Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon BOOK REVIEW

Easily the hardest book I've ever read.
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[@Alexkrislov]

I first read GR when it was released in 1973. I've read it over a dozen times since. Your little review here is one of the best I have ever seen. Kudos! Byron Blesses You!

[@thanosthanos3801]

For those considering whether to read this or not I’d like to say it’s not as hard a read as it’s cracked up to be. That’s not to say it isn’t confusing and often nonsensical, however if you pay close attention to each and every page you will be able to easily keep track of most of the plot, and the middle chapters include someone of the most suspenseful and humorous passages I have ever read. The first two hundred pages are by far the hardest part, and if you get passed that without putting it down you are probably going to love the book. My interpretation was that Pynchon was trying to write a book that would immerse you into the world of a paranoid madman, Tyrone Slothrop. If it makes you anxious and confused, you are experiencing what Pynchon wants you to. You could get lost in this book your whole life and never understand it’s most cryptic passages and many people do. Meanwhile Pynchon is laughing at you because your more obsessed than his protagonist is. Pynchon himself is quoted saying "I was so fucked up while I was writing it . . . that now I go back over some of those sequences and I can't figure out what I could have meant." It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read, and keep in mind that it’s about the themes and the experience more than anything else.

[@marylyngafford9512]

I'm supposed to be spending my tuesday morning writing a paper, but I found your channel last night and I just feel like I need to hear every opinion you have on every book you've read lol. Your reviews are so thorough and thoughtful, and they have really inspired me to start thinking about the books I read on a deeper level; not just "that was good" or "that was bad". You've really got a great channel going :)

[@RyanRabid]

this comment means the world to me, thanks so much for leaving it :) hope you made some progress on that paper ;)

[@markmora2247]

Ryan - I think you've done a masterful job of a light review, and hope this will encourage many readers out her to discover the best of our American literature... this was a life changer for me, which I read the year it was published about the same time I discovered James Joyce (to whom much of the obtuse and obscure humor in this wonderful is owed) a deeper understanding of World War Two history... keep it coming - I am inspired to re-read yet again!

[@blodwynswayze1531]

great combination of enthusiasm, caution, erudition and understanding. really well received over here man!

[@linhlovese]

Thank you for all of your amazing videos, lovely Ryan!

[@RyanRabid]

(thanks for this comment)

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Great review of a greater book! So glad I discovered your channel. A glance at your books--it seems like we have a lot of similar tastes. When I first read GR, I was only able to give my job about 20% of my performance for 3 weeks. That was 2012. Now you've got me thinking it's time to revisit.

[@alexhirka]

Nice review. When I first read "Gravity's Rainbow" I could not imagine this amazing writer having another great work left in him after that. Since then "Against The Day" and "Mason & Dixon" have far outshone it for me - these latter two at the very top of my favorite novels ever.

[@brendanmcnally9145]

Now you've made me wanna give it another try. Nice work, Ryan!

[@unclesam997]

I think I saw your review of this four years ago when I was finishing up high school and was getting interested in it and I finally got the book this year and just finished it today. What a ride lol.

[@gil4560]

Hey Ryan, thanks for the awesome video. I love how this book sets you existentially adrift (who cares if it's pompous?) I felt that infinite jest also had a similar effect on me, granted I'm only like halfway through GR. I really love the book so far for many of the reasons you described. I love how he exposes a sort of symmetry between different disciplines which adds depth to the plot point. Obviously the role of parabolic arches in both rainbows and the hard sciences suggested by the title comes to mind, but I also loved the juxtaposition between physics and metaphysics, the abstract and the concrete. You get the point. It's also so damn relatable in a weird, convoluted way. THe characters in this story are all navigating the treacherous waters of WW2 europe and cope with it in different ways.

[@gregbogan7639]

Thank you for the review. One of the better ones I have seen. You touch on some good points regarding the structure. I read it last year, and I have to say it was one of the most confusing books I have ever read. Presently,I am reading Slow Learner by Pynchon and you can tell in that book he was just getting his feet wet.Keep up the great work.

