1st GR reading suggestions

[Craig G. Bleakley]

my suggestions for someone embarking on a first reading of Gravity's Rainbow
are somewhat dfferent than--in fact, in diametric opposition to--previously
posted suggestions.  I'll leave it to you to decide what works best.

1) Give yourself permission to be confused.  Even if that means putting the
book down for a while.  It took me several running starts before I really
launched.  Anything you re-read next time will be that much more rich and
comprehensible.

2) On the other hand, just because you have no idea what the last three
pages you read were about is no reason to turn back.  No one gets anywhere
near everything TP has stashed in the book. Trust Tom.  Any efforts at
plowing through are eventually, exponentially rewarded.

3) Read around.  There's plenty of great stuff out there about the book.
Some of it may help you get a handle in.  Lots of folks like Wiesenberg's "A
Gravity's Rainbow Companion," but I think the misreading given in Fowler's
"a Reader's Guide to Gravity's Rainbow" can also be stimulating (Fowler
doesn't see that Pynchon problematizes most of his binaries).  Mendelson and
Slade, among others, are almost always worthwhile.

I'd consider recommending index cards to note the first appearance of
characters and other relevant data (you never know who will show back up 400
pages after you've forgotten them), but since there's allegedly over 300
characters in the book, it seems like a diminishing returns proposition.
Dpending on how many index cards you have handy.

i probably speak for more than one of us who envy your first reading and
wish you success.

One of us, one of us,
Craig B.