PositiveThe Brooklyn RailPynchon doesn’t so much write storylines as conjure networks of relations and commitments among his characters, all of whom first appear as caricatures until their deepest desires are laid bare and become heartbreakingly real ... Shadow Ticket is no exception, though it does continue to evolve the private investigator trope Pynchon began over sixty years ago with his novel V ... A reminder that mystery and surprise don’t need our help to find us, and that those outward ripples on the pond will never stop. All of which is a beautiful, if not quaint, sentiment for what might be Pynchon’s finale ... Can be a frustrating read at times, and I found myself torn between the feeling that Pynchon is, in his ninth decade, doing whatever the hell he pleases, audience be damned, and playfully punishing us for paying too-close attention to only what’s on the page ... Regardless, the thrust of Shadow Ticket will not be undermined by these readerly frustrations, and, really, they might be made more because of them.