[@RyanRabid]

Thanks for the comment :) I appreciate it, sorry I'm just getting around to answering!

[@dakotahrivers6640]

I want to start a book review channel like yours and your reviews are so well done! Any pointers on making a linear and effective approach to reviewing books within a few minutes would be great

[@soylentramen7795]

I enjoyed your review. This book has been my bathroom doorstop for years. I've read it several times. Hopefully this time through, I'll get it. Sympathizing with Slothrop, hating Pokler and respecting the author as a human phrase-turning machine only increase with each trip and the part where they jack the Red Cross truck is fuckin' comedy gold.

[@pallasathena1555]

I’m just about to finish my first read though (200/900 pages to go) and I’ve found it makes it easier to imagine the scenes as cartoons, like looney toons or something.

[@legzdiamond2356]

I’ve read and listed to the thing a few times now, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s actually a little more approachable as a poem, or - more correctly - a series of poems in which perspective, time, pacing, and character are more fluid, malleable suggestions than hard literary constructs. It also makes far more sense as a whole than it does as we move through it. So if you’re in it, stay in it until the end, even if that takes years and includes long breaks as was the case for me. It’s a great book with a wealth of amazing ideas, and - yes - somewhere encoded deep within, an awesome story and an unknowable mystery.

[@thisisyrrobotfriend]

Now I am both dying to read this and terrified to do so. THANKS A LOT. (great review)

[@RyanRabid]

(be terrified. be very terrified. (but also you can do it.))

[@pavlos307]

yrrobotfriend do try it,it'll compensate it you.

[@monishgowda5975]

Eagerly waiting for this.Awesome review as always. Try to review Mason and Dixon. Halfway through it and it's absolutely brilliant.

[@RyanRabid]

I'll consider it. Thanks for the comment!

[@paulkossak7761]

I'm reading GR for the third time and I'm still trying to decipher sections of the book, but to quote the great Harold bloom, "it's a difficult pleasure"

[@emilioocchialini6094]

An extravagant book I spent almost 6 months with. The last part is an absurd acid trip and sometimes (after 2 months) i reread some parts for more clarifications. In the meanwhile I've started Against the day and i'm already addicted to it after having read the first 100 pages. A rollercoaster of characters

[@RyanRabid]

I own Against the Day but it'll probably be awhile before I get around to it. Let me know how it treats you!

[@Earbly]

Lol, I'm on the last 40 pages of Gr (I've read it once before) and yeah it's just so crazy. It keeps getting more and more fragmented, more shattered apart, kind of like Slothrop's experience. I'm so split on what Pynchon book to start after I finish Gravity. Mason and Dixon looks incredible, as does Against the Day the mammoth-beast of a novel, or Bleeding Edge. Or Inherent Vice, I loved the movie so I imagine I'll love the book..

[@StankPlanks]

Great review mate!

[@MikeLong]

I subbed before making this comment-but in the two videos I've seen of yours, you've so succinctly explained why I've dug the book. √√√√√√√√√√

[@ADarkerShadeOfWhitney]

I've been wanting to find out if this was worth reading and a lot of people say yes! You convinced me pretty early on that this novel was something I wanted to give a shot, but "this really kind of reads like a trippy musical..." sold me. I will read this some day. All of your reviews that I have watched I have really enjoyed them all!.

[@RyanRabid]

It's a tough one but I also believe.... it's worth it. But also maybe it's worth.... waiting to read ;) (thank you so much)

[@Bryanseas]

A Darker Shade Of Whitney have you yet

[@BetwixttheBooks]

God dammit Ryan. I watch your videos and always end up sitting here wishing I was as smart as you. I want to read these books but I don't believe that I will get them and then I will be at the end of it all feeling like I wasted my time. The thing I love about books is their structures and the way that authors can very meticulously choose the way they lay out their words to effect a reader. I love it. I love finding that and marveling at it. I worry that I should be seeing it more, and that it is my own fault it doesn't appear. In any case I am both scared off and more determined to read it. -Michaela

[@Earbly]

