Rating: 
Summary: humor in book is underappreciated
Review: I would like to focus on the parts of this book that are very funny. The song lyrics and limericks are all very good, as is the "gross-out dinner" where the boys alliterate food names with unappetizing words and make everyone vomit. And the Kenosha Kid bit in the beginning takes the cake. So funny, this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Not to everyone's tastes but...
Review: ...it is hard to find a coherent plot in Pynchon's post-modern masterpiece.
"Gravity's Rainbow" is am immense novel written in Ullysean style, i.e. stream of consciousness, making it hard to fit plot in any chronological order. In fact rumour has it that doctoral theses have been written on a kind of linear summation of the tome.
Not being an English Lit major, or recieved any education that would help me understand this story I debated doing independent research to try to further enlighten any gracious readers' of this review. However in the end I decided to forego any gratuitous analysis of the text.
Because bottom line, sure one could study this epic in courses, and on one site a reader asked in fact why it wasn't studied in high school, (not going to digress further along this vein), but that is just an example of the density of Pynchon's work. As I started to say thoughm that is only half the story behind Gravity's Rainbow. It deserves to be a classic, or at least neo-classic of literature, for the style of writing, and thematic importance. It also deserves to be read simply for the enoyment of reading, which is why I didn't qoute many papers writen on it, I read it not to study but to luxuriate in the love of language Pynchon obviously shares with many readers. It admittedly took e over 100 pages to get into, as I hadn't read anything stylistically comparable since Joyce, but once I really started reading it, I loved it for its uniqueness, boldness, and for the characters (although the achilles heel as characterization isn't the strongest trait.) Sara Nelson in her memoir stated she meant to read this title because lots of people of intelligence have tackled it, I say tackle it for the sheer joy of Pynchon's manic literary energy.
Rating:
Summary: a heavy spectrum
Review: so this was my first pynchon book, and i was startled to see that folks other than joyce were willing to write books that required such an intensive effort (especially in the form of aid from a reader's guide). gravity's rainbow is astounding. from the beginning in pirate's green- (for the sake of) banana- house to slothrop's scurrying about in a giant pig costume, pynchon never fails to endow the book with humor, drama, high-minded-ness, and a healthy helping of the utterly low-brow. few books have the courage to take us as far as "rainbow" does - geographically, mentally, emotionally, or psychologically. between slothrop's conditioning, his willingness to put it ("it" being life, freedom, i.e. pretty much everything) on the line just to smuggle some top-notch hash, and his infallible ability to endanger pretty much everyone within five miles of him to carry out various sexual exploits, pynchon has created a character that it is, in the end, difficult to dislike, even if you think you should (for some deep-seeded, unconcious reason). a most interesting ride to say the least. pynchon's prose can be difficult, but it is not without merit. any-and-all effort put into this book will yeild extreme reward. it is thanks in-no-small-part to pynchon that i find non-post-modern books to be lacklustre and, at times, trite. do yourself a favour: pick up this book, get yourself a good sidekick, and enjoy one of the gems from the last fifty years.
Rating:
Summary: To The Counterforce!
Review: The book is a challenge, but enjoyable if you follow it on its own terms. My advice: start on page 1, and keep reading until the end, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS! You are not an idiot if some of the episodes make no sense. Some of the stranger paths of Pynchon's thought probably require a few readings to sort out anyway (and undoubtedly, some paths that strike home to one reader will not for another). Don't let it bother you, however. The book is actually very soundly constructed, and a careful first reading will reveal a wonderfully unique take on the second half of the twentieth century. Though the novel is set mainly during WWII, "Gravity's Rainbow" is really about the "Age of Anxiety" brought on by the Cold War. The Rocket is as big a symbol in this book as the whale is in Moby Dick, but it also serves as an anchor to the novel's myriad themes. Anyone growing up during the Cold War knows the dread, paranoia, and sometimes salvific humour the spector of remote-control nuclear weaponry conveyed, and will recognize the opening "screaming across the sky" of the V-2's as a precursor to such nasty peacemakers (the parallel, or equivalency, depending on your read, is made explicit in the final pages of the book). Keep this in mind, especially during the parts (and they will come) where you are wondering what the hell the book is up to. Ultimately, this is a book about paranoia in an insane world, and whether or not you agree with Pynchon's somewhat juvenile politics, he captures the feel of modern madness perfectly. This is a an epic liebestod of the nuclear age (which is still our age, though we'd rather not admit it), a kind of literary, speaking-in-tongues version of "Dr. Strangelove." If you have the stomach for it, you will probably love it.
