Author Topic: New Years Resolution The First: Gravity's Rainbow Bible Reading (Read 4290 times)

Billy Rygar · « **on:** December 08, 2007, 06:14:53 PM »

It's that time of the year again when I decide what I'm going to plan to do for the year. The past few years I have tried to do the year of Proust but I can't maintain a sufficient level of interest long enough with work to complete this. So this year I am going to choose a book, Gravity's Rainbow, I enjoy and do a deep bible reading of it, given it has been at least four years since I last read it. I recently picked up Zak Smith's collossal One Drawing for Every Page of Gravity's Rainbow and while I am not yet convinced he has the expressive range to pull off a project like this I think it is a very good starting point. Any suggestions on how else I should go about this are more than welcome and I will take all of them under consideration.

TVC15 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 08, 2007, 06:21:10 PM »

I think you have to be all old and shit to get Proust. I tried to read Swann's Way a few years ago, and while it was definitely really well written, it was also like, completely over my head. Even in just the few years since then, I feel more comfortable with my emotional range, so I think I would do better with it. Maybe you could try to read Proust every 5 years until you are old enough to get it!

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #2 on:** December 08, 2007, 06:35:47 PM »

So do you already have this book in your possession? You're set in your decision?

Yea I can't help with this. I don't know why I'm posting. $:-\$

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #3 on:** December 08, 2007, 06:36:46 PM »

wow, I had no idea that was a real book

http://www.amazon.com/Pictures-Showing-Happens-Pynchons-Gravitys/dp/0977312798/

I should reread it, too!

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #4 on:** December 08, 2007, 06:38:52 PM »

I see.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #5 on:** December 08, 2007, 06:43:52 PM »

yeah, my last reading was in HS and while I would like to think I was able to appreciate it on some level beyond scatological titillation I know in my heart I was just sort of reading it cause it was so far out, man!!

ugh, apparently they repaginated the paperback in 2000. This will fuck up my concordances!

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #6 on:** December 08, 2007, 06:48:46 PM »

the original 1973 version, I presume.

it's 760 vs. 784 pages, and the readers' guides have all been updated to match the new pagination, so I don't think it's going to pose too much of an issue (my original copy is long since lent and lost)

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #7 on:** December 08, 2007, 06:49:54 PM »

I'm stupid.

TVC15 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 08, 2007, 06:52:11 PM »

The Crying of Lot 49 is better. And like 1/10th as long!

TVC15 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 08, 2007, 06:59:31 PM »

I've only read Mason and Dixon once.

I prefer The Crying of Lot 49 because it basically says most everything Pynchon has said that is worth repeating in less than 200 pages. His other books, the tomes, they have their good bits and great bits, but they are endurance tests, and you won't find a person on earth that says the ratio of greatness to meh in Gravity's Rainbow comes close to matching that of Lot 49. The Crying of Lot 49 is his slimmest book, and there's not an ounce of fat on it.

Of his big books, V. is the only one I have read in its entirety, more than once. I bought Gravity's Rainbow last year again, but I have only read bits. I can't do the slog again.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #10 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:03:07 PM »

I got M&D for $1 at Half-Price in September. Still haven't read it.

MEANWHILE:

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #11 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:04:13 PM »

Hey Genghis! Have you read Infinite Jest? : D

TVC15 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:09:29 PM »

I normally don't mind show-offiness, especially when a writer is as talented a wordsmith as Pynchon. I think what offends me is that I *know* he can be concise and dense, a la The Crying of Lot 49, and I think that's vastly preferable to producing doorstops. We don't live in the 19th century. A book doesn't have to last me a week to be great. I know Pynchon has interesting things to say, but I'm not a particularly big fan of the turgid route in modern literature.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #13 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:11:36 PM »

I really greatly enjoyed great passages of Infinite Jest, though I felt its diversions were rather sometimes more forgiveable or interesting than Pynchon's. Thermonuclear War is the best made up sport ever, tho.

TVC15 · « **Reply #14 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:13:48 PM »

I have here on my desk Pale Fire. It is the finest book written in English in the 20th century. It's author was not a native English speaker, but he could sling it as well as anyone. It is just about 300 pages and displays far more depth than anything Pynchon has ever done, his work with the best depth being, yes, Lot 49.

PALE FIRE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Entire Pynchon Library.

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #15 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:17:11 PM »

My new years resolution: continue getting into shape, and gain 15 pounds before the end of the year. I want a more chiseled body by the last weekend of June, aka The African Cup canoe race. And by the end of December 2008 I want to be buff. Not body builder buff, but like NFL WR buff.

