El mineral transparente llamado espato de Islandia posee la curiosa propiedad ?ptica de la doble refracci?n: duplica en paralelo la imagen del objeto que se mira a trav?s de ?l. Si, desde cierta altura, se contemplara el planeta por una l?mina de ese espato, la realidad no se distorsionar?a, pero cabe sospechar que la imagen duplicada no ser?a exactamente la esperada. En un juego semejante se embarca Thomas Pynchon en Contraluz al recrear un mundo en descomposici?n, el que va de la Exposici?n Universal de Chicago de 1893 a los a?os inmediatamente ...
Short, straightforward in narrative, and relatively linear in plot, is considered by many to be Pynchon's most accessible novel, and is therefore the one most commonly read, whether to fulfill the syllabus of a literature course or simply for pleasure. Nevertheless, it remains an enigmatic book that has been analyzed, discussed, and dissected almost as much as Even thirty years after publication it is still considered quite open to interpretation: some critics feel that it is ultimately meaningless and impossible to interpret, while others have found it to be rather cohesive, and even possessed by a set of ethical directives. Others, as J. Grant remarks, perhaps mindful of Oedipa's notion that "excluded middles" are "bad shit," have worked to find a functional interface between book and reader. All, however, agree that it is a vital work and a postmodern classic.