The first time i read through this, after reading the ending, i was literally a blank slate. I pretty much didn't get anything. Don't worry about whos smart being smart whats smart, honestly hard work trumps loose floating intelligence. Put an insane amount of hard work into anything, you'll do fine. most people are better at coming off as knowing what they're doibg than they actually know what they're doing (this is a general statament dont take offense ryan :) ) Trust me my life is far less organized than yours

[@RyanRabid]

Hi Michaela -- just noticed I never saw this comment! UGH! Thanks so much for this -- I got all emotional just reading your comment. Not sure I deserve the compliments but I'll roll with it anyways. You and I are a lot alike then -- structure is maybe the thing I nerd out about hardest.

[@Savorist]

you're a great reviewer. Thanks

[@RyanRabid]

(thank youuuuu)

[@brianchristopher3816]

There is an interpretation of GR where Zak Smith made an illustration of every page of the novel. It's almost as awesome as the novel itself.

[@christianpatten4758]

I'm not a huge fan of audiobooks, but I found it helpful listening to George Guidall's performance of this while I read along from the book format at the same time.

[@gregdoerr1028]

Read William Gaddis. He is one of the great American Writers in the history of American Letters. Thomas Pynchon was one of his disciples, and readily talked about him as an influence. Read "Carpenter's Gothic", and then, his last novel, "Agape, Agape" ... to get a quick view of his Massive Brilliance. Then read The Recognitions, J.R., and A Frolic Of His Own. His Three masterpieces, and all of which have been forgotten by the people!! Read on , People!!

[@MrSammccallum]

Hi, recently discovered your channel and really love it! I, like you, have a real need to finish books I start so I worry about starting this! I have read and loved 'Infinite Jest' which sounds slightly similar and really enjoyed 'The Crying Of Lot 49', are these good odds for succeeding with this book?

[@RyanRabid]

I think those are great odds :)

[@Earbly]

I give respect to anyone who reviews this book. Not only a beast of a literary challenge, but reviewing it seems to me like an uncomfortably daunting proposition. GR is hilarious, disorienting, shocking both in content and in style/flow, and has a strange allure to it. Not a fun allure like going to a sunny beach with a bunch of friends, but akin to discovering a dark and malicious secret, and a morbid fascination drives you to find out more about it. The undertone of the whole novel is unnerving, at any given time there is a feeling of something being *wrong*. There are very, very few moments of there being a feeling of unadulterated calm, or happiness, or lack of paranoia. Definitely some psychic masochism involved in getting through this book. I'm on my second reading of it.

[@RyanRabid]

You described this rather well... so maybe you should take up the review challenge yourself. You're exactly right about that undertone -- it's eerie and unsettling in a way that doesn't compare to any other of the epically long books I've read.

[@Earbly]

Hey, how do I direct message you? I've never had any urge to message anyone on youtube, but I was re-watching this video and when you mentioned about the 00000 and finding out what it's there for I just wanted to know what you meant by it. Because this book has me so thrown on some things, that I would like to know if something flew over my head (along the million other things that flew over my head, a common experience with this book) that was right in my face. I believe I have some idea on the kind of metaphysical/symbolic thing about the 00000 but I'd love to get your input on it. And stop bashing yourself on this video! Bro you got a good heart so stop apologizing and downplaying yourself man, I understand you want to be modest and have humility, but you can be gracious, modest and still have strong convictions and stand by them with confidence! Anyway have a good day broseidon

[@OnceTheyNamedMeiWasnt]

You are the king. Thank you.

[@gsboss]

the fact that it has a lot of non literary topics makes it all the more better. god knows im tired of books about authors and movies about movies

[@AlexDeLarge1]

I love how he wrote this amazing knowledgeable and historical piece of art, and then, as if to deliberately smack the elitist college professors in the face, he writes Vineland, which completely tears down any notion that his work is completely impenetrable and opaque. It's lovely, fun pop fiction.

