Gravity’s Rainbow
This section serves as a repository for information about Gravity’s Rainbow. Although some of this information may be duplicated elsewhere in Spermatikos Logos, you will also find some original works which may be of great help to both the neophyte and the expert reader of the novel.
Spermatikos Logos Resources
GR Summary – This summary by Dr Larry Daw breaks the book down chapter by chapter, providing a witty synopsis for each one.
GR Introduction – The Quail’s introduction for the First Time Reader gives an overview of the novel, providing notes on structure, themes, and potential pitfalls.
GR Structural Analysis – The Quail’s analysis highlights the structure of the novel and provides some thought on liturgical dates, occult symbolism, and elements of heroic mythology.
The Illustrated Complete Summary of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow – This sister site holds Dr Larry Daw’s summary, illustrated with a wealth of original images lovingly created with Adbobe Photoshop.
Offsite Resources
HyperArts Guide to Gravity’s Rainbow – Created by Time Ware, this excellent site is an indispensible Web resource. An absolute must for any reader of GR!
Pomona College Gravity’s Rainbow Page – This site has some interesting articles about V-2 rockets, Werber von Braun, and other elements from the book.
Hyperbola: A Digital Companion to Gravity’s Rainbow – Created by Stuart Moulthrop – as if a name like that wasn’t a nudge from destiny – this page contains a hypercard stack that may be freely downloaded. A digital companion to GR, it is compatible only with the Macintosh platform.
A Companion’s Companion – Donald Larson’s “Illustrated Additions and Corrections to Steven Weisenburger’s A Gravity’s Rainbow Companion,” this excellent site provides additional glossing on Pynchon’s great novel, and contains a page of links to some very helpful sites relating to the novel and its many topics.
Papers
Some Things That “Happen” (More or Less) in Gravity’s Rainbow
 Bell, Michael Davitt
A chapter by chapter summary of Gravity’s Rainbow. Maintained by the author from his Homepage.
Male Pro-Feminism and the Masculine Giganticism of Gravity’s Rainbow
Chapman, Wes
From the May 1996 issue of Postmodern Culture, this paper discusses sex and politics in Pynchon’s masterpiece.
Amazon.com and the New Democracy of Opinion
Ketzan, Erik
Using Gravity’s Rainbow as a case study, Ketzan discusses the merits and flaws of Amazon.com’s user-review forum.
Paperware to Vaporware, The Nativity of Tyrone Slothrop
Lannark, Douglas Kløvedal
A detailed astrological account of Tyrone Slothrop. Online at Otto Sell’s Die sauberen Schweine.
Modernist Reading; Postmodernist Text: the Case of Gravity’s Rainbow
McHale, Brian
As the title suggests, this is a modernist reading of Pynchon’s masterpiece by postmodern scholar Brian McHale.
“The Feathery Rilke Mustaches and Porky Pig Tattoo on Stomach”: High and Low Pressures in Gravity’s Rainbow
Raudaskoski, Heikki
A discussion of the many aspecrts of the Zone by a professor from the University of Oulu in Finland. Kept at the Pomona College page.
“Look! Up in the Sky! It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s...Rocketman!” : Pynchon’s Comic Book Mythology in Gravity’s Rainbow
Stevens, H. Brenton
Gravity’s Rainbow, Pynchon, and comic books. Online at Middle Tennessee State University.
Reviews
One of the Longest, Most Difficult, Most Ambitious Novels in Years
Locke, Richard
From the March 11, 1973 New York Times, this is a famous review by the editor of the NYRB, and does a great job of pinpointing the major themes of Gravity’s Rainbow, even if Locke found parts of it cold and dull.
Books
Gravity’s Rainbow (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics, New Edition)
Thomas Pynchon / Paperback / Published 2000
Our Price: $15.16
Gravity’s Rainbow (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics, Old Edition)
Thomas Pynchon / Paperback / Published 1995
Our Price: $13.56
Gravity’s Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon / Paperback / Published 2000
Our Price: $14.36 ~ You Save: $3.59 (20%) (January 2000)
A ’Gravity’s Rainbow’ Companion : Sources and Contexts for Pynchon’s Novel
Steven C. Weisenburger / Paperback / Published 1988
Our Price: $16.00
Pynchon’s Mythography: An Approach to Gravity’s Rainbow (Crosscurrents/Modern Critiques, Third Series)
Kathryn Hume / Hardcover / Published 1987
Our Price: $31.95 (Special Order)
The Style of Connectedness: Gravity’s Rainbow and Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Moore / Hardcover / Published 1987
Our Price: $37.50 (Special Order)
Alice’s adventures in wonderland and Gravity’s rainbow: a study in duplex fiction
Danuta Zadworna-Fjellestad (Out Of Print)
Approaches to Gravity’s Rainbow
Charles Clerc(Editor). (Out Of Print)
Pynchon: Creative Paranoia in ’Gravity’s Rainbow’
Mark Richard Siegel. (Out Of Print)
A Reader’s Guide to Gravity’s Rainbow
Douglas Fowler. (Out Of Print)
Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow (Modern Critical Interpretations)
Harold Bloom(Editor). (Out Of Print)
Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity Rainbow : A Study of Its Conceptual Structure and of Rilke’s Influence (American University Studies : Series Iv, English Lan)
Charles Hohmann. (Out Of Print) |