I will get laid in 2008 no doubt

TVC15 · « **Reply #16 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:17:38 PM »

DeLillo never really did anything for me, but that probably has more to do with him being de facto literary at the time when I was just recognizing what literary was, so there was probably something of a backlash. Oddly enough, the book I remember most by him is Mao II. I'm probably due to revisit him soon.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #17 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:19:41 PM »

I have issues reading Nabokov. His stuff is so good that I usually have to stop 50 pages on because I'm afraid to continue. I'm not sure if that makes any sense at all.

HEY ARE YOU EVER GONNA REVIEW LIGHT

I ask cause I'm lending it to a coworker tonight! I reread the last three chapters for, like, the two dozenth time after getting home at 330 AM last night from the company Christmas party.

bud · « **Reply #18 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:22:10 PM »

2008:

- start working out
- have anal sex

these seem doable.

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #19 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:23:52 PM »

Quote from: bud on December 08, 2007, 07:22:10 PM

2008:

- start working out
- have anal sex

these seem doable.

Don't you live a few miles away from Junpei?

TVC15 · « **Reply #20 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:24:18 PM »

Quote from: Genghis Cohen on December 08, 2007, 07:18:13 PM

I've never read Pale Fire. :'( That will be resolution the second.

Pale Fire is definitely a reader's book. It's postmodern before postmodern literature was big, possibly before the term was even well known. It could never be anything but a book. It'd be just about impossible to adapt in any way. It's basically a long poem with commentary, like a sort of academic text, or a publication with heavy annotations and asides and that sort of thing. I can't really think of anything like it.

You could probably read the Wikipedia article safely without fear of spoilers. There's so much to interpret and so many ways it can be interpreted. It's basically made for people that like to read the Oxford academic editions of things. Also, lol English wasn't Nabokov's first language, and there he is composing insanely well-formed poetry and prose in the same book.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #21 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:24:39 PM »

the fact that English isn't Nabokov's first language is mind-shattering

well, I just put a hold on Pale Fire at the local library

now if you'll please excuse me, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann isn't going to watch itself lol

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #22 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:35:07 PM »

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on December 08, 2007, 07:17:11 PM

My new years resolution: continue getting into shape, and gain 15 pounds before the end of the year. I want a more chiseled body by the last weekend of June, aka The African Cup canoe race. And by the end of December 2008 I want to be buff. Not body builder buff, but like NFL WR buff.

I will get laid in 2008 no doubt

Didn't you say the EXACT same thing last year?

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #23 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:36:42 PM »

$:-\$

I've made progress this year though

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #24 on:** December 08, 2007, 07:37:28 PM »

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on December 08, 2007, 07:36:42 PM

$:-\$

I've made progress this year though

I haven't lol

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #25 on:** December 31, 2008, 11:44:36 PM »

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on December 08, 2007, 07:17:11 PM

I will get laid in 2008 no doubt

smh

TVC15 · « **Reply #26 on:** January 01, 2009, 02:14:56 AM »

Pynchon has a new book in 2009, fyi. Sounds pretty good. Inherent Vice.

Quote from: wiki

Information regarding a new Pynchon novel scheduled for publication in August 2009 was leaked in October 2008 (Kellogg 2008) and subsequently confirmed by a spokesperson for Penguin Press.

A synopsis and brief extract from the novel, along with the novel's title, Inherent Vice, and dust jacket image, were printed in Penguin Press' Summer 2009 catalogue (Penguin 2008). The new book is 416 pages in length and is described in the catalogue as "part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon — private eye Doc Sportello comes, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era as free love slips away and paranoia creeps in with the L.A. fog".

The synopsis printed in the Penguin catalogue refers to the author "working in an unaccustomed genre" and promises a "cast of characters [which] includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, a tenor sax player working undercover, an ex-con with a swastika tattoo and a fondness for Ethel Merman, and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentists."

demi · « **Reply #27 on:** January 01, 2009, 02:31:32 AM »

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on December 31, 2008, 11:44:36 PM

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on December 08, 2007, 07:17:11 PM
I will get laid in 2008 no doubt

smh

lol

drohne · « **Reply #28 on:** January 01, 2009, 11:04:19 AM »

i think some combination of shifting tastes, james wood's criticism, and against the day ruined pynchon for me. though i've got to reread mason and dixon one of these days -- NOW wouldn't be a bad time, since i'm on kind of an 18th century kick. my new years resolution is to read the major english poets between milton and wordsworth, who are just names to me at this point. i don't much expect to like them, but i can make it up to myself by rereading sterne and swift

