GRGR(0): All Aboard the Toilet Ship Anubis

[Andrew Dinn]

Ahoy shipmates,

                Welcome aboard, gee, it's a fabulous or-gy
                That you just dropped in on, my friend--
                We can't recall just how it start-ted,
                But there's only one way it can end!
                The behaviour is bestial, hardly Marie-Celestial,
                But you'll fit right in with the crowd,
                If you jettison all of those prob-lems,
                And keep it hysterically loud!


                THE GROUP READING OF GRAVITY'S RAINBOW

                             (GR of GR)

                            on pynchon-l


Welcome aboard for a luxury cruise through Part 1 of Gravity's
Rainbow. Actually it'll be more of a trip by banana boat (pardon my
French) than a voyage by liner, the emphasis being on going real slow
and enjoying the scenery. But before we set off everybody stand in
line while I hand out the sea-sick pills and run through the life boat
drill.


Trip Schedule
-------------

We are going to use the Pynchon list server to host a group reading
proceeding in sections of 10-20 pages every two weeks. I'll announce
the page numbers for the first fortnight's reading at the end of this
note. At the end of each two week period the moderators will post a
few ideas and questions to initiate discussion of the section just
finished and will also post page numbers for the next fortnight's
reading. So, reading of the next section should be continuing whilst
discussion of the previous section is taking place. Of course, you can
post whenever and whatever you like but it would be preferable if
passengers held back with comments on a section until after the
reading period had elapsed. One obvious exception is where you really
cannot make head nor tail of a passage in which case feel free to ask
for guidance (that includes you, Tom).


Posting Protocols
-----------------

The main protocol is that there are no real protocols. It's a free
list.  So, you can post on any topic and any detail in or outside of
the book. I'll suggest some possible topics later but remember the
point of a group read is to get as many different insights and
interpretations as possible. Obviously, the slow pace is intended to
encourage a close focus on the current section but don't feel as
though that debars discussion which brings in the rest of the book or
the outside world. So, if you think you see something interesting and
no one else has mentioned it, fire away.

A secondary protocol which it would be *useful* to adopt is to label
the notes with a tag which identifies it as being inspired by the
group reading and preferably a section number. So, if you could ensure
that your posting contains GRGR in the title or even GRGR(n) where n
is the section which is currently under discussion this would help in
identifying and sorting dialogues later on.

There is no intention yet of doing anything with the postings other
than incorporating them into the existing archives. If any of the
material looks promising enough to be published in some form or other
maybe we can do so in which case those who have contributed will be
asked for permission to include their writings.

As well as including postings in my regular WWW archive I will be
setting up a WWW page containing this message, a list of the sections,
page numbers and dates for reading and any other material contributed
during the reading. The address is:

    http://www.cee.hw.ac.uk/~andrew/pynchon-group-read.html

Don't forget also that notes accumulate day by day at the waste ftp
server (ftp://waste.org/pub/lists/pynchon-l/) in a new file each
month. So, if you trash a note you really want to reply to you can
always obtain a new copy from waste.


Suggested Topics
----------------

As nothing is exempt I don't really want to suggest anything specific
but you might consider paying attention to the following areas of
discussion:

    o Plot - Is there a plot structure (or anti-structure)? How is it
      developed (or subverted)? GR is all too easy to slip into and
      read and complex enough to get really lost so let's leave a clew
      behind us as we traverse the labyrinth.

    o Technique - what does TRP write when, how and why? There's a
      barrage of old and new writing techniques in the book. Care to
      sort them out and analyze how they work?

    o Tradition - How does Pynchon's writing fit into a literary
      tradition (if at all)? Care to cite some other authors and
      samples of their works to make or break a case?

    o Background & Sources - How come Pynchon seems to know so much
      about everything? Does he get it right or wrong? Are there any
      hidden references which no one so far has mentioned. If the
      scales drop from your eyes share the revelation. Point us at
      some source material or relevant reading to check up on him.
      Quoted text, GIF/JPEG/MPEG images and sound samples would be
      most welcome (but only distribute sound and images via ftp or
      the WWW *please* - mail me privately to negotiate if you cannot
      distribute other than by email).

    o The World - So much of GR seems to point to things outside of
      the book, philosophical and moral themes, economic, political and
      social systems, life, death... Make sure we don't miss any
      references and clarify what TRP presents, what the conventional
      (or unconventional wisdom) is on the matter and what you think.
      Paranoid parables preferred.

    o Other Pynchon - Is GR so different to TRP's other work? Compare
      it in all the above departments or along any other lines with
      `V', `The Crying of Lot 49', `Vineland' and `Slow Learner'
      (also, don't forget the first short story, `Mercy and Mortality
      in Vienna', those of you who have a copy of it).


Section 1
---------

Ok, that's the drill over. Reading will begin at the beginning with
the cover and cover artwork (I'm currently looking at Anita Kunz's
wonderful image of a skull headed creature imposed over a swastika and
zodiac background). Also, don't forget to consider the title page, the
acknowledgements, the dedication and the motto to part 1. And the text
proper for this fortnight is pages 3 to 16 - that's from the opening
sentence `A screaming comes across the sky' to the sentence ending
`just enough to keep his defenses up, but not enough to poison him'.
N.B. Page numbers are from the UK Picador ppbk which should match the
hardback editions and the Penguin ppbk. For Bantam ppbk you need to
multiply page numbers by roughly 1.1.

All that remains is the final countdown (just another of my damned
touches). And let's hope we really are . . .

    Moving now toward the kind of light where at last the apple is
    apple-coloured. The knife cuts through the apple like a knife
    cutting an apple. Everything is where it is, no clearer than
    usual, but certainly more present.

    Klar             Steurung klar. Treibwerk klar. Luftlage klar.

    Entlueftung      Beluftung klar.

    Zundung          Zundung klar.

    Vorstufe         Vorstufe klar.

    Hauptstufe       Hauptstufe ist gegeben.


    This ascent will be betrayed to Gravity. But the Rocket engine,
    the deep cry of combustion that jars the soul, promises escape.
    The victim in bondage to falling, rises on a promise, a prophecy,
    of Escape. . . .