"The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon

            This first chapter of The Crying of Lot 49 was not at all what I expected when first cracking open the book.  Each scenario and thought involved with Oedipa Maas seemed to have an underlying irony that was hard to ignore.  In the first few pages, Oedipa receives a letter informing her that her wealthy ex-boyfriend, Pierce Inverarity, has died left her in charge of handling his estate.  The series of thoughts following this occurrence seem random to me.  At first, she thinks she is getting really sick, and then immediately jumps into a recollection of her ex-boyfriend impersonating celebrities and talking in various voices.

            When Oedipa vows to herself to handle Pierce’s unresolved business, she begins to think of her husband, Mucho Maas, because she knows he, along with herself, has no idea how to go about carrying out wills.  Mucho, a radio DJ, was once a used car salesman that, according to Oedipa, “had believed too much in the lot.’  This is another ironic point, considering the title of this novel.  Also, the radio station KCUF where Mucho works can be spelled backwards to propose a negative feeling towards his workplace.

            It was also ironic that her doctor called in the middle of the night to recruit Oedipa in participating in an experience involving LSD.  With the name Dr. Hilarius, it all seems to be a big joke that continues into the next day whenever she goes to see Roseman, her lawyer.  Roseman asks Oedipa to run away with him, though he does not have a plan where.  In later conjecture, she remembers always wanting an escape when she was dating Pierce and imagines Pierce trying to climb up her Rapunzel hair, but falling down whenever her hair ended up being a wig.

            While Oedipa suggested earlier in the chapter that her husband’s mental state may be unstable, I can only assume she, as well, may not have all of her marbles from the progression of this novel.