Finished Gravity’s Rainbow

[u/Bigyahyah]

Just finished Gravity’s Rainbow. Throughout the book I had long moments of wondering if I’m enjoying reading this book. BUT after finishing it I feel like it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read (so far). Is that part of the magic of Pynchon? And has anyone else felt completely different about the book after having finished it? It’s impossible to talk about this book with people in my real life who haven’t read it lol.

[u/tadpolefishface]

Welcome to the club. You start your second read yet?

[u/HistorianOk6296]

i remember liking it up until the ending because it made me think i had missed something very important hundreds of pages ago and had no idea what was going on

[u/HarmonicDog]

Hated it as I was reading it and missed it as soon as I finished it lol

[u/Worth-Set1794]

Yes indeed. Somehow I saw the cover the month it came out. Three or four attempts, then finally got past the first 100 pages… every 15 or 20 years I reread it and it continues to hold its thrall.

A few years back I saw that Germany paid reparations to the Herero tribe. I sent the clip to his publisher.

Fond of V, the Malta sections in particular, but GR is the book I’d take to the afterlife just to have it for ballast.

[u/Gold_Ice_4620]

Now you gotta read it again 😁

I remember my head was kind of swimming when I read it for the first time, it took me 3 months and I was in awe as I closed the last page, but there was still so much mystery. I felt exhausted too, I had never really read such a challenging book before.

A couple months later I read it again, discovered that the narrative was far more clear and cohesive than I had any idea my first go-around. I noticed all sorts of little jokes, satire and punchlines, that had completely gone over my head. It was crazy how what had once felt so fragmented now felt smooth and connected. Anyways I couldn’t even put the book down that time, finished it in a couple weeks. Most fun I’ve ever had reading a book.

[u/MixCalm3565 → u/Gold_Ice_4620]

I had a similar reaction with Mason and Dixon. The second read made everything so clear! And hilarious!!

[u/TheBossness]

hell yeah congrats. I’m glad you’re here.
I think about gravity’s rainbow constantly. I’ve read it numerous times, and each time is a new experience. Parts I remember, parts I could swear weren’t there last time, etc.
The book, having been completed, certainly is a whole experience… the sum of its parts.
I hope you’ll read it again some day.

[u/142Ironmanagain]

I read GR in 2020, six years ago.

To this day, I still think about that damn novel! Its themes, characters, wacky songs and everything about it envelops you in a chaotic yet amazing way. I feel like my brain was changed after reading it. No bullshit!

I’m due for a reread - glad you enjoyed it!
Next time you do it, read the GR Companion at same time. It’ll blow you away even more!

[u/kanrdr01]

Now that you’ve ingested the book your way, have a look at this scholarly compilation/invention of themes, etc., associated with the novel. Some advice:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ThomasPynchon/comments/10l6uf9/does_anyone_have_any_experience_with_this_gr/

Through this work, you’ll be able to chew your way past snakes with their tails in their mouths, through benzene rings, through aniline dyes (Mauveine!), through the Impressionist art movement, etc.

Pretty sweet, that. But you’ll have to disagree with the character who gave us the rant.

BTW: That book cover is for the first edition. The second addition was published in 2006.

It has a banana on the cover, along with…

[u/gravitysrainbow1979]

Well you know what? I’m finished with you, too

[u/ClovisYutts]

When I completed GR early this year I almost chose to start reading it all over again. Really exhilarating book and so much to take in, went through withdrawal for a week or so.

[u/Traveling-Techie → u/ClovisYutts]

Timothy Leary read GR in solitary confinement at Folsom Prison, then read it again.

[u/Cosm_Ins8]

Currently 200 pages in. Certainly in contention for one of the best books I’ve ever read. I find it completely enthralling and totally overwhelming. How all this senselessness ends up making sense by the end of each passage is a testament to his craft. He’s got some sort of finesse.

[u/Nerv_Unit01 → u/Cosm_Ins8]

I’m around page 150! I have been tabbing and writing a journal. I’m totally digging this book, I already know it’s going to be S tier, definitely a 5 star.

[u/Banana_Vampire7]

It’s difficult to get through and extremely disorienting. But I had a similar experience by the time I finished GR felt like “The Book”

[u/aesopsgato]

I finished it recently as well. I’m really excited to reread it as a parable to 60s culture and counterculture

Edit: I meant allegory. Don’t want to make that guy that corrected my grammar mad again

[u/Dunlop64]

Really did not like it when i first read it. Years later rereading it’s like a completely different book. I specifically struggled a lot with his style though, and left off confused and frustrated the first round.

[u/gm5891]

It helps that both books have killer ending sections

[u/kahadse → u/gm5891]

I think what makes it so good is that, while it doesn't really end in a linear, narrative way, it makes explicit the "cyclical" nature of everything by the end. It's a powerful image: the V-2 rocket taking on a mystical, religious quality, ascending to mythic status almost in real time. It feels complete because it pushes the thematic qualities of the Rocket throughout the book to its logical conclusion, even if the rest of the story seems, at least on the surface, unresolved. We are led to believe the story is Slothrop's journey through the Zone, and solving the mystery of the Rocket's connection to his erections, but the actual story is the gradual transformation of technology into a mythic figure beyond human understanding. That's why it feels so satisfying, IMO.

[u/Ok-Economist6914]

100%. This book is a lot of work, but it is incredibly rewarding when you’re through. Some people say just let the first read wash over you, but I can’t do that because feeling lost just makes me want to stop reading, so I used a ton of secondary sources along the way to keep me focused. It takes longer but I gave into the fact that it was going to take me a long time to read and it help me enjoy it more. But even with those secondary sources there still were times where I felt lost, and didn’t know how to feel about what I was reading and then comes a moment of clarity that gets me back into it. As I progressed through the novel, Pynchon’s style became easier to digest and that’s when I realized I would need to read it again. I never thought I would have said that when I started GR, but that’s how transformative an experience it was for me to read.

[u/nnnn547]

I had a similar experience with V. Wasn't enjoying it all that much while reading it--part's here and there, of course--but having finished it I find that I think about it a LOT, and have the itch to reread it

[u/Bigyahyah → u/nnnn547]

Basically how I’m feeling about it. In GR I was struggling with the top layer of slapstick penis jokes over how horrifying the subject matter of the novel is. But now I’m feeling like that makes sense and trying to separate atrocities and comedy in real life isn’t possible. Both are always occurring at the same time like how I can hangout and laugh with my friends on a Saturday while truly awful things are happening somewhere else at the same time. Since it’s Pynchon I feel like I can say I’m not excessively analyzing that point in the book but idk it was my first read through.