[@ghoulish6125]

Rank the AnCo records from least to most fav

[@victoriahiggs6501]

lmao I want the AnCo ranking

[@AlexDeLarge1]

@@ghoulish6125 Can't believe I didn't get a notification for this. Least favorite: Centipede Hz Painting With Danse Manatee Tangerine Reef Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished Fall Be Kind ODDSAC Prospect Hummer Here Comes the Indian Water Curses Strawberry Jam Merriweather Post Pavilion Sung Tongs Feels Most Favorite: Campfire Songs

[@ghoulish6125]

@@AlexDeLarge1 consider us as friends

[@victoriahiggs6501]

wow not what I expected but actually love this list

[@jhljhl6964]

How about a review of Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf?

[@gamebros5611]

“Siddhartha” is a very good novel too. It’s my favorite.

[@old3nglish_234]

Great review - I'm planning on reading this after Mason and Dixon, of which I'm about halfway through. My god, Pynchon can write.

[@RyanRabid]

My god he can :)

[@Earbly]

I'm so excited for Mason & Dixon. I read the first 10 pages just to get a taste and wow, the writing looks to be just so... magical and mesmerizing. Also, Cherrycoke who is in Mason and Dixon is also a name for a character in Gravity's Rainbow.

[@PEGGLORE]

My life sounds exactly like this book in terms of its depth and uniqueness. Probably more interesting connections in my story though, and it's real. Just need to write it all out, and I should have a best selling book then.

[@UberSchluh]

I personally found Ulysses more challenging. Loved this book though, every page of it! However, I'd like to make a buyer beware remark to anyone reading and say: If you can, get the edition Ryan has here. 1994 Penguin Edition. The 2013 deluxe edition with the cool cover? No - Penguin edited out some verses and formatted it in a different typeface and margin set, so if you want to use the Pynchon wiki, it's much harder since the page count (originally 760, 773 in the 2013 edition.) and formatting is off from the 1973 edition, which is the academically used and accepted edition. Also, the 1994 edition is cheaper and still in print :)

[@Earbly]

Also the Penguin edition has typos and printing errors. I know of at least one sentence that has literally half of it completely missing.

[@rigsby1454]

Ulysses is easier to read if you read it out loud I found.

[@zedprophfer]

I think Penguin has since fixed it, my deluxe edition has the sentence intact. The Vintage paperback is pretty good too, the pagination is totally off (902 pages), but it works.

[@Earbly]

+zedprophfer I really hope so, cause honestly that cover art is pretty awesome and really conveys the vibe of the novel

[@Earbly]

And i wish I could snag a 1973 edition with the sun and such. i love cover art

[@robertbaillargeon3683]

I have started Gravity's Rainbow around four times and never been able to get very far. It seems like it'd be up my alley, but I always get this nagging feeling that I'm missing something important. Sometimes it is very rewarding to work past that feeling in an inscrutable work of art, so I'm sure I haven't put the book down for the last time.

[@TheMaxman96]

The plot doesn't start making sense until part 2 (around page 180), so you're probably not missing anything. You just have to accept that some things aren't going to make sense for long stretches of time

[@RyanRabid]

It's also just one of those books where you learn by "accumulation". It doesn't get easier, exactly, you just get more information in your wheelhouse. Here's to hoping you do :)

[@RyanRabid]

true.

[@booksandallthatjazz1654]

I found the first part of the book more entertaining and easier to understand. There were so many paragraphs in the second half of the book that I did not understand. It's about paranoia, I get that. There were way too many thinly developed characters and the plot got lost a number of times in the plethora of short, random like stories. I ended up forcing myself to read 30 pages a day to get through the book. At times it was like trying to read in a language I had no understanding of. I enjoyed The crying of Lot 49 as there are bursts of brilliant original sentences, an interesting plot and well developed characters.

[@vrixphillips]

Huh. I always heard the reason he didn't get the award was because some of the judges actually couldn't finish it in time, but those that did said it was possibly the best novel ever written. But this certainly makes me excited to pick it up [once I have the time to devote to it ;_; ]

[@RyanRabid]

It's definitely worth the time... although it's a big ol' chunk of time indeed :)

[@hannahbrozenec5182]

I like your book reviews, but every time I watch one I'm afraid that there's going to be an earthquake and your heavy cinder block bookshelf is going to fall and crush your head. I don't know why but it really stresses me out.

