Gravity’s Rainbow is a big, scary book.
It would’ve won the Pulitzer Prize in 1974, but the “advisory board” vetoed it after the jury’s decision. They decided that they would rather give no award that year at all than allow Thomas Pynchon to have it.
It’s an intense non-linear journey through a few dozen perspectives as World War II goes down and one man seeks the Swarzgerat, the 00000, the ultimate war-ending rocket. At first, it makes sense. Then… it doesn’t.
If you like video games: Jonathan Blow, famous for creating Braid and The Witness, cites this book as one of his main influences.
Carrying The Weight
On my last trip to NYC, I took with me: a few days’ of clothing, the book I was reading at the time (Anna Karenina, another monster of a book), a few trinkets, and… Gravity’s Rainbow. All 800 pages of it.
This is an old, terrible, hilarious photo from my first ever trip to NYC back in ~2013. I think I bought this dollar slice right after arriving.
I plan to bring it with me whenever I leave town. Vacation, tour, whatever, this book will be along for the ride.
Gravity’s Rainbow is an incredible reminder that anything is possible. It’s a famous, influential book. Beloved by some, hated by many, and just seen as bizarre and pointless by a bunch of other people. Whatever your opinion is, if you pay attention to literature, you know about the book.
Furthermore, the author has never given a single interview. His cultural “apperances” can be counted on one hand - mostly, he lent his voice to two simpsons episodes of all things.
It’s the real thomas pynchon speaking his lines in this episode!
Creativity Isn’t Easy
…and it never will be. Creativity is about bringing something new into the world. It’s a scary and unreliable process.
By carrying this book with me around the world, I’ll never forget that. I’ll always be a stone’s throw away from one of the strangest and most creative works of art to achieve major literary recognition. He’s like Captain Beefheart, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol slammed together into a fearsome three-headed beast.
Jackson Pollock is badass too
If he can bring his art to life in a way that resonates with so many people, yet challenges the norm so much - I’d like to think that I can too. And that YOU can too. Let’s do it, team.
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