Gravity's Rainbow

By Thomas Pynchon

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Average Rating: (See all reviews) Format: Paperback, 768 pages Published In: United States, June 1995 Quantity Available: 30 Ships within 6-10 days In the mid-1960s, the publication of Pynchon's V and The Crying of Lot 49 introduced a brilliant new voice to American literature. Gravity's Rainbow, his convoluted, allusive novel about a metaphysical quest, published in 1973, further confirmed Pynchon's reputation as one of the greatest writers of the century. Publisher: Penguin Books ISBN: 0140188592 EAN: 9780140188592 Dimensions: 21.41 x 13.97 x 3.53 centimeters (0.60 kg)

Gravity's Rainbow was recommended to me by a friend years ago, and I tried 3 times to get into it, never getting past the almost impenetrable 1st chapter. Nearly giving up on it, I decided give it one more go; this time just reading and letting the words drift into my mind rather than trying to make sense of it. This I'd recommend to anyone new to the book. Not for nothing is it described by more erudite readers than me as one of the great masterpieces of 20th century literature.

It is brilliant. It's even better on subsequent re-reads. The chaos and trauma that followed the 2nd world war is evoked in a way that suggests that the border between reality and imagination had become broken and that everything, for a brief time, was not just possible, but likely.

Long after reading "G's R" the feeling of anarchy, darkness, and intense, blinding enlightenment persists, and no book that I have read (with the possible exception of Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker) creates a more palpable atmosphere. It's as hard to describe effectively as an intense dream, but much more durable.

Please give it a go. It isn't easy, but it's as exhilarating a read as you may ever find, I reckon.

A dense book, with the writer throwing a lot of stuff in. Presumably meant to be a literary fancy pants type of thing, but to me, that just made it incredibly dull and a slog to get anywhere near through much of it.

Definitely not entertaining in the way Robert Anton Wilson is, for example.