[@LizSchubert]

Oh my god, I laughed at this comment because when I originally watched Ryan's video where he made this shelf, all I kept saying to the screen was "I hope you have a way to secure that thing since you live in California!" I think about it every time I watch one of his videos.

[@RyanRabid]

wait, people think this about my videos? And they think this quite often apparently? hahahahaha

[@RyanRabid]

Oh it's definitely not secured :)

[@richardlee4730]

Rocket as erect phallus of course and bomb explosion as orgasm which drags Freud into post modernism.

[@nunnabusiness7965]

The best. This is a dick-fever dream.

[@nunnabusiness7965]

You have to think of it as modern poetry. Rather Shakespearean, without the story.

[@freddywilson6784]

I once read it was really good to read with free-form jazz

[@baldinggrey5368]

So Gravity's Rainbow is like poetry in that it rhymes?

[@webusecom]

Easily the hardest book you've ever read or hardly the easiest book you've ever read?

[@kaylemkerr6989]

Nice wordplay!

[@Ryansghost]

It is sat here, unread, in my lap as I write this comment. Should I? I like the blurb; ' ghost train, metaphysical illusion '. I love the cover of this edition as well

[@jclcrow2621]

Baked in the intestinal oven, meant only to float in porcelain waters, etc, etc.

[@unclesam997]

Also I think it would be cool if you did these spoiler free versions (which you do so well) and then a spoiler ridden version because I’m curious about your thoughts on the novel in a lot of specific places. Of course this is a big ask so do with it what you will lol

[@pavlos307]

Great review,Pynchon is a god of literature.However,the edition I've read is 900 pages long by Vintage and it's probably the most complete one...??I haven't really seen that one on any reviews!

[@maxlover181]

Review one of David Foster Wallace's non-fiction books! Maybe Consider the Lobster or The Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, I'm interested in hearing your opinion. But particularly, I'm super excited to finally find a booktuber who reads and admires that same authors that I do.

[@RyanRabid]

I'm considering it :) though I do think The Pale King would be next on the list

[@benjammin6692]

@@RyanRabid ohh yes.

[@EzeICE]

Hey Ry, I know you read and review a lot of long novels, but talking about "very difficult" novels...you should review The Naked Lunch by Burroughs. ;) If you haven't done so, as yet, of course. Peace brotha.

[@Animalis_Mundana]

Check out Thomas Pynchon and the post-modern mythology of the underworld by Evans Lansing Smith.

[@RichardGonzales-vl8eg]

ROGER MEXICO LIVES!!!

[@michafilip7218]

I love me some Pension

[@BaronUnderbite]

Give your hand at reading Illuminatus if you can! Hardest and also the most rewarding book I ever read

[@pikiwiki]

" paranoia and being lost in a system that is much larger than you." pretty much nails the forces that led to WW2 as well as its' subsequent cultural effects

[@jaziybabe]

That circular narrative sounds really similar to that used in Citizen Kane

[@RyanRabid]

....looks like i need to watch Citizen Kane :)

[@jaziybabe]

ForTheLoveOfRyan haha yeah! it's a classic :D

[@yvettemadelaine]

Lorrrd have mercy - 100km runs and Gravity's Rainbow? You are a glutton for punishment, Ryan ;p

[@RyanRabid]

hey let's give credit where credit is due here :) only 50km runs lol.

[@yvettemadelaine]

Hahaha

[@tonylu2471]

My question, would the book be harder to read than marcel proust's swann's way? I'm interested in reading it.

[@suf3799]

Pynchon's a lot more harder.

[@tonylu2471]

@@suf3799 Okay. Thanks.

[@rjcarter2904]

Hilarious...thanks for the review.

[@RyanRabid]

of course!

[@waltero.8957]

If you want to keep reading Pynchon you should read and review Inherent Vice. I didn't read it, but after watching the movie I definetely want to. It deals with paranoia too.

