So I started reading this novel 351 days ago, and tonight at 8:11 pm, I finally finished it. I can stay that this reading experience has been one of the most involved and difficult reading experiences of my life, but that I am glad I made it through all 776 pages of this text. And while I can't say that I understand every single part of this book, well I did feel I have gained something even if my thoughts are still formulating. While reading this book as many of you know I have been in graduate school for my credential and Master's degree. I originally started this blog as a way to record my own struggle to develop comprehension, and I definitely feel having to write about this book, even in sparse distant spurts along the way has helped some. I will continue to write about this text in this blog as I look back and passages and work to make some meaning of this text. To all of those people out there still struggling to finish, well all I can say is that it is worth it, because the truly beautiful passages Pynchon is able to create throughout the novel are worth the confusion.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Saturday, December 24, 2011
The Eternal Return
So the worst semester of grad school is finally over and I can return to this. I have been really trying as I finish the last 100 pages this month to really think thematically what might I draw out of this post-modern novel. It has definitely been a struggle along the way to piece the text together. But as I've been compiling a note book with my annotations and my book notes in one place to look for themes I have realized there is so much play with temporality in the text, that it is meant to be utterly dis concerning and very hard to pin point time, history, characters through the multiplicity of narratives. I think that this is done to really allow for a plurality of story lines, characters and ideas to flourish. There is so much play between type of text, i.e plays, poems, and prose, that I believe this also helps to play with this concept. I have really been enjoying the end of the text so far and I am slowly working towards actually writing what one might be able to consider an academic paper soon, but it is still slow going and a struggle.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Myth and Monsters
As I read the text, I am constantly struck by the parallels I see to Greek and Roman mythology especially through Pynchon's use of creatures and monsters within the text. I am rather embarrassed to admit this, but classics is by far the area of literature I lack the most prowess in and I will need to do a bit more re-reading and research before I can draw any distinct connections. I won't have time to read "The White Goddess" by Robert Graves until December, but I hope to read this book and see how it connects. The wonderful Jack told me that Pynchon was reading it when he wrote "Gravity's Rainbow." So I'll have to go for now, but I will definitely pick up this topic later.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
I'm Back and Hopeful
Sorry to my dear two subscribers who follow this blog, I have unfortunately been too long absent from posting. But graduate school, and my master's project on the acculturation of new immigrants and the development of citizenship in Title I schools has taken over my life. But much to my joy, I finally have a week off to continue my journey and writings about Gravity's Rainbow, and although I may have been absent all these months, Gravity's Rainbow has never left my heart or the back of my consciousness. New posts soon!
~ G
~ G
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Future Topics and Ideas for this Blog:
So I've been thinking a lot about where I want to take this blog and I would love to work in these Topics:
1. Plot Notes and Details
a. Summaries of episodes and sections
2. Language Play
a. structure
b. narrative
c. languages
d. songs
3. Cultural References
a. literature references
b. trans-marginal phenomena
c. BBC
d. Times (London)
e. Map of London/ Map of Europe
f. Astology
g. Advent calendar and history
h. Folklore
i. Mathematics/ Technology
4. Historical Notes and References:
a. WWII
b. Britian
c. Germany
d. America
e. Military History
f. Holocaust
g. Technological developments during the war
h. Rockets
i. Nazis
j. Pavlovian Psychology
5. Text Annotations
6. Themes and Threads:
a. Circular narratives and events
b. Secular
c. Science
d. Hysteron Proteron and Reversal
e. redemption
f. monsters
g. touch
1. Plot Notes and Details
a. Summaries of episodes and sections
2. Language Play
a. structure
b. narrative
c. languages
d. songs
3. Cultural References
a. literature references
b. trans-marginal phenomena
c. BBC
d. Times (London)
e. Map of London/ Map of Europe
f. Astology
g. Advent calendar and history
h. Folklore
i. Mathematics/ Technology
4. Historical Notes and References:
a. WWII
b. Britian
c. Germany
d. America
e. Military History
f. Holocaust
g. Technological developments during the war
h. Rockets
i. Nazis
j. Pavlovian Psychology
5. Text Annotations
6. Themes and Threads:
a. Circular narratives and events
b. Secular
c. Science
d. Hysteron Proteron and Reversal
e. redemption
f. monsters
g. touch
Book Scan:
Before reading the text I annotate each section's title page, please see below. I also annotate mid-read as well.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Summaries of Episodes in BTZ: Episodes 1-5
There are 21 episodes in Beyond the Zero and I am going to write a quick summary of the events of each episode, but for now summaries for episodes 1-5 are below:
Episode 1:
The novel begins with the sound of a rocket going through the sky and Pirate's dream. In this first episode we are introduced to some of the more prevalent characters including: Pirate and Bloat. We are also immediate aware that we reading about military men. There is a short funny vignette about a banana breakfast that still puzzles me as to it's purpose except for it's absurdity. The rockets and our European location are also introduced in this episode.
