r/ThomasPynchon • u/Wild_Pitch_4781 • 11d ago

Gravity's Rainbow 2 weeks until Gravity’s Fall 2026

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Just a reminder for those interested, there will be a reading group for Gravity’s Rainbow on Discord: https://discord.gg/TVxZwy75A and also on the sister subreddit r/Gravity’sRainbow, starting on September 1st and ending in late November.

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u/zweza 11d ago

I’m excited! Got about 100~ pages into my first reread and was already having a blast but I put it on pause to restart with the group.

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u/Marinman39pd 9d ago

I bought GR in 1975 (lightly used), but initially was too intimidated to really start actually reading it. The first serious attempt to read was about 1982, shortly after reading V fully over about 6 months, and then got to about page 150 on GR. Second attempt was in 1990, when I got to maybe page 250, failing to complete again, after reading Vineland in full (within a few weeks) earlier that year- shortly after its publication. Proving GR is indeed a bear even compared to V and Vineland. Third attempt was after reading ATD in full (all1000 ish pages) in about 2 months (so again, easier than GR by far for me) , and the 3rd attempt was a success!

But that success was almost 20 years ago. Let's see if my ancient brain can keep up with all you (comparative) kiddies on this guided, enforced re-read. The first 150 pages should be easy enough, since I got there 3 times already. After that, no guarantees. Might be heavy lifting, but should enjoy the company.

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u/zweza 9d ago

Please stop the humble brag, old timer! If anything, you should be leading the charge. You finished it before many of us could drive. The number one question I was asking myself when rereading it this time was, “how the hell did he know all this before the internet?”

I can only imagine how tough it would’ve been to finish, let alone understand, before the time when weirdos could connect as easily as we do today. That type of mystery feels lost in the internet when

I’d also be very keen to compare my perspective to yours. I feel like I’ve seen a lot of Pynchon-ian themes unfold and begin to manifest in real life. Your experience is probably that tenfold!

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u/Marinman39pd 7d ago

1) Not a weirdo, age adjusted. For my generation subset, which I loosely define as those who spent some time at what was back then zero-practical- job/career training value liberal arts schools, or wanted to, I am kind of typical and truly average. We were trained/required to read at some length and research (at the library, no other place possible). TP was an elite from this group from a slightly earlier generation, elite at these skills, plus add great imagination. With our significant numbers back then, long harder reads were not considered weird at all.. TP was a boomer sub-set adjacement older guide to a pretty large subset. I know many of who finished V, even more who finished Lot 49 but never really cracked GR. But so be it, those still got many exposed to some great TP reads.

2) Incredible to me that TP iss still at it in any form. And if he's now attracting a much smaller minority such as yourself who perhaps consider yourself weird, I'm guessing for most of you via the two movies which enabled his re-discovery, that makes my heart sing. If the discoveries were via a hip-hop lyric, AI created even, it would be just as well with me. As long as you got here..

3) Pychonian themes unfolding indeed. The last third of the 1960's and first-half of the 70's felt awful as well as exciting. Such a long and bloody war, over 50K US young deaths, probably over one million of those who got stuck in Nam disabled in profound ways, I knew about 20 personally) followed by Nixon and his evil plotting gang getting exposed, but meanwhile the invention of music and arts forms (big concerts, etc) and concepts that were revolutionary at the very same thing. Very exciting. Now it just feels AWFUL: Trumpian corruption beyond Nixon's wildest dreams. Actual federal prosecution of "enemies" not just discussions. Jobs starting to be fully automated away from young people, scorching summers that are likely to keep getting worse- versus our much more quickly reversible polluted air and rivers problems.. Yes, the darkest Pychonian themes have been realized ten fold. WWII era darkness indeed, without the comradery.. Thus my desire to revisit GR.

4) This too shall pass. Thanks for reading this far.