V. is a novel written by Thomas Pynchon. Released in 1963, it is Pynchon's debut novel and tells of two men looking for a mysterious woman known to them only as V.
Characters[]
- Benny Profane - a former marine
- Rachel Owlglass - Benny's old flame, with whom he moves back in with
- Herbert Stencil - a "short-change artist" who speaks about himself in the third person
- V. (or Victoria Manganese, Victoria Wren, and Vera Merowing) - a mysterious woman with cybernetic augmentations. V. is
- Pig Bodine - served on the same ship as Benny and becomes a member of the "Whole Sick Crew"
- Paola Maijstral - a Maltese barmaid and former wife of Bodine's boatswain
- Roony Winsome - one of Rachel's neighbours
- Mafia Winsome - Roony's wife, a racist author and parody of Ayn Rand
- Esther Harvitz - Rachel's longtime Jewish roommate
- Evan Godolphin - a dentist and World War I veteran, served as V.'s handler
- Kurt Mondaugen - a German engineer
- Weissman - a German colonel encountered by Mondaugen
- Fausto Maijstral - Paola's father, a Maltese poet
- Hugh Godolphin - Evan's father, has ties to the British Secret Service
- Shale Schoenmaker - a New York plastic surgeon and World War I veteran
- Ploy - a short marine with a huge Napoleon complex
- Angel Mendoza - an alligator-hunter
- Josefina "Fina" Mendoza - Kook's sister, a spiritual figure for a gang
- Kook Mendoza - Fina's brother
- Dewey Gland - a "long, sad-looking rebel" of a marine
- Morris Teflon - one of Bodine's friends
- Pappy Hob - Paola's husband, a crewman on Benny and Pig's ship
- McClintic Sphere - a jazz musician said to be the reincarnation of Charlie Parker
- Da Conho - a Brazilian Zionist that Benny worked for in 1954
Publisher's summary[]
This will almost certainly be the most original novel published in 1963. It is a wild, macabre tale of the twentieth century and of two men. One of them is looking for something he has lost; the other never had much to lose and so isn't looking for it. But no two readers will agree about this book because, like life itself, it is big, mysterious, and absolutely fascinating.
Thomas Pynchon's creative imagination appears to be boundless. Set in various and wonderful places (New York, Alexandria, Cairo, Paris, Florence, Malta, Africa), peopled with vivid characters, V. is indescribably original. In a madcap, sometimes sad, frequently hilarious way, it captures the ruthlessness and multiplicity of the modern world. Incident piles on incident until, in what amounts almost to a revelation, the pattern of the book and the century it describes emerge with a terrible beauty.
As for "V.," the unknown lady of the title, she is somebody's mother, somebody's mistress, and a world gone mad with despair. Neither the reader nor the American novel will remain unchallenged and unchanged by this astonishing book.
Plot[]
Chapter One: In which Benny Profane, a schlemihl and human yo-yo, gets to an apocheir[]
During Christmas of 1955, Benny Profane (who has been recently discharged from the Navy) visits a Navy bar in Norfolk, Virginia called the Sailor's Grave. He finds that a group of sailors have already started a fight. Benny is able to reconnect with a fellow marine named Pig Bodine and leaves with him and a barmaid named Paola as the police descend on the bar. The three of them briefly visit the home of one of Pig's friends before they all visit Pig's apartment. The next day, Benny finds Pig sitting on a Harley-Davidson. This reminds him of an old flame named Rachel who also rode a Harley-Davidson.
Bodine and Benny attend a New Years' party on a ship called the Susanna Scaffoldi alongside various other soldiers from their old ship which ends with the police descending on the ship. The next day, Benny wakes up on the ship and (after trashing it), Benny travels back to Norfolk - where he is called by Rachel. Benny then travels to New York and briefly stays at a flophouse before meeting a family of Puerto Rican immigrants named the Mendozas and lodging with them. While lodging with them, Benny gets a job hunting alligators in New York's sewers.
Chapter Two: The Whole Sick Crew and Chapter Three: In which Stencil, a quick-change artist, does eight impersonations[]
While Benny lives with the Mendozas, Rachel Owlglass lodges with a Jewish woman named Esther Harvitz. After paying off a debt owed by Esther to a plastic surgeon (and arguing with the man), Rachel attends a party alongside a group of lazy pseudo-Bohemians known as the "Whole Sick Crew" and a somewhat old man known as Herbert Stencil. Stencil has family ties to various mysterious figures and has been ruminating on a mysterious woman known to his father as "V." for decades. While thinking over his mysterious ties and V., Stencil reminisces on how one of these figures (a man named Eric Bongo-Shaftsbury) murdered another in Egypt. The eight events remembered by Stencil tie together with this murder but also tie together with a young woman named Victoria Wren, the first "incarnation" of V.
