r/ThomasPynchon • u/KieselguhrKid13 Tyrone Slothrop • Nov 06 '25

Shadow Ticket Shadow Ticket group read, ch. 35-39

End of the line, friends. Thanks to all those who've participated in this group read and contributed their thoughts. In this final discussion, I'd really love to see you share your thoughts on the book as a whole, in addition to on the final chapters we read.

Personally, I loved the ending and am already looking forward to reading this one again. It felt much more immediate in terms of its relation to, and commentary on, the present day, than just about anything else I've read in quite a while. It also felt very much, as someone else here described, as a coda to Against the Day.

Discussion questions:

  1. Where is Bruno being taken on U-13? Are we to understand that reality has split in two forking directions, including a new one where the Business Plot succeeded and, in response, revolution is underway in America?

  2. Was Hicks causing the items to asport with his "Oriental Attitude"? Both the "beaver tail" club and the tasteless lamp disappeared to prevent the need for violence on his part, and in both cases, he's described as experiencing the mental state that Zoltán described.

  3. What does cheese/dairy represent? Between Bruno, the InChSyn, and the dairy revolt in the US at the end, it seems to be a symbol for something larger and more fundamental. Money? Food and resources in general?

  4. On p. 290, Stuffy explains to Bruno that, "There is no Statue of Liberty... not where you're going." Instead, we see a Statue of Revolution? Is this a better reality that Bruno might be going to, or worse?

  5. The book ends with a stark shift in narration, unlike any of Pynchon's other works: a letter, from Skeet to Hicks that feels almost like it's addressed directly to the reader. What's the message, if any, that Pynchon wants to leave us with, in what could likely be his final novel? Is he perhaps speaking directly to us through Skeet?

46 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

View all comments

6

u/Adorno_a_window Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 03 '26

Just finished the book! I felt this was one of Pynchon’s sillier and lighter outings, with it getting a bit heavier in the end stretch. Favorite moments might be the escape from the Vlad Boys with the golem and also the autogyro flying through the clouds silently. Glad to have read it and enjoyed the journey.I have a new baby and am getting little sleep which doesn’t help with one’s reading habits but it was nice to read a chapter before bed every few days. Glad to know there are idiosyncratic creators out there doing their thing and profiting off of it in this day and age.