Rating: 
Summary: My criticism of the Modern Library
Review: There are at present 130 reviews of Gravity's Rainbow.
I just wanted to say that I've just finished "Lord Jim," "Lord Skim," if you will, but I was on a mountain in Tibet with nothing else to read, so I read the whole thing. It was the Modern Library edition, which conveniently lists the ML's top 100 English books of the 20th century. Gravity's Rainbow is perhaps THE novel of the twentieth century. What is its subject, after all? And yet it is not on the list. ML, wake up. No one reads Finnegans Wake. So sez this would-be seaman a-a-an reader.
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Summary: The Best Novel I Have Ever Read
Review: I bought this off a remainder stack at my favorite bookstore in the summer of 1994. I started it, and promptly threw it under the bed, where it remained for a few months. I just wasn't used to reading something like this....a meandering plot, thousands of characters all doing their own thing, asides from the author...it was too much. Later that summer I picked it up again, determined to find out what the big deal was. What I did was make myself not think about it how it all tied together, forced my brain not to think about this logically. And it worked...the beauty of Pynchon's prose enveloped me over the course of a weekend. I couldn't bring myself to set it aside and go on to more important things. I remember how at some point it all began to resolve itself in some way...all these seemingly loose plot strands, all leading off to who knows where, all began raveling themselves into some sort of coherent whole. I was listening to the Indians playing the Twins. Not really listening...this was back in the days when the Tribe stunk on ice. The game was on for background noise...daily living static to read this against. The game went on into the wee hours of the morning...something like 20 innings. The Twins won it on a home run, and just at that point I ended the book, just when the tip of that Rocket falls. Maybe you had to be there.
Rating:
Summary: don't believe the hype...just dive on in!!
Review: i bought this rather thick book completely unaware of its status as "one of the hardest books of the English language", struggled some with it, was humbled, and finished it completely in awe! true, there were tons of obscure references i didn't get, whole passages completely obscure, but the whole comes shining vividly through the parts! this book is as much about the process of reading it, as it is about plot, narrrative style(s), imagery...be at peace with being overwhelmed by a book, persevere, and you will be richly rewarded.
Rating:
Summary: The intricate web of a skilled master
Review: It is very hard to write a review of this book which doesn't
come close to the length of the original. Pynchon makes
the reader work. He tests your continued awareness and
concentration and rewards you with an great tale told by
a writer with that rare capacity of being able to entertain
and enlighten, often within the same sentence. He is one
of the best at developing complex scenarios which are
carried through the various permutations by an able cast
of characters. You may struggle with this book initially,
but as is true with many things in life, you will be
rewarded for your efforts
Rating:
Summary: One of those great trips...
Review: GRAVITY'S RAINBOW may be to post-modernism what Joyce's ULYSSES is to moderism. Something like an encyclopedic guide for the second half of the twentieth century - at least that's what the inner flap on my edition says. This is not an "easy" book. It's extremely long, and probably more complex - Pynchon fills every page with new characters, new settings, new ideas - than anything else I've ever read. A description of the "plot" will hardly suffice. There's one up above here at Amazon, if you're interested. Scenes ranging from the tender and profound to the ridiculous and disgusting come and go with abandon, rendered in prose that is often inventive and beautiful. The book never answers the questions it brings up about technology and mortality, but perhaps that's its appeal. It's an ambiguous text that each reader can find his/her own insights into. If you have time on your hands and a little reading ambition, this is one novel that's worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: A review of the first 47 pages
Review: Ok, this is only a review of the first 47 pages, as that is all I can stomach for now. I really want to finish, and I will try, but it's like having my teeth pulled. I have to preface this by saying that I love, I WORSHIP Crying of Lot 49. I've read it 5 times, and it was pure joy every time. Maybe because Pynchon was writing in a 'genre' (a detective story) he exercised some very welcome discipline and gave some attention to structure. And it is his briefest novel as well. In any case, it is complex yes, but utterly clear. I read V, which I finished, but may as well have been in Urdu. I loved sections, and there was some stuff about the mechanization of the human as being the ultimate decadance, or something, and I remember being wowed and wishing I understood it more fully. Slow Learner--what the hell? Vineland was like a root canal. Embarrassing and awful. Mason and Dixon just looks like it would give me carpel tunnel to carry around. So now "Rainbow." I'm