[@RyanRabid]

I'm considering it :)

[@Earbly]

Joaquin is just fuckin' pure gold in that movie. I found the second watching to be more rewarding, i couldn't stop laughing

[@waltero.8957]

Drew After the third time watching it, it became one of my favorite movies. Definetely looking forward to reading the book.

[@isolationeitheror]

Thanks for giving reasons not to read this book. It just so happens that those reasons are things I don't want to deal with right now. The confusing nature of the book and the perversion.

[@brandenteicheira]

Got to 2:41 paused... went on amazon and just bought

[@Dorakskel]

do you feel that Gravity's Rainbow is more or less difficult than Ulysses?

[@chokingmessiah]

It's as difficult in its own way.

[@RyanRabid]

I'm not even sure there is an objective answer to this -- I read Ulysses with tons of resources on hand (a professor, a companion book, an actual trip to Dublin) and I read Gravity's Rainbow with just the Pynchon Wiki. For me? Gravity's Rainbow.

[@Dorakskel]

yikes, I'm close to finishing Ulysses (with annotations and research) and was thinking I'd pick up gravity's rainbow when I'm done. maybe I'll wait a little bit :P

[@jerryvarela9497]

I remember reading the poop sucking scene. Crazy af lmao

[@kalishakta]

Katja the queen of night.

[@kalishakta]

Brigadier Pudding.

[@baldinggrey5368]

So why is this circular structure good? because it shows the pointlessness of everything somehow? Just coming full circle maybe needs some clever planning but does it make a story better? if so, why?

[@tyroneslothrop3058]

How much is that edition?

[@nunnabusiness7965]

I tried Gravity on Audiobook and somehow I felt, weird. Like a deep voice was not what I imagined in my head, I will be trying to read it . The prose is the thing in post-modernism. Its lost in some ways.

[@nunnabusiness7965]

Also, my mother is a PHD in Literature. So, there's that.

[@rsdemarco]

Nunna Business I think George Guidal’s audio reading of GR is just genius. I really recommend giving it another whirl.

[@Concequence]

I jus have to say right off the bat... bless you for saying Pynchon and not PynchON.

[@dontreply69]

Its pronounced PynchON.

[@allenmahan9393]

5:29 begins

[@1060michaelg]

I like to read '70's era porn novels with grainy drawings. Hell, I don't even know why even said that...it's not even true...anymore. Seriously, though, how much of a debt (if any) does Thomas Pynchon owe to William S. Burroughs? Not spoiling for a fight here...just a simple question from a simple mind. Thanks.

[@vitorhugz]

You should review 2666

[@RyanRabid]

someday :)

[@jamesmccarthy6764]

I haven't read it Nobody has - Daniel Craig

[@cocaineanddunhills4801]

Zach??????

[@hadlerleco1]

Beautiful people of the internet? Have you ever used the internet? LOL

[@davidholman1258]

If GR was made into a movie, it would have to be directed by Christopher Nolan!

[@tesres2169]

But can he finish the book?

[@mounicornsplz]

i keep trying to read this book but always fail

[@RyanRabid]

it's a tough one, there's no question about it

[@elliotwalton6159]

You deserve a thumbs up just for reading Gravity's Rainbow.

[@jclcrow2621]

Pynchon's book is a piece of genius. But true, it is extremely hard to negotiate its terrain. It is the first hyperlinked, cross-referenced "fictional" novel. Take I.G. Farben for example. It appears in the novel throughout but in different guises and different levels of reference. But to grasp the unified field theory of the novel you need to understand all those "inside" references. It takes time and patience and KNOWLEDGE. That is its major problem. You must have a scholar's breadth of knowledge of the second world war and the NAZI corporate association to "get" this book. Good luck.

[@travischarlebois4674]

hahahah, what a unique band

[@RyanRabid]

I know, right??

[@CLINTAPV]

Hit like if u came here because of Knives Out movie

[@angelohieronymous2692]

Has anyone ever told you you look like a slimmer Anthony Fantano? Great content though!

