit...
WikiAdmin
16:20, 12 May 2007
16 KB
Lucretius.jpg
WikiAdmin
15:52, 12 May 2007
24 KB
Search-for-bridey-murp...
WikiAdmin
10:10, 12 May 2007
33 KB
Bridey-murphy.jpg
WikiAdmin
09:55, 12 May 2007
13 KB
Savonarola.jpg
WikiAdmin
09:35, 12 May 2007
46 KB
Baedeker-egypt.jpg
WikiAdmin
09:23, 12 May 2007
37 KB
Thelma-schoonmaker.jpg
WikiAdmin
08:32, 12 May 2007
24 KB
Sudwest-map.gif
WikiAdmin
07:54, 11 May 2007
34 KB
Machiavelli.jpg
WikiAdmin
23:25, 10 May 2007
16 KB
Malta-map.gif
WikiAdmin
22:12, 9 May 2007
53 KB
Wideawake-hat.gif
WikiAdmin
07:52, 9 May 2007
4 KB
Henry Adams.jpg
WikiAdmin
11:38, 6 May 2007
16 KB
Birth of venus sm.jpg
WikiAdmin
10:38, 6 May 2007
48 KB
Ghallis-Tower.jpg
WikiAdmin
10:10, 6 May 2007
33 KB
Pynchon-simpsons.jpg
WikiAdmin
07:16, 6 May 2007
26 KB
Killroy.gif
WikiAdmin
23:43, 5 May 2007
4 KB
V cover2 sm.jpg
WikiAdmin
23:03, 5 May 2007
17 KB
V cover sm.jpg
WikiAdmin
17:22, 5 May 2007
17 KB