Rating: 
Summary: Offensive Trash
Review: An entire novel centered on the unrealistic, flimsy idea that a man getting erections will attract missiles? Some missiles may be heat seaking but the temperature of blood found in the groin during erections is no longer near the degree it takes to attract heat seaking weaponry. Get your facts right, Pynchon. A scientist you ain't. As for the books social commentary on a whole, I can say this: I have not read the book, but I watched the film, and to be blunt, I've seen better film on teeth. Pick up a classic Steven King novel like IT instead of this pretentious crud.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Sir Real
Review: Gravity's Rainbow (1973) was published during the vietnam and Nixon era, a time when many americans began feeling suspicious about their government. And while GR is a historical fictional novel about Pynchon's imaginary years after WWII, the ominous tone, which permeates the entire book, is rather timely and fitting. GR is broken down into 'episodes' that shy away from being 'chapters' because of the hyper-fragmented narration. Although entirely in 3rd person, the same 'objective' incidents are told through different subjective angles, at througout various parts of the book. While this device has been used by Faulkner and Gaddis, Pynchon manages to do it so differently, so drastically, that the sheer style resonates deeply for readers. Like most literary masterpieces, the book isn't really about anything except abstract ideas: Association Psychology, Relative Time and Space, Parallel Dimensions, Nuclear Physics, Colonization, War, Government Conspiracies, etc. Here, Pynchon flexes his intellectual, academic, and historical muscles (an attribute which is usually very annoying, but not in this case). Pynchon admitted to using the dictionary/thesauras for esoteric words in writing GR, in the introduction of "Slow Learner", a compilation of earlier short stories. This may seem inauthentic, but such arbitraryness is fitting, as Pynchon's novels serve to implicate the Post-modern condition- semantic relativity and over saturation of semiotic input. The novel flashes around like a commercial, blinging lights and strange noises- cutting off abrupty to something entirely unrelated. There are plots, characters, dialog, etc.- but the novel moves through like a dream- where characters and certain experiences become so fragmented that the objective 'reality' of the novel ceases, and the world of Pynchon begins. One note of advice, have a pad and pencil ready, before you even open the book. There are as many characters as there are scenes, sometimes a dozen on a single page, each one so vivid, and so unreal.
Rating:
Summary: Must be experienced!
Review: If there is a main focus to the book (and, really, there is, though it's not so simple as pinpointing it), it would be the story of Lieutenant Tyrone Slothrop, an American chap living it up in England near the end of WWII. Slothrop is a guy with a real problem. More than one, as a matter of fact. For one thing, every place he has sex winds up, within a few days, getting hit by a V2 rocket. For another, British Intelligence notices this trend, and they really want to know what's up! But these are only the humble beginnings of Slothrop's real problems, because he's about to be thrust into a world of delusion, illusion, paranoia, frustration, espionage, surreality, witchcraft, and wild parties, all of which will chase him headlong down a path toward an end no 'character in a story' could ever guess at... And only maybe is it the 'mysterious Rocket 00000'. You must read this book! Also recommended: Will@epicqwest.com by Tom Grimes
Rating:
Summary: Gravitys Rainbow is:
Review: Experience a continuous, dynamic stream of enthralling verbosity and unrivaled creative use of the English language. At any given moment, life may not make sense, but it changes you as a person, at every moment. Every discrete moment, if we are to take the word of Weirestrass. It tastes wonderful, like succulent creamy banana bread, or zucchini bread, ideally moist. Eating, gnawing, enzyme accelerated pre-digestion reactions and bubbles. Some physicists, of course, dedicate their entire careers to studying the mysterious, musing bubble. Pressing and pushing mandibles, and hydraulic presses, also pushing. A push, a push on pushes, dancing with a spark through a valve and along a tube, quivering like a caterpillar uncertain to move, with an integration, into a whole, a new whole. Piles and piles of sparks, as if specks of light were as real as specks of sand. Each part of the whole is, of course, the same thing, all one, at the Zero. The ultimate Zero, which somehow has evaded the ubiquitos uncertainity. Can any normal human really escape the uncertainty? Gosh, that seems, well, utterly relevant. Relevant, of course, to the schwarzgerat, which controls the Zero... And the Zero? Well, the people that know about it don't like to talk about it, because, I gather, they haven't successfully achieved the internal calm of Zero uncertainty. But we don't want to indulge in the evasive obfuscation of a talented salesman or politician, rather we want that straightforward distortion of experiences provided by a propaganda artist, visions of the ideal race, the ubermensch, why an eugenics program is inherently permitted as an institution, or so it is said, though really why such a program ever exists is only because the Rocket permits it. The Rocket, using the parabola, that beautiful curve that is an inherent structure of the Universe, perhaps more so than the rest of Mathematics..... Advertisements of the Reich: the double integral SS, integrating over the parabola. The Rocket and the parabola, and launch, and Brennschuss, and penetration... rapid death determined completely by statistics, that inhuman science, but that which no human can escape. That is how evolution works, by such dreadful numbers. Evolution is part of the whole, and it has now produced the Rocket, so many occurrences of chance and chaos, leading up to the Rocket, which pervasively clings to the mind, against all rational will, as something inevitable. They say that determinism is logically untenable, but they never talk about the Rocket, which turns death into a matter of numbers, and so the rocket controls life. Of course, Slothrop makes his own choices only when the Rocket lets him make his own choices. But we all belong to the Rocket.
Rating:
Summary: 20th Century Masterpiece
Review: This is arguably Pynchon's best work, and that is saying a lot. Yes, this book is long, and yes, it is chalenging. But it is also packed full of wit and insight, and it is a joy to read.
Rating:
Summary: ridiculous, and wonderful.
Review: Pynchon's _Gravity's Rainbow_ is one of my favorite novels. There, that's out of the way. I will try to describe the novel for you. It's big. The story is sprawling, all over Europe during the end of WWII, and following that war. The characters are numerous. The plot is ridiculous and absurd; the writing is beautiful. Most importantly, the novel is funny. I laughed aloud repeatedly. It took me a month to read this book; at times it is grotesque and awful, and difficult to digest. It is Pynchon's longest and most difficult-to-read novel. Most similar to V., it is profane and never delicate. The chaos and absurdity of war is revealed without precision, but with explosive mastery. I recommend this novel, especially to fans of Neal Stephenson, John Barth, William Gass, and William S. Burroughs. I also believe that Catch 22 fans will enjoy. If you have read other novels by Thomas Pynchon, please also begin _Gravity's Rainbow_. If you have not read others by Pynchon, start with his first novel _V._. The title is just the letter V.
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