3.5

A collection of 5 short stories from the late 50's early 60's. While they are early Pynchon where Pynchon was still finding his voice, they are all really enjoyable, especially the last two stories. The first 3, again while they are enjoyable do seem a little bit forced or rushed. The 4th story "under the rose" a weird spy thriller is more alive character wise and plot wise and has a hard connection to his first novel "V" which is cool. The last story "The Secret Integration" is even better, more mature, well written, funny and sad at the same time and lots to think about.

Five stars for the intro, and three for the stories.

5 stories ranging between 3 and 5 so 4 is the score --- ...struggle down the long, inexhaustible network of some arithmetic problem where each step led to a dozen new ones. Nothing ever seemed to change; no "objectives" were taken that didn't create a need to start thinking about new ones, so that soon the old ones were forgotten and let slip by default back into the hands of grownups or into a public no-man's land again, and you would be back where you'd started.

Indeed, a 'slow learner'. The stories get better as one goes along. The earliest ones read more like juvenalia (most were published while he was at Cornell), instead of work that you'd want the general public to read.

However, the introduction Pynchon writes is demure, not quite self-hating but certainly self-questioning the younger version of himself. The intro gives you a bit of insight into mistakes, mishandlings, etc of subject matter, characterization, accent, detail, and even writing theory. For that and the showcase of 'examples' of these mistakes, like a book of case studies, Slow Learner is a curious book. Which is unsurprising from this author.

Also, this book might be proof that Pynchon has read Djuna Barnes's Nightwood, as I expected!!!

Slow Learner shows Thomas Pynchon’s development as a writer from his earliest short story “The Small Rain” up to “The Secret Integration,” published just after The Crying of Lot 49. For Pynchon obsessives, the introduction, written by Pynchon in 1984 during the 17 year break between Gravity’s Rainbow and Vineland, provides an essential window into the mind of the author as the only sustained commentary from Pynchon on his own writing and background.

As the title of the collection indicates, Pynchon seems embarrassed by the awkwardness and immaturity of these early works, with the exception of “The Secret Integration.” Most of the stories overlap thematically and stylistically with V. and The Crying of Lot 49, especially “Under the Rose” which was originally published on its own but later included as a chapter in V. “The Secret Integration” stands alone as an unflinching look at racism in 1960’s suburban America. This story showcases the maturity and moral clarity that characterizes Pynchon’s work that came after. I recommend this collection for fans of Pynchon or anyone interested in the craft of writing.

This book is totally cool because it's a collection of  Pynchon's early writings, which are neat. What's really great though is that the introduction to the book was written by  Pynchon years and years later, and it's just him saying how shitty of a writer he used to be. Yes yes, Thomas Pynchon, one of the literary geniuses of our time, discussing how he used to suck. Incredible.

Some tiresome heavy-handed symbolism and quite a few contrived narrative choices here and there, thus leading to an overall inconsistent and flawed collection of short stories, but even when Pynchon's juvenile impulses are at their worst, he still manages to conjure up vivid epiphanies that leave one aghast, as if consumed with some rare, hallowed knowledge. However, in order to experience this, do yourself a favour and leave his renowned autobiographical introduction for last—as tempting it may be to go through the man's sole direct account of his own artistic process and influences, his merciless, coruscating self-ridiculing remarks about his early prose would probably just lead you to believe that these stories should have never seen the light of the day, let alone be published under the author's real moniker.

Really a fascinating glimpse into a portrait of the artist as a young, furiously creative and unrestrained man, which contains—in nuce—all his fixations and fetishes, together with a whimsical preoccupation for zany character names (Meatball Mulligan might just be my very favourite). The Secret Integration, in particular, might feature some of Pynchon's most candid, unexpectedly fragile and heart-rending writing yet.

Pynchon's short stories are all good and a couple of them are great, but the introduction is the prime attraction here . . . one of the few times the author has ever written critically about his own work. In general, the stories improve over the years between the writing of "The Small Rain" and "The Secret Integration," each better than the preceding one. "Under the Rose" is like the distilled essence of the fin de siecle sections of V, as close to a pulp thriller as Pynchon would write until Against the Day. The star for me here though is "The Secret Integration," which is like a glimpse of a path not taken. Originally published in the Saturday Evening Post, a story of small town boys, Pynchon veers close to the twisted side of Bradbury country here or maybe evokes a dark foreshadowing of Daniel Pinkwater's books. The sad thing about the story is that, in all likelihood, only Pynchon completists ever read it, when it might appeal most to those readers who don't like Pynchon's other work.

I got this several years ago when I was first introduced to Pynchon. Every once and a while I'd read parts of a story never really interested in continuing after a page or two. Really what I liked about this was his opening essay about his development as a writer. I finally sat down and reread the introduction and the story "Entropy" and thought I'd just let the book go. My original goal was to read some of Pynchons works before I tried my hand at GR, AtD or M&D. Well this book was forgotten under my bookshelf and quite frankly I'm not reading this as a morale boost before reading something I thought would be extremely intimidating. Slow learners really speaks to my growth as a reader. Someone thats more confident trying books that may be out of his comfort zone. I don't feel like I need it.

But thats completely beyond the point. This is a review of Slow Learners.... Slow learners is really for the dedicated. More interesting for seeing what Pynchon was like and how he felt rather than for the stories themselves. Just read his introduction online and spend the money on another one of his books

I recently felt motivated to actually read this thing cover to cover. It sort of confirmed my opinion that Pynchon's ideal format is the novel. While they aren't poorly written, these stories will probably disappoint anyone who has read one of his more epic novels. Most of the endings seem abrupt, and Pynchon has always seemed like an elaborate architect when it comes to storytelling, so I often felt like the pace was too fast and the length insufficient.

His rather self-deprecatory introduction on the other hand, is priceless. Which makes me feel alright about treating these stories harshly. In it, Pynchon goes on about how failed most of these stories seem in retrospect. He speaks of mistakes such as starting a story with an over-arching concept or theoretical idea in mind (i.e. Entropy), and forcing the plot and characters to adhere to it like fictional slaves. Also mentioned is his case of poor ear for dialogue, which I've always noticed. The more disconcerting thing to read about is the artistic debt that he seems to feel for most beat literature, which I can see to an extent, it's just that I think he is probably the last writer that should give that movement too much credit.

This is basically V.-era Pynchon, and nothing too surprising. Themes of racism, imperialism, paranoia, left vs. right, and counterculture heroes abound. Many passages are laugh-out-loud funny, which is Pynchon's most charming constant as a writer. Oddly enough, I enjoyed the Secret Integration the most; a story about a precocious twelve year old, who basically reads like a merry prankster with a degree from MIT. I wouldn't recommend this as an introductory read for those interested in Pynchon. In retrospect (and I'm only about twenty pages into it), I would recommend V. as the most logical starting point. All in all, these pieces just remind me once again, of how integral Pynchon's imperfections are to his accomplishments in the realm of twentieth-century fiction.

I think the stories are better then the intro, that's just me