Gravitys Rainbow

I'll finish it but I'll NEVER quit whining.

It's about eating shit, growing bananas, fucking lolis and lightbulbs being connected in a global network. Pretty Deleuzian desu

hmmm OP i agree but for different reasons
I love GR because every four pages or so Pynchon has some incredible paragraph of imagist/psychadelic/poetic prose, but other than that i wasnt a fan.
the structure was interesting but the whole thing could have be done better

If all I've read from the Pynchmeister is V, Lot49, and Inherent Vice can I just jump into Gravity's Rainbow or is there other stuff I should read before?

I only read GR by him and it's one of my favorite books ever

Would you mind telling us what you liked about it? What you took away from it? How you would summarize the plot? Anything else you can think of to say about it? sorry I know that's asking a lot, but know that your reply will be read and appreciated. And we are all user, so 0 judgement here.

I could condone maybe forcing yourself to get through smaller books if you don't enjoy them, but if you're reading a tome like this and just don't like it fuck it dude. Read books you like.

I LOVE GR, and have read it twice, but if you don't like reading it you're probably only forcing yourself through something painful which will only strain your relationship with a book that maybe you can return to another point in your life to read, when you're ready or more, legitimately interested.

I'm making the same humble request to you that i made to

>he expected one of the three sacred texts of the Meme Trilogy to be "good"

i hate mil fags on Veeky Forums so fucking much

Currently on pg 730 on deluxe edition.
Man oh man its been a ride, reading 10 pages an hour, the average 'episode' being 10 pages, it's like watching TV, really really good tv.
So far it's about megalomaniacs their hopes and fears- e.g. pointsman, madscientist guy tryna get a Nobel prize but really he's antisocial can't make any connections, recall the part where he gets drugged up and gets head, his self-loathing- bout slothrop breaking the matrix tryna figure out why he's in France in the first place, eventually wanting to leave back home, but get entwined in conspiracy mess having to do with rockets and how he was sold as a child, a lot of conspiracy stuff you can research on yt : Hollywood sex rings,standard oil exchange with germany, mind control, high class sexual deviancy and canabalism, freemasonry, extinction and mass murder, also spiratual components like oversaturation of mandalas as you get to the ending, and probably slothrop's mention of gettingscattered?. A lot of you can look deeper but really it's all entertainment, following slothrop's journey through the zone how he changes outfits, goes through series of trials catching dope from embassy place, old people orgies, all that and more. Other characters also play a role like pokler's passiveness from trying to send rockets to space to buildingthem, livingin the samefacilities of a v2 component building site, how this resulted in ignorance of what was goingon in the camps which his daughter was in. I can go on best analogy is its a hadron collider and everyone is a particle, slothrop is the one paradox that appears and reappears out of thin air.

Again, you're one of them.

...

just drop it if you can't stand reading it. not every author is for everyone, bro

In another thread, I would probably be more eager to write something like this out, but I find GR nothing but pleasurable to read. It's funny, it's bizarre, extremely moving and even romantic at times, the ambition is palpable in its scale and prose... I have nothing but admiration for Pynchon for having the interest and ability to write such a book.

ah and I should have added that I find a lot of it pretty terrifying, too. And it's not just about rocketbombs dropping in on me that unnerves me.

I haven't read GR but I cant sort of relate to what you're feeling. One of my favourite genres is sci-fi and even non sci-fi fans know that Asimov is one of the "great" authors of classic sci-fi, well-respected and loved by many. Asimov's Foundation trilogy is one of the essential must-reads.

Couldn't stand it, had to drop the first Foundation novel and now it's collecting dust on my bookshelf. Interestingly more than a few on Veeky Forums share my opinion on Asimov but despite that, it somehow feels wrong that I dislike such a well-regarded classic.

But there it is, as other anons have said, sometimes you don't enjoy a book no matter its reputation with others. Reading for leisure shouldn't be an arduous task.

>cant sort of relate
Should be can*

Why make yourself miserable? Put it down mate. You don't have to read it.

i loved every single word of this book, one of the most enjoyable books i've read, but i'm a pretty patient man who loves long books

the ending is beautiful but maybe you should give up because you're not enjoying it and you'll probably hate it

also, giving up books is for fucking faggots, are you a fucking faggot?

