The first time I ever did it was...

[LOT64 at aol.com]

Peter,

Your story reminds me, very strongly of the first time I read GRAVITY'S
RAINBOW.  I had read V and COL49 and really liked them so I was excited when
I heard GR was out and in the stores.  I got somebody to drive me from Yellow
Springs all the way to Dayton to get a copy.  I started reading it in the car
on the way back and couldn't stop.  I had been compulsively writing and
rewriting the beginning of a story over and over the previous few months.
 The first few sentences of GR captured everything I had been trying and
failing to do and I couldn't stop reading (I also gave up on the story, but I
can't blame that on GR).  I left town the next day and finished the book in a
non-stop three day ride from Ohio to San Francisco (even though I get carsick
when I read and ride).

The uncanny thing about Pynchon was the feeling he gave me that he was
reading my mind and writing directly for me. Of course most of the
Pynchonphiles I've discussed this with told me they had the same feeling. I
don't know if I would have had the same excitement if it had been an assigned
book from a class.  On second thought, I probably would have.

Someone mentioned that "reading GR was a task".  I can't agree.  That's why I
don't think that assigning only Part 1 in a class was so bad.  The people
that can't stop won't stop, regardless of the assignment.  Its possible to
make GR into a task and to try to understand every reference and allusion but
it isn't necessary to get it all to understand the book.  Let's not forget in
addition to being amazing, profound  and beautiful, its also a hell of a lot
of fun.

Ron Churgin