"The Crying of Lot 49" and this course

I believe this book was chosen because it paints the picture of the social and political culture in the United States during the rise of the Vietnam War. It gives the audience insight into the 60’s beyond a textbook, historical context. As we follow the main character we are inviting to a time where evidently drugs, rock music, the Cold War, WWII, and Vietnam War strongly influenced the people within this society. I notice a theme of conspiracy through-out the novel. The omniscient third person narrator captivates the audience within the mystery by occasionally giving an inside view of a character’s emotions or thoughts. I feel that this was necessary because the novel was generally hard to follow. Many times, Oedipa and other characters seemed illogical and disillusioned. This made it difficult for me to trust the perspective and reasoning of the characters.