Keep going. The Zone is sometimes a real bitch to trudge through but it can also be the most rewarding when you do. My advice: look up words you don't know (if you don't already) especially things in German, Spanish, or French. Look into the references to real world things like IG Farben, General Electric, and other people/events/corporations and try to piece together what Pynchon is trying to say about it all. As for the characters, it might help to flip back and skim parts with recurring characters. This is harder to do in GR than it is in V. because of the scope, but it still wouldn't hurt if you can manage it.

What other Pynchon have you read?

Paranoia plays a big part in Pynchon's books, especially this one. You're not always supposed to know what's going on because you see things from the point of view of people who barely understand it themselves. Think of "Them" and who "They" are, but keep in mind that feeling paranoid, overwhelmed, and confused is partially intentional. There are a great deal of things you can piece together to answer some of the questions that arise, but don't be upset if you can't answer them or if you find that there is no definitive answer.

I think those are perfect prerequisites. Dive right in.

Yeah, the poo-poo/harmonica scene was aesthetic and insightful as fuck, amirite? And don't forget the part where the 12-year-old girl gets gang-banged by both her parents. SO good.

don't sully frogposting like this

a 12 year old gets gangbanged in the book?

a small pard, it's not even a person

>yfw this nervous system is now gone and there will never be another cohort with the correct ratio of autism and intelligence to produce this kind of aesthetic thought
FUCK YOU NIGGER

>Names are starting to appear in the book that I know I am familiar with, people that I have read entire chapters about. And yet I remember little to nothing about them and usually confuse them with one or several other characters
Either you have taken way to long to read the book, or you just arent paying close enough attention.
Either way, you should've been reading these along with the chapters.
ottosell.de/pynchon/rainbow.htm

I'm almost 100% sure that doesn't happen

Just fucking quit it. Not all reading should be enjoyable, but I'm almost positive GR isn't worth it. It's memed on here but almost no one gives a fuck about Pynchon. It's the worst sort of pretentious intellectual masturbation imo. I dropped it halfway through and I almost never drop a book once I've started it and especially once I'm past page 50. I had the same experience as you: hated reading and could have finished five books in the time I wasted. Drop it and read something enjoyable for a while. You most likely won't regret it.

I thought Gravity's Rainbow was one of the most fun, and satisfying books I've ever read.
Posts like confuse me.
I was considering dropping the book before I finished part 1, but after part 1, when the focus shifted to Slothrop, I was all in.

I honestly enjoyed the new george guidall audiobook and just listening thru it at work more than I enjoyed reading it.

That guy just has a better narrative voice for most of the characters than I did.

When I say new I mean from like 2014. The same guy did a way shittier version like 30 years earlier.

That Audiobook is dope. I have a visual impairment that keeps me from actually reading, so that's how I "read" the book. Had no problem following it at all,

this

Do you have a buddy narrating Veeky Forums for you as well? A dedicated little friend who laboriously combs through the refuse until he finds a post you might enjoy?

Dunno, but she does get barebottomed spanked by her mother in front of dozens of masturbating onlookers, then later fucked by the protag, then gets hanged.

please someone post that greentext

Fregg?

It's my qt gf. we cuddle and she reads Veeky Forums to me.
I can read a website for a few minutes. All the words are spaced out and I can skim. Blocks of text, or reading for more than a minute, like I would have to for a book, kills me.
I used to be able to read though.

She's """not actually""" 12 though.
She's 18, I think.

source?

She was conceived around the same time Pökler's kid was, and she's 18 by the time Slothrop is in the Zone.
He sees her as a kid. Not entirely sure why.

Not him, but I do remember that it's suppose to satirize pedo riengs in hollywood and I don't think they say her age just that's she's 'very' young p much implied

I'm somewhere between these fellas

Ah you might be right

>And don't forget the part where the 12-year-old girl gets gang-banged by both her parents. SO good.
That part was extremely well crafted

is lit's new thing calling things deluezian

jesus christ

I agree the first 150 pages were a slog but once it started focusing more on Slothrop, it was pretty straightforward. Maybe occasionally I'd be lost but really I loved the book. Just quick read this before you start a section and you'll at least get the gist. ottosell.de/pynchon/rainbow.htm

Just finished it last week and really want to read more Pynchon, any suggestions on what to read next by him?

Read V. if you haven't already. This one shares a couple characters (Pig/Seaman Bodine and Weissmann). If you've already read it, try Mason & Dixon which is somewhat similar to Gravity's Rainbow in its scope, though maybe slightly easier if you don't count the dialect he uses.