Pynchon and Joyce

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These were my two favorite writers when i was a teenager. I feel like Pynchon’s writings are the best written analog to real delusion and Joyce’s later work is the best written expression of hallucination/disorganized thought. Does anyone else here agree?

Specifically the crying of lot 49 is a book that i think everyone here would relate to in an uncanny way. The symbolic connections that happen in almost supernatural ways is really cool, and it makes me wonder if pynchon actually experienced that kind of stuff in his life. (If so, it’s remarkable how well he’s managed to function with severe delusions and extreme mistrust of psychiatrists.)

I read both ulysses and gravity’s rainbow obsessively when i was unemployed, literally i did nothing else for two months.

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I honestly have no idea about Pynchon’s mental health - the guy is not really known for his interviews - but certainly The Crying of Lot 49, at least at a surface level is very nutty. For all I know it could be inspired in someone he knew, personally it simply strikes me more as a work of the imagination but who knows.

I believe Joyce’s daughter suffered from sz and Joyce could have very well been schizotypal, just sitting on the fence of madness. There is some good research showing a link between schizotypal traits and creativity - not so much with full blown sz.

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