The introduction is definitely an important part of the Pynchon canon, and the stories themselves, though Pynchon discounts them as juvenilia, are pretty good in their own right. "The Small Rain" is the weakest of the lot, and oddly the most fascinating part is the one Pynchon is most ashamed of; the sex scene between Levine and the country girl may reek of the sort of flowery prose belonging to many an amateur author, but it hints at the greatest to come in V. and GR. "Low-lands" is good as a first look at the classic Pynchon character, Pig Bodine, and it is notable for the proto-Slothrop-ness of Dennis Flange, who would rather drink with his buddies and have sex with a gypsy girl than try to have a serious relationship with his wife. "Entropy" + "Under the Rose" are essentially proto-V. ("Entropy" being prototype for the Profane side of the novel, and "Under the Rose" evolving later into one of Stencil's stories), and that novel is of course superior to these two early tales, but as with the first two in this collection, they are great as early hints at what will be to come in Pynchon's career. The collection's real highlight (after the introduction) is "The Secret Integration," perhaps Pynchon's most blatant social commentary, but an excellent coming-of-age tale, with a great Pynchonian twist

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.

The stories are a bit up and down, with the first one being the most forgettable, although it has some particularly vivid writing about some very disturbing sights and smells. The second story, Low Lands, is a surreal tale of a man who loses his wife and finds himself in a junkyard with friends and an unexpected visitor, and I quite enjoyed it. Entropy was cool, and I loved the ending, though I feel like most of it flew way over my head. And, Under the Rose will be familiar to readers of V, as it's an early version of what would soon become chapter 3 of that novel.

The real heart of this book, though, and the reason I'm giving an otherwise up-and-down collection of early stories a 5 star rating (along with the introduction, a rare treat of the man himself talking about writing, and just about the 50s and 60s, in general) is the final story, The Secret Integration. This is a young Pynchon dealing with Jim Crow and he pulls it off brilliantly. The best character work by far in the whole collection, these kids seem to me very similar to the Chums of Chance, who wouldn't make their debut for another 40 years in Against the Day. Though maybe I'm just forcing the connection, as I'm an obsessive fan of that novel. Either way, these kids are real in a way that few of the other characters are in the earlier stories. The ending is truly stellar. Top notch Pynchon, IMHO.

If you've been putting this collection off because you think it's only for the hardcore completists, as I had been doing for years now, don't. If you've read a novel or two of his and you're a fan, go for it.

En "Slow Learner" de Thomas Pynchon tenemos los relatos de un universitario aprendiendo, lentamente, a escribir, con todos sus defectos y virtudes, empezando con un prólogo maravilloso escrito por el propio escritor en el que desvela todo lo que no le gusta de la forma en que escribía al principio, y lo poco que le gusta también, desde luego. Aún así cada relato es una muestra embrionaria del talento monstruoso de un escritor sin igual tratando temas de todo tipo, desde la muerte y sus modos de afrontarla al racismo y pasando por la entropía ("He found in entropy or the measure of disorganization for a closed system an adequate metaphor to apply to certain plenomena in his own world") y una fabulosa historia de espías a lo John Le Carré. Todos los cuentos son buenos y algunos son simplemente magistrales como. Aquí tenemos lo primero que escribió el maestro y sus temas, su estilo, su forma de escribir están aquí para que empecemos a disfrutarlos desde ya.