Crying of Lot 49

At last, we have finished this book...and I couldn't be any happier. This book remains a mystery to me. There are soooo many questions I have for Pynchon.

I totally understand why this book is considered a mystery. We spend five chapters trying to decipher what the heck is going on between the five million different characters and seven trillion plot details. Finally, in the last chapter some things start making sense, but I'm still confused about everything. 

The mystery in the story related to W.A.S.T.E, the muted horn symbol, Tristero, and the postal system. Oedipa, the detective in this story, spends her days investigating what these concepts mean and how they're all related to Pierce. She goes to so many different characters and places to learn more and more about each concept. Finally, in the end she learns what Tristero is. 

The name of the book has also remained a mystery throughout the book, until the end when we learn that Pierce's stamps are being auctioned off as Lot 49. We learn that the person who calls the numbers out is called "the cryer," hence the Crying of Lot 49. The bidder is supposed to resolve the mystery but we never learn who the bidder is.