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #29 on:** January 01, 2009, 01:38:29 PM »

this thread is awesome

i still haven't made progress

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #30 on:** January 01, 2009, 02:43:47 PM »

I toned my body and read a lot of books, although I didn't read as many as I wanted to. Oh well

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #31 on:** January 01, 2009, 02:53:43 PM »

i'm in the worst shape of my life, but i guess i read a lot of books than i ever have

Diunx · « **Reply #32 on:** January 01, 2009, 03:09:16 PM »

didn't realize this was an old thread

last year I lost like 15 of the 20 pounds I gained the last time I went to the states( cheap fast food and supermarket ice cream

) have read a lot of comic books but not even one normal book since they don't have pretty drawings.

drohne · « **Reply #33 on:** January 01, 2009, 03:29:33 PM »

i didn't realize this was old either

i guess it doesn't matter

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #34 on:** January 01, 2009, 03:35:28 PM »

I think my resolution last year was to read the Bible cover-to-cover. That didn't work out, though I'm not really disappointed.

I'll try to ask out Flannel Girl by the end of the year.

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #35 on:** January 01, 2009, 03:59:24 PM »

Who's Flannel Girl? If it doesn't work out entertain us with a sprawling, made up story about the date you'll never get

My goals this time:
-Read 10 books
-Gain 10 pounds (I toned myself last year, didn't gain the weight I wanted)
-Go on 10 dates with women, or attend 10 public events (movies don't count)
-Get laid

Madrun Badrun · « **Reply #36 on:** January 01, 2009, 04:08:53 PM »

Bring my average up to at least an 85 from my current 79 :'(
Take classes during the summer and work too to pay for them :'(

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #37 on:** January 01, 2009, 04:09:52 PM »

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on January 01, 2009, 03:59:24 PM

Who's Flannel Girl? If it doesn't work out entertain us with a sprawling, made up story about the date you'll never get

My goals this time:
-Read 10 books
-Gain 10 pounds (I toned myself last year, didn't gain the weight I wanted)
-Go on 10 dates with women, or attend 10 public events (movies don't count)
-Get laid

She's a law student I have a crush on.

Ten books? Even Bush reads close to 100.

I like how attending public events is treated as nearly equivalent to going on actual dates.

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #38 on:** January 01, 2009, 04:12:19 PM »

what are your goals then mr. hotshot

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #39 on:** January 01, 2009, 04:14:36 PM »

To not kill myself. I'm feeling confident.

And maybe to write a novella during the summer.

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #40 on:** January 01, 2009, 04:16:56 PM »

10 books is pretty weaksauce

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #41 on:** January 01, 2009, 04:19:34 PM »

Case books have killed my love of reading. I now hate the printed word.

Reb · « **Reply #42 on:** January 01, 2009, 05:18:10 PM »

10 books is like a nice month of reading.

Reb · « **Reply #43 on:** January 01, 2009, 05:57:56 PM »

I'm gonna man-whore 2009 up, kinda like Kosma, but more locally, and with less KOSMAIDS.
I just invited myself to a willing girl's new appartment.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

The rest will probably be suffering under work, Genghis Cohen style. :'(

Himu · « **Reply #44 on:** January 01, 2009, 07:48:29 PM »

My goal: to stop posting on forums.

fistfulofmetal · « **Reply #45 on:** January 01, 2009, 10:31:29 PM »

In the next year I'm gonna try and break a part my hard headed, self defeating personality which is the sole reason for all the rest of my problems.

But I probably won't be able to accomplish this so I'll just continue having a boring uneventful life.

Madrun Badrun · « **Reply #46 on:** January 01, 2009, 11:28:17 PM »

Quote from: Green Man on January 01, 2009, 10:10:58 PM

My Goals:

Reevaluate my goals in life.

Smart. Then when you don't do the other goals by december you can kick this goal into gear, reevaluate your unfinished goals and decide they aren't worth it. That way you don't need to excessive and not loss self esteem.

jiji · « **Reply #47 on:** January 02, 2009, 02:18:11 AM »

10 books in a month? When do people find the time?

Reb · « **Reply #48 on:** January 02, 2009, 03:59:41 AM »

Quote from: jiji on January 02, 2009, 02:18:11 AM

10 books in a month? When do people find the time?

I stopped watching tv.

recursivelyenumerable · « **Reply #49 on:** January 05, 2009, 05:08:59 PM »

Quote

I will get laid in 2008 no doubt bow

I had a negative result here too, after a surprising and unprecedented positive result for 2007.

although I've actually mostly stopped caring for some reason.

News:

Author Topic: New Years Resolution The First: Gravity's Rainbow Bible Reading (Read 4290 times)