sorry, but I just don't buy the idea of books that need to be 'decoded.' All great works are accessible on a very basic level, even though there are deeper levels (shakespeare, mozart). My issue with Gravity's Rainbow is that in isn't accessible on that initial, basic level. Pynchon achieves this effect by seeming to leave out every other sentence. As I said, page 47 here, and no narrative thread has emerged nor any character that is distinguishable from any other, or that I care about in the least. I know it's a long book, but by page 47, I would hope to know something, anything. Mr Pynchon is very clever. He is clearly a genius, and he writes passages that are often stunning in their virtuosity. But these are not enough. Why should I keep reading? Pynchon (like his spawn David Foster Wallace) can't tell a story. And brilliant masturbation is simply not good enough. In this regard, Pynchon, Wallace et. al. are not even at the level of Stephen King when it comes to basic writing skill (say what you want, he knows how to tell a story). Will keep plugging away, and I hope to eat all these words when and if this book takes some shape. Michael Manley
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Summary: It's a book, not a puzzle
Review: I don't think I need to reiterate the many hundreds of reviews that talk about how dense or difficult the book is to get through - not only would it be redundant, but I think they miss the point. This book is not about slogging through an unusual writing style, a mystery, or a myriad of characters. It is about the experience of reading. If you are not hooked by the opening scene, in which we are treated to a banana feast including banana flapjacks, bananas in honey, banana sausage, banana drinks, the scent of which awakens a group of soldiers sleeping willy-nilly practically on top of one another, well, just put the book down and move on. Pynchon is playing games when he makes this book "dense." But, if you just sit back and enjoy the flow you will get everything out of it.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhere over the Rainbow....
Review: With this book on the shelf since January and having first read works by the post-Pynchonites Danielewsky and Stephenson, and Gaddis' Recognitions, often mentioned among the Gravity's Rainbow (GR) precursors, I finally summoned up the courage to attack this literary equivalent of Fermat's Last Theorem. Following the ubiquitous advice of getting Weissenburger's companion, I made my way through this rock in 25 days. It was a blast. Few books have received such split decisions like GR. Even after almost 30 years the debates still continue, and GR's lasting power can still be assessed by its ability to either cause disgust or religious devotion. I have read a lot of the various reviews and tend to agree with the more positive ones. For all those still in need of some meaningful guidance I would like to advice reading Richard Locke's NYT review, which can be found on the web. I think he really did an excellent job. There is aspect of Locke's review that I tend to disagree with: He considered the book is too long and doesn't feel "together." Paraphrasing a well-known newspaper slogan, I would almost subtitle GR: If you got it, you didn't get it". Weissenburger's often sloppy- and when it comes to scientific references frightfully error-prone- companion goes a long way in showing how meticulous Pynchon put GR together. On top of that, his uncanny literal virtuosity enables him to construct an endless labyrinth in which the prose itself becomes the equivalent of Ariadne's thread. As such, I consider the perceived lack of "togetherness" as purely intentional. It is very effective in fanning the flame of paranoia, one of the novel's main themes, in the reader. Reading this book felt like moving up the river of 20th century history to find the literary equivalent of Conrad's Kurtz. Upon encountering the revelation of all Slothrop's conquests being fictitious, I immediately heard David Byrne saying: stop making sense. From that moment on, you simply realign your preconceived notions and embrace GR's post-modern mantra. Reading GR was both hard work and a lot of fun. I have never read anything that so flawlessly integrates a true understanding of science with such a "poetic" sense of language. I agree with Locke that the book dearly misses any kind of heart, but that again is not unintentional. GR is a book like no other, and to me it made an awful lot of sense.
Rating:
Summary: Another language
Review: I tried numerous times to tackle this brilliant book in English, but failed because I was too uptight not understanding everything. I then found it translated into Italian and since my Italian isn't perfect, I relaxed in my reading. The English text is now in my hand again. Just enjoy the ride, folks.
Rating:
Summary: Less talk, more reading
Review: It appears to me that the worst thing about this novel turns out to be the people who read it and feel compelled to post their reactions on Amazon.com. It's hard to know which are more pitiful, the glowing reviews or the irritable dismissals. I guess my only consolation is that GR will continue to be GR long after all of you dweebs and feebs and illiterate college graduates have ceased farting in your corduroys.
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