Getting the Hang

After class discussion, I was reading being aware of the paranoid moments. I didn’t expect to understand more the satire in the book, and be able to enjoy more Thomas’s dark humor. Having clear what is a joke and what is not, as a reader you can enjoy more the unbelievable scenes there are, and how the characters worry about everything. In the moment the reader gets the hang of it, it’s a complete joke, and you can relax and enjoy the most hilarious story.

It was when I read, “ ‘Yes,” lied Oedipa, to see where it would take them.” (The Crying of Lot 49. Pg.67) That I noticed how the author uses an enormous amount of details that have nothing to do with the plot. “ Nobody paid any attention to them: the air conditioning hummed on, IBM typewriters chiggered away, swivel chairs squeaked, fat reference manuals were slammed shut, rattling blueprints folded and refolded, while high overhead the long silent fluorescent bulbs glared merrily; all with Yoyodyne was normal.” (69) Demonstrates how the scared characters look at everything in a suspicious way even though everything is normal.

This writing technique can be transferred to film by taking shots of a great deal of normal thoughts, followed with a suspicious facial expression or silence from the characters. In the movie, Burn After Reading, a lot of the plot is similar to the book, since the movie is based on a small problem, and every character assumes is a governmental topic secret issue. Again, in the movie normal movements are taken as a persecution by the characters, so the film focuses a lot in normal scenarios.

Having the hang of The Crying of Lot 49 I can tell future readers to take this book as a joke. Enjoy it instead of looking a meaning for everything. In my case, I’m understanding it more by imagining everything as a movie that focuses in normal things.