[@SenorPescadorJohnson]

good one, the novel

[@TheHuggybear516]

Infinite jest is more important.

[@fortunamajor7239]

Why?

[@metaphysics3439]

Difficulty is not a reason to not read a book.

[@MrJustCallMeJames]

I have no idea what a poop to point to shocked face emotes are supposed to mean. Have a real explanation instead of something that can't be understoof.

[@OldBluesChapterandVerse]

Will likely never read it. You’re the first person I’ve ever encountered who likes it. Everyone else, from my wife to professors in grad school, consider it a bad joke.

[@mrmaxwell346]

So its child porn, scatphilia, and slapstick. Thats what I'm hearing please correct me if I'm wrong? I should really read it the thing feels like a wild ride.

[@djnross]

I have a stratospheric I.Q.and yet learned something new...FROM EVERY PAGE....If you don't read it to be edutained, you' ve missed the point.

[@richardbenitez7803]

Well .. why is a good deal of perversity supposed to be good for you? I thought it wasn’t.

[@billshire2681]

There's a fairly smart writer on the YT who 1} Has never seen Dr. Strangelove 2) And has never read Gravity's Rainbow. Thought you'd like to know.

[@trafn]

Can someone please explain to me why anyone would award this book anything? It is the literary equivalence of Dadaism ("Oh look, it's a urinal, no it's a book, no it really is just a urinal"). After reading over 300 pages, I've come to suspect this text is really the transcript from a 9 year old boy on crack delivering a 7 hour dissertation on the aberrant sexual behaviors of Londoners during the Blitz of WWII. If Thomas Pynchon had had a credible editor, this whole 700'ish page atrocity against trees would have been reduced to a 12-page pamphlet and then immediately thrown out. Is it worth continuing onward (I know it can't get worse), or should I just skip the remaining 400 something pages and see if I can mulch the entire heap into garden fertilizer? PS - I am considering reading pages at random rather than in numbered order, as I suspect this strategy might produce a more coherent story line. Thoughts?

[@mrglen47]

I started reading Gravity's Rainbow in college because it was assigned reading. I hated it at first, but I eventually realized this was partly because the professor only gave us three weeks in which to read it. I only got about half of it read before we moved on to the next book. I later finished it on my own, at my own pace, and decided I loved it. Yes, there are some truly shocking scenes, but the book is also the hallmark of what has become known as the Literature of Paranoia, and gets at the heart of why so many wars exist=greed for money. So with Pynchon you always get a grab bag of things, and probably no one likes everything, but to me the brilliant analysis of history outweighs the scatology and such things. Pynchon got easier to read during the second half of his career, so if this is your main real objection, you might still try one of his later works, especially his last two.

[@trafn]

Sorry, this book gets 0 out of five stars. It's a 776 page incoherent rant on self-hatred and self-loathing. Possibly the most wasteful use of paper and pen ever foisted upon the reading public. So poorly conceived and written that is does not even qualify as garbage. Probably the only writing that actually elevates David Lynch's Eraserhead and anything by Marguerite Duras to works of art. Having read it front to back on my first attempt, I can tell you this book is completely worthless. Thomas Pynchon should be forced to write hand-written letters of apology to anyone who even attempted to read this book. And would someone please inform him that ONE period at the end of a sentence is plenty.

[@trafn]

This book's only potential claim to fame is that it was the inspiration for the putrid toilet scene in Danny Boyle's 1996 movie Trainspotting. If that is in any way a contribution to society, then the empire is truly crumbling.

[@benjammin6692]

I scanned this book at a BnN cafe turning each page consecutively until I had finished (turning pages) along with my brownie. It was a memorable experience. Did I really "read" it? No, but I got the gist.

[@badkerproductions]

It's great to finish reading a book you hate. It's horrible to be turned off by a book and to quit reading it. You need to power though or be a real man.

[@xxxenaaa1993]

Plot twist: ya didn't read the book ! Lol

[@frankvelez691]

Too annoyingly American 😂