Comparing the Writings of Thomas Pynchon

While reading Pynchon's non-fiction piece, "Journey Into the Mind of Watts", a sense of sympathy and compassion is evoked within the reader; these were the emotions I felt towards this work. Right away I could tell he was employing pathos, while depicting scenes that cut straight to the reader's heart. In comparison, looking at "Crying of Lot 49", it is obvious that the two have some major differences. In this novel, Pynchon uses satire and logos to appeal to his readers. The entire book is meant to be mysterious and make its audience think deep into the many possibilities of its overall point. Long sentences with many commas are used in order to convey the overworked mind of the main character, Oedipa, as something so simple as a painting is compared to the way she feels about her own life. From this, it can be seen that Pynchon uses the art of rhetoric and argument in both of his pieces of writing, but in largely contrasting ways. Throughout "Crying" it seemed as if I was fighting a constant battle of understanding, one that I could not win. Scenes were continually changing and new characters being introduced with every turn of the page. It is not until the very end of the novel where we even find of the reason for the title of the book. In "Journey", Pynchon cuts straight to the point and it is obvious from the beginning the reason for this writing and the point he is trying to convey. For me, this clarity, along with the use of pathos was quite more convincing to me as a reader than the confusion and cunningly weaved details that "Crying" portrayed.