Gravity's Rainbow

[Jason Lycurgus]

I'm a little over two-thirds of the way through this one and I'm just wondering how other people feel about this book or Pynchon works in general. I have been away from the forums for a little while so I apologize if this book has been discussed recently - I don't remember seeing a thread about it so I figured I'd ask.

I generally like it so far - parts of it are really entertaining and I like the style. Parts of the plot are hard to follow - I feel a bit like I did when I read Ulysses (confused) at times. I imagine it is a book that opens up a lot upon re-reading.

[Barbarous]

I've read the book once and enjoyed it. I consider that book Pynchon's best, or the novel that is most matching with me and what I usually read. In other words, Gravity's Rainbow is the only interesting thing he wrote, in my opinion. I'm open to his other works, but none seem to grab me the way the novel in question did. It's now sitting on my shelf waiting for that reread. I think that in the future, it will be a remembered book, and influence of what's to come. Though I have to say, the graphic sex scenes did nothing for me and I found them obnoxious and tiring, thus begining my love-hate relationship with Pynchon.

[catatonic]

I got thru Gravity's Rainbow on my third try. The absurd premise of the plot, the cartoon like characters, the slapdash humor and the manic narrative that shoots out in all directions -- all took some getting used to. But I wasn't about to let myself be upstaged by Lisa Simpson.

[billl]

I stopped reading pretty early on when the **SPOILER** doomed Nazis were raping their confused child sex-toys.

But I enjoyed Vineland.

[sixsmith]

The following pretty much sums up my feelings re Pynchon.

http://nymag.com/arts/books/reviews/58182/

[Jason Lycurgus]

Finished it last night. Not my favorite book ever - although I did enjoy it, but to be fair I found much of the book quite difficult. I think when I am reading a particularly difficult or cavernous novel I become a 'worse' reader in a way (which admittedly is exactly the opposite of what you should do in such a situation), I find myself floating over passages quicker because I'm already "lost" in a sense. The only other novel I can say this has happened to me with was Ulysses - which I read without a guide or sufficient research beforehand. I am left with a more or less similar feeling I had with that work after a single reading: wow that was a very strange and interesting experience that was at times fairly unpleasant. Nobody ever claimed (in my experience) that appreciating art is always easy, and I think with these two novels it is often times quite difficult (at least on the first run through). I imagine both books to be very rewarding given the proper amount of time. I definitely plan to reread both works but I find it distracting to read a book for the first time with a companion book or guide. I think I will use a guide next time I read Ulysses; Gravity's Rainbow is more manageable for the most part. I must say at the risk of sounding foolish, finishing books like these after a first read gives me a feeling akin to that upon waking after a night of heavy drinking - you are pretty sure you had fun, but the whole event is somewhat difficult to reconstruct.

I enjoyed Gravity's Rainbow and would recommend it to others provided they are in for a challenge. The book provoked a myriad of different reactions, many of them negative, but I don't see the vulgar elements of the book as a pitfall, I think they serve their purpose. As I said, I'll need to reread this one, it is cavernous and full of technical jargon that is over my head (physics - while fascinating, has never been a strength of mine).

So yeah - read it if you're in for a challenge or just something pretty different. I imagine it will take substantial time and effort for most. It is not the length (though it is almost 800 pages) I'm referring to either (readers of Ulysses will likely understand this sentiment). It took me the bulk of the summer to get through.

Anyone else have opinions either on this book or just the process of reading somewhat unwieldy novels for the first go through?

On to Blood Meridian - which I am really enjoying so far.

[catatonic]

Gravity's Rainbow is a difficult book and difficult books require to be reread if only to better understand them. However I can't think of a good reason why anyone would reread something (unless his grades depend upon it and he is too pure of mind to ever cheat) if he doesn't find it fun, captivating or at the very least intriguing.

I have to say that I'm intrigued by Gravity's Rainbow, intrigued by the cult of Pynchon and his adepts who proclaim him THE writer bar none. Not too long ago I tried to reread Gravity's Rainbow only to stall about midway. I don't know... maybe the intrigue has worn off, leaving me with the consolation that I could boast that I had read the book, never mind if I had liked it nor understood it.

[Jason Lycurgus]

Don't get me wrong - I'm very much captivated and intrigued by the books mentioned above, it's just that for obvious reasons they require a vastly greater amount of work to get at 'it' than much of the prose I read. In many books I would consider good (and are considered "classics") it is simply not as hard to figure out the surface level of what exactly is going on as it is in these works (in my experience this phenomenon occurs most frequently with modernist/post-modern writing which it wouldn't be hard to argue both of these books can be qualified as).

I have faith in rereads though; Absalom, Absalom!, probably one of my favorite books, was extremely difficult for me the first time I read it. Subsequent rereadings have brought out not only the actual events of the story but also an appreciation for the manner in which they are presented.

I doubt any writer would be too happy if every time you read their work you felt the same way about it.

[catatonic]

My point is that no matter how hard you work to better understand a book there has to be a threshold where joy and bliss becomes the reason for working that much harder. Otherwise any praise of the book is likely to be a disingenuous one, a parrotlike echoing of what is usually said when praising the said book.

[Jason Lycurgus]

Yeah I see what you mean - well said.

[duckyboy1975]

I find that I like the idea of Pynchon and his work than I actually enjoy him. I really like Crying of Lot 49 but some of his longer, denser stuff kinda gets lost in the ether with me.
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[Barbarous]

I've decided I'm the exact opposite of you, ducky. Meaning I don't even like the idea of Pynchon or his other works (at this point in time) but I like the plot of Gravity's Rainbow and thought it was a fun read. Of course I will be reading it again in the near future.