Episode 2:
This episode begins to pit England and Germany against each other and appears to take place in December of 1944. This immediately tells us as readers that we are in the time period of World War II. The military men begin to wake from a night of drinking as the scene unfolds. This is the episode which also first introduces to a few structural and writing conventions featured in the text including the inclusion of French, songs, colors, sounds, and a use of temporality that goes back and forth before the war and in the present day. We are taken back to a memory of Pirate's from 1935 with a Adenoid (a "lymphatic monster") (Pynchon, 2005, 15).
Episode 3:
This episode features a depiction of Teddy Bloat's lunch hour eating a banana sandwich and his obsession with Slothrop's star map. This is the first episode where we are introduced to the key character Slothrop. In this scene we learn that Slothrop's map of sexual conquests matches up exactly with the map that features where the rockets hit. We are also introduced to the character of Tantivy in this episode who at first is used as a foil for Slothrop.
Episode 4:
In this episode, we finally actually meet our key character Slothrop, who is notorious for his charismatic ways with women, and smoking. Slothrop works fr ACHTUNG looking at rocket bomb disasters much like the Blitz which occured in London during the war. It is explained to us that the color of the stars on the map depict how Slothrop feels that day and range from blue to gold. His memory of the women themselves seems to fade over time, but the color and the stars are ever present. Slothrop has a desire to have a rocket with his name painted on it, and seems somehow to be chasing death by chasing rocket disasters. There is a short vignette about Slothrop's relatives' tombstones and their inscriptions; all of which seem to be very tongue in cheek and make a comment or sneer about death itself.
Episode 5:
The fifth episode features Jessica and Roger who attend a seance together. This chapter points out another dichotomy of the secular and the spiritual in the text. We are also introduced to "The White Visitation" which is a house for the PISCES unit. The PISCES unit, yes named metaphorically after the astrological sign stands for: Psychological Intelligence Schemes for Expediting Surrender. We are also taken back to Pirate's youth when he fell in love with a young woman who married and the relationship's end. It is clear from this episode that Roger and Jessica's relationship is to unfold much like this relationship did for Pirate in 1936.
Episode 1:
The novel begins with the sound of a rocket going through the sky and Pirate's dream. In this first episode we are introduced to some of the more prevalent characters including: Pirate and Bloat. We are also immediate aware that we reading about military men. There is a short funny vignette about a banana breakfast that still puzzles me as to it's purpose except for it's absurdity. The rockets and our European location are also introduced in this episode.
Episode 2:
This episode begins to pit England and Germany against each other and appears to take place in December of 1944. This immediately tells us as readers that we are in the time period of World War II. The military men begin to wake from a night of drinking as the scene unfolds. This is the episode which also first introduces to a few structural and writing conventions featured in the text including the inclusion of French, songs, colors, sounds, and a use of temporality that goes back and forth before the war and in the present day. We are taken back to a memory of Pirate's from 1935 with a Adenoid (a "lymphatic monster") (Pynchon, 2005, 15).
Episode 3:
This episode features a depiction of Teddy Bloat's lunch hour eating a banana sandwich and his obsession with Slothrop's star map. This is the first episode where we are introduced to the key character Slothrop. In this scene we learn that Slothrop's map of sexual conquests matches up exactly with the map that features where the rockets hit. We are also introduced to the character of Tantivy in this episode who at first is used as a foil for Slothrop.
Episode 4:
In this episode, we finally actually meet our key character Slothrop, who is notorious for his charismatic ways with women, and smoking. Slothrop works fr ACHTUNG looking at rocket bomb disasters much like the Blitz which occured in London during the war. It is explained to us that the color of the stars on the map depict how Slothrop feels that day and range from blue to gold. His memory of the women themselves seems to fade over time, but the color and the stars are ever present. Slothrop has a desire to have a rocket with his name painted on it, and seems somehow to be chasing death by chasing rocket disasters. There is a short vignette about Slothrop's relatives' tombstones and their inscriptions; all of which seem to be very tongue in cheek and make a comment or sneer about death itself.
Episode 5:
The fifth episode features Jessica and Roger who attend a seance together. This chapter points out another dichotomy of the secular and the spiritual in the text. We are also introduced to "The White Visitation" which is a house for the PISCES unit. The PISCES unit, yes named metaphorically after the astrological sign stands for: Psychological Intelligence Schemes for Expediting Surrender. We are also taken back to Pirate's youth when he fell in love with a young woman who married and the relationship's end. It is clear from this episode that Roger and Jessica's relationship is to unfold much like this relationship did for Pirate in 1936.
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