Details Regarding Books Gravity's Rainbow
| Title | : | Gravity's Rainbow |
| Author | : | Thomas Pynchon |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 776 pages |
| Published | : | October 31st 2006 by Penguin Books (first published February 28th 1973) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Science Fiction. Literature. Historical. Historical Fiction. Novels |
Thomas Pynchon
Paperback | Pages: 776 pages Rating: 4.01 | 34010 Users | 2996 Reviews
Interpretation As Books Gravity's Rainbow
Advice for a first time reader of Gravity's Rainbow:Gravity's Rainbow is a book you either love or hate, and if you hate it it's probably because you couldn't finish the damn thing. Though by no means impenetrable, the novel is daunting enough to merit a list of tips for those wishing to tackle it for the first time. Below is my advice on how new readers can get over the hump. Trust me, it's a small hump, and the masterpiece that lies on the other side is worth the effort.
1. Read V first ... Pynchon's V is shorter and more accessible than Gravity's Rainbow, but addresses the same themes in a similar style. If you enjoyed V, you will have built up a reserve of goodwill for Pynchon that will carry you through the initial rough patches of Gravity's Rainbow. This advice was given to me years ago, and I'm glad I took it.
2. Accept that you won't understand everything...Don't be concerned if you can't follow the many digressions or keep track of every minor character that pops up. As with other famously difficult novels, Gravity's Rainbow's real payoff comes in the rereading, so you shouldn't feel obliged to linger over each passage until it makes sense. Pynchon isn't trying to lord it over you by writing a book this dense; it's just his way of giving you your money's worth. Just follow what you can the first time through, which fortunately is a lot.
3. Accentuate the accessible...Gravity's Rainbow's unreadability is over-hyped. Yes, there are many jarring digressions, but threading through them is a fairly conventional detective story. Sure there are lyrical passages that take off for the stratosphere, but they are grace notes in a melody of otherwise breezy narrative prose. So on your first time through, it's enough to follow the main plot (will Slothrop find the mysterious Rocket 00000?) and enjoy Pynchon's jokes, which are laugh-out-loud funny.
4. Don't give up too early...I don't want to say that Gravity's Rainbow gets off to a slow start, but it has a lot of scene-setting to do, and the engine that really drives the book along only gets revved up in part 2. Part 1 is a well-executed minor key portrait of wartime London, but part 2 is where the drugs kick in, so stick with the novel at least that far.
Identify Books To Gravity's Rainbow
| Original Title: | Gravity's Rainbow |
| ISBN: | 0143039946 (ISBN13: 9780143039945) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Lieutenant Tyrone Slothrop, Pig Bodine |
| Literary Awards: | Nebula Award Nominee for Novel (1973), National Book Award for Fiction (1974), William Dean Howells Medal (1975), Tähtivaeltaja Award Nominee (2015), Mikael Agricola -palkinto (2015) |
Rating Regarding Books Gravity's Rainbow
Ratings: 4.01 From 34010 Users | 2996 ReviewsAssess Regarding Books Gravity's Rainbow
I think reading and reviewing this book requires taking on some extra baggage because it...well, I don't actually need to explain why or else Gravitys Rainbow wouldn't have this baggage in the first place. It's Gravity's Rainbow, and that makes me feel like I need to read it, preferably without thinking too much about why exactly I feel this way. But at the same time I feel like I should avoid it so I don't look like a damn hairdo, which I'm told is British slang for someone who tries too hardIt took three months, but I finally pinned this sucker down to the count of ten. Three months is kinda perfect if you think about it, though. That's my typical honeymoon period in most relationships, the enthusiastic "I can still more than tolerate you" part, so great timing, yeah? Sure, I cheated on him on about 15 separate occasions in that time-frame, but hell, nobody's perfect. The library card in my wallet is like a condom just begging to be used.So yeah, I can now say I've "read" this
Advice for a first time reader of Gravity's Rainbow:Gravity's Rainbow is a book you either love or hate, and if you hate it it's probably because you couldn't finish the damn thing. Though by no means impenetrable, the novel is daunting enough to merit a list of tips for those wishing to tackle it for the first time. Below is my advice on how new readers can get over the hump. Trust me, it's a small hump, and the masterpiece that lies on the other side is worth the effort.1. Read V first ...
Review of Gravity's RainbowBrilliant, Frustrating, Falls Short of Greatness, and not for the Faint of Heart I don't usually use images in my reviews. But this review screamed for one.Several caveats for anyone attempting to read this.1. You most likely won't get through it on your first attempt. I didn't.2. Reading this is a project! The book is nearly 800 pages, and pretty convoluted. It's like reading Joyce's "Ulysses" (although I think "Ulysses" is the better book). You need to allocate more
Disclaimer 1) I am skeptical of disclaimers because I am a painfully aware of self-as-persona, authorial presence. Disclaimer 2) I willingly admit that I have no idea what the hell I just read.Disclaimer 3) I did not read this with a companion text, [if that's totally prerequisite for enjoyment then, really?] though I did find myself occasionally using the Pynchon Wiki, and googTranslate. Disclaimer 4) This was my first read and a re-read has already been scheduled. Will probably Vineland and
An Approach for Simulating Text Consistent With Gravitys Rainbow Technical Report issued 6 July 2012 by the Simulation Lab Originating Text-based Handiwork (SLOTH) While the exact algorithm used by Pynchon (1973) to produce Gravitys Rainbow (henceforth GR) was never documented, we contend that the method proposed in this paper is, on average, in a repeated sampling context, observationally equivalent. As is true of any simulation, there is a deterministic component and a random component.
I know history is rarely kind to harsh criticisms about super nebulous or "difficult" authors , but dig this --This book is horrible. After reading The Crying of Lot 49, Slow Learner and now this, I'm convinced that Thomas Pynchon is a hack, and the reason we don't hear from him is because he has nothing to say and knows that if we gave him a microphone and fifteen minutes he'd be found out.90% of the people who pick up this novel won't finish it, and 90% of those who do won't like it. But 100%
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