[Gagged Man]

I've heard some things about Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. I was wondering whether anyone here could tell me if it is any good and worth a buy (when I get some more cash)?

[Hobbit]

Pynchon is very strange... I have a work colleague who loves it but I wouldn't say it is for all tastes. Tends to be disjointed and fragmented and can take a while to get into I understand. Looks a bit like The House of Leaves book to me, but with a greater vocabulary range perhaps?

I think Gravity's Rainbow is in Pringle's 100 Greatest Books, though... so it might be worth a read.

[lemming]

Uh, you don't need cash to read a book... go to the library. They will undoubtedly have Pynchon. ;)

I personally found Gravity's Rainbow unreadable, if only because I'm sick of authors who focus on their own cleverness, especially in the context of satirizing war. I read Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse Five, and that about exhausted that genre for me. So I put down GR after about 10 pages when I felt my hands tightening around an imaginary windpipe... Pynchon's!

Geez, I'm bashing everything today... I must be grumpy... oh well
:cool:

[Gagged Man]

Thanks everybody. I think I may like the book, I read Catch 22 and that jumped around everywhere but was still enjoyable.

And lemming, why did I not think of the library? I'd say senility but I'm not old enough:D

[Llama]

You should at least give it a try. Not everyone enjoys it, but it's something of a postwar classic and a lot of people are raving fans. I personally enjoyed the book but thought it could have used some serious editorial pruning (as with MASON & DIXON), so in the end I prefer V or CRYING OF LOT 49. VINELAND I didn't like.

[fortytwo]

, I read Catch 22 and that jumped around everywhere but was still enjoyable.
Now you're talking G.M.! Catch 22, It's my favourite book of all time
42:

[chocky]

I read Catch 22 and that jumped around everywhere but was still enjoyable.
Catch 22 is a great book. If you liked that read God Knows also by Joseph Heller. It is a truly funny, laugh out loud book.
As for Gravity's Rainbow, I could never get into it.

[Ken Korczak]

Gravity's Rainbow! That damned book! I bought it when I was a teenager (a long time ago) and have tried to read it and stopped about 200 times.

It's widely considered a great work of art. But every time that book comes up in conversation, over and over again I hear people say: "Yeah, I stopped on Page X!"

[Sef]

I REALLY liked _The Crying of Lot 49_ and recommend it to everyone. Never tried Gravity's Rainbow due to reader reviews like the ones posted above.