Chapter Four: In which Esther gets a nose job[]
Unbeknownst to Rachel, Esther and her plastic surgeon Schoenmaker (who was inspired to become a plastic surgeon after witnessing a pilot in World War I named Evan Godolphin's plane crash and subsequent plastic surgery) are in love. The two were introduced by Stencil (who may have his own reasons for keeping an eye on Schoenmaker, as he believes that the plastic surgeon could help him with his quest for V.). Once Esther has her nose job, she is awake (though heavily sedated) during the whole procedure - which makes her slightly more outgoing. Shortly after the procedure, Esther and Schoenmaker make love for the first time.
Chapter Five: In which Stencil nearly goes west with an alligator[]
While down in the sewers hunting an alligator alongside Angel Mendoza (who is quickly sidetracked by fighting with a foreman), Benny runs into the domain of a somewhat mythical figure known as Father Fairing. Though long-dead, Fairing's tales of trying to convert mice to the armies of Jesus (believing that one day, they would replace humanity) are well-remembered by the alligator-hunters. While in this domain, Benny shoots his alligator but also accidentally shoots Stencil in the rear. Stencil was in the tunnels looking for leads on V., as Father Fairing's journals mention a being (possibly a mouse, possibly a human woman) named Veronica - or simply V. After escaping the sewers, Stencil is picked up by the Whole Sick Crew.
Chapter Six: In which Profane returns to street level[]
While staying with the Mendozas, Benny and Josephina begin to know each other. Fina attempts to seduce Benny but he refuses her advances. Benny also learns that Fina is something of a Joan of Arc for a local gang. Fina is able to stop one fight between her gang and another gang (which is watched by Benny) but is unable to stop another of these fights. Benny arrives on the scene to find Fina lying naked and smiling, possibly having been involved in a gangbang.
Chapter Seven: She hangs on the western wall[]
Presumably after speaking with Schoenmaker, Stencil is able to track down Evan Godolphin - who has become a dentist. With some cajoling, Stencil is able to convince Godolphin to speak to him about V. While he was a young man (this taking place in 1899), Evan's father Hugh (an explorer with ties to England's Foreign Ministry) was involved in a conspiracy revolving around a mysterious location known as "Vheissu" (which might be a codeword for Vesuvius). Hugh summoned his son to Florence - where the two crossed paths with Victoria Wren, a group of mafiosi and Machiavellian revolutionaries trying to steal the Birth of Venus, and the Venezuelan consulate.
Chapter Eight: In which Rachel gets her yo-yo back, Roony sings a song, and Stencil calls on Bloody Chiclitz and Chapter Nine: Mondaugen's story[]
Shortly after leaving the Mendozas, Benny visits a job agency in Brooklyn (where Rachel is working as a secretary) and gets a job at Anthroresearch Associates, working for one Oley Burgomask. Shortly after getting this job, Benny moves in with Rachel. While all this is going on, Stencil finds an employee of Yoyodyne and former engineer at Peenemünde named Kurt Mondaugen and interrogates him.
In 1922, Mondaugen was a young engineer sent to the German territories in Southern Africa to investigate unusual radio anomalies called "sferics". While there, a local uprising forced Mondaugen to shelter at the mansion of a colonist named Foppl as it was "besieged" by natives. While there, Mondaugen encountered a woman named Vera Merowing alongside Hugh Godolphin and a German colonel named Weissman who (after Mondaugen told him that the sferics were part of a code) stole his recordings of sferics while crossdressing. Along with these mysterious personages, Mondaugen had various dreams (or perhaps visions) of being an extremely cruel slavedriver while suffering from scurvy before the siege ended.
Chapter Ten: In which various sets of young people get together and Chapter Eleven: Confessions of Fausto Maijstral[]
While Benny works at Anthroresearch and converses with some of the crash test dummies they make, a saxophone player named McClintic Sphere who has ties to the Whole Sick Crew starts a relationship with a prostitute. While Pig Bodine and Roony Winsome fight over the affections of Roony's wife, Mafia tries to start an affair with Benny - something the schleiml refuses to do. Esther and Shale have an on-and-off relationship, effectively yo-yoing. As all this is going on, Paola gives Stencil a paper written by her father dubbed "Confessions of Fausto Maijstral".
During the Italian bombing of Malta during World War II, the titular poet (who views himself in several incarnations) fathered a girl named Paola (whom he is writing his Confessions to) with a woman named Eleana. Both Eleana and her lover lived in the shadow of two priests - one Father Avalanche (who advised Eleana to get an abortion) and a figure named the "Bad Priest" - a mysterious priest who advised the children of Malta to become either nuns or warriors. During a bomb blast (which came shortly after the blast which killed Eleana), the Priest was trapped under rubble. Fausto found the priest just in time to see a group of children reveal the Priest to be a mysterious clockwork woman who died in Fausto's arms. Stencil assumes that this clockwork woman is V. and that she has died before he even became aware of her existence.
Chapter Twelve: In which things are not so amusing[]
Presumably shortly after Stencil discovers the Confessions, Esther falls pregnant with Shale's baby. Slab (one of the three main members of the Crew) convinces her to have an abortion in Cuba (where it is legal). The Whole Sick Crew are able to crowdfund the trip but gain the attention of Rachel - who wants to stop the abortion. After finding some "wheels", Rachel and Benny arrive at the airport Esther is using just in time to be caught in a riot and watch as Esther's plane leaves for Cuba. Meanwhile, Roony Winsome tries to throw himself out of a window but is stopped - at first by Pig Bodine and the police. Shortly after this, two cops arrive at the apartment and arrest Mafia Winsome along with the main members of the Crew for "disturbing the peace".
Chapter Thirteen: In which the yo-yo string is revealed as a state of mind and Chapter Fourteen: V. in love[]
After accidentally arriving at his job several hours late, Benny is fired from his position at AnthroAssociates. His friendship (or possibly relationship) with Rachel also begins to falter as he becomes a member of the Crew. During this time, Stencil is able to convince Benny to accompany him and Paola on a trip to Malta. Before leaving for the trip, Benny helps Stencil break into Eigenvalue's office and steal a pair of dentures. While leaving from the burglary, Stencil tells Benny a tale about V.
Several decades previously, in 1913, V. visited the city of Paris and visited a "riotous" and Orientalist ballet performance (presumably based on the Stravinsky ballet The Rite of Spring) and became enamored by a ballerina - with whom she started a lesbian affair. During the first performance of this ballet, V.'s lover died after being impaled to death on stage. Though it was most likely an accident, it is also suspected to be a suicide and even a murder.
Chapter Fifteen: Sahha[]
Upon returning to Rebecca's apartment, Benny and Stencil discover that Rebecca has left and learn from Paola that there are cops in the apartment. While Stencil flees from the apartment, Benny stays behind and discovers that they are simply returning Roony to the apartment after he was found drunkenly wandering the streets. Shortly after this, Benny and Pig Bodine go on a "going away party" to Washington D.C. which ends with the two being arrested for public drunkenness. While Pig is taken away for being AWOL, Benny is able to leave and make the trip to Malta with Stencil and Paola.
Chapter Sixteen: Valletta[]
As a crisis brews in the Suez Canal, Stencil and company arrive in Malta after a brief trip through the Continent. Shortly after arriving, Stencil seeks out Fausto Maijstral but finds that Paola's father knows very little beyond what he wrote down. Fausto is able to point Stencil towards Father Avalanche but the priest (largely due to his old age) reveals very little beyond a link between himself and Father Fairing. While Stencil looks for V. (becoming more and more obsessed in Fausto's opinion), Profane falls ill and has to be nursed by Fausto.
During all of this, Paola's husband Pappy is also in Malta. After returning to his ship extremely drunk, Pappy finds that his wife (alongside Profane) have visited him on his ship. Paola reveals that she plans to wait in America for Pappy before departing. Shortly after this, Stencil realizes that he has brought Profane to Malta for effectively no reason. Instead of helping Profane return home, he decides to leave Profane in Malta while he chases a lead in Sweden. Fortunately, Profane is able to find an American woman and joins her on her travels through Europe.
Epilogue: 1919[]
The narrative flashes back four decades (shortly after World War I) to when Herbert's father Sidney was stationed in Malta. This was during a time when the Maltese people strived for independence from the British Empire and various forces (most notably Fascist Italy) were present on the island. While on the island, Sidney used various agents (including Fausto Maijstral's father and Father Fairing) to spy on a mysterious woman named Veronica Manganese who had ties to Italy. As the crisis in Malta worsened, Sidney's agents left his company. As such, he was forced to directly spy on V. and started an affair with her. Shortly after this affair ended, the crises in Malta fizzled out with little having changed. As such, Stencil left Malta but while leaving, his ship was destroyed by a waterspout and he presumably drowned in the waters of the Mediterranean.
Author's continuity[]
- Pig Bodine, Bloody Chiclitz, Kurt Mondaugen, and Weissman appear in Gravity's Rainbow. Bodine's ancestors appear in Mason & Dixon and Against the Day, while Bodine himself originates from the short story Low-Lands. Bloody Chiclitz and his company Yoyodyne are mentioned in The Crying of Lot 49.
- Chapter Three somewhat directly adapts Pynchon's short story Under the Rose.
rest to be added
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Real Life of Sebastian Knight | Vladimir Nabokov | 1941 | A novel which possibly inspired this novel |
| Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me | Richard Fariña | 1966 | A novel by one of Pynchon's contemporaries with similar themes |
| The Key to Midnight | Dean Koontz | 1979 | A novel with a similar plot |
| Vineland | Thomas Pynchon | 1990 | A novel by the same author with similar themes |
| The Holder of the World | Bharati Mukherjee | 2013 | A novel inspired by this novel |
| Inherent Vice | Thomas Pynchon | 2009 | A novel by the same author with similar themes |
| So Many Doors | Oakley Hall | 1951 | A novel which possibly inspired parts of this novel |
| Shibumi | Trevanian | 1979 | A novel with vaguely similar themes and atmosphere |
| Rabbit, Run | John Updike | 1960 | A novel with similar themes |
| The Presidential Papers | Norman Mailer | 1963 | A book released in the same year with similar themes |
Sources[]
- Wikipedia
- Goodreads
| Works of Thomas Pynchon | ||
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Early works (Collected in Slow Learner) | ||