Customer Reviews

A Gravity's Rainbow Companion: Sources and Contexts for Pynchon's Novel

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I agree with the previous review that this book is not as comprehensive as Gifford and Seidman "Ulysses Annotated" (see my review), but it is better than Douglas Fowler's "A Reader's Guide to Gravity's Rainbow", the only other usable sourcebook to "Gravity's Rainbow" I am aware of.

This book has a most helpful introduction in which the scope and instructions for use are discussed. The section "For Further Study" contains some insightful information regarding the patterns of Pynchon's borrowings, the chronology of the novel and its structure as a "Bildungsroman", which is according to Weisenburger as follows: "(1) the disclosure of the hero's miraculous gifts (2) his education (3) his testing during a course of travels, and (4) the confirmation of his powers, a revelation." (p.7) I wish this subject would have been developed further. It certainly offers another avenue for reading the novel and analyzing its structure.

The "Companion" Section itself gives helpful intoductions to each episode and somewhat brief descriptions of the many allusions and references. The vast majority seem to be included, though further information about them, will in many cases require the reader to do some work.

At the time I read this novel, I was conducting research at the Library of Congress, so I decided to check around fifty of the references listed in the Bibliography. I checked verything from the "History of South-West Aftrica" to "Ballistics of the Future", and Stendhal's "Life of Rossini" to Pavlov's "Conditioned Reflexes", and found that both Pynchon and Wiesenburger did the their work well. If you really want to understand the allusons in this novel, you may want to check some of these out.

The Book ends with a helpful, but not comprehensive Index. I think this book is a most usable and reliable guide to the Novel. The Novel can be read without it, as has been pointed out, but half the fun is, at least to me, checking on the allusions, and coming across their often hidden and surprising meanings. Interested readers should buy this book. It is not only well-done as a Guide, but the Bibliography contains a mixture of references that can be found nowhere else.

This is an invaluable companion to a reading of Gravity's Rainbow. Without it, not only would a goodly portion of the novel be incomprehensible (especially, I might add, to those of us under the age of 40- there are a ton of references that those of us in this age bracket will not relate to or even comprehend), but the mastery of Pynchon's work would be less than fully grasped. For sheer research and grasp of subject matter I can't conceive of a companion volume that would best this one. In short, without this companion I would have recognized Pynchon's novel as creative if a bit befuddling. With this companion I learned to recognize it as brilliant and much more comprehensible (to the extent that any of it was meant to be comprehended in the first place). One final point, I take a different view than some of the other reviewers. I read 1/2 of the novel before I learned of and bought the companion volume. Reading the novel with the companion the first time was much more rewarding for me than struggling through the novel without the companion for the first time.

An extremely useful and interesting companion to GR. Perhaps not essential, but certainly helpful in getting much more out of this fantastic novel. There are different ways to use the Companion - I ended up reading an episode in GR and then reading the accompanying pages in the Companion, which worked pretty well though it obviously breaks the natural flow of the novel. I like the fact that Weisenburger generally does not attempt to provide detailed interpretations - the sheer length of the novel fortunately prevents the flood of over-interpretation and academic nonsense that, for example, sometimes fills companion books for shorter novels (e.g., The Crying of Lot 49). Weisenburger's thoughts on timelines and the overall structure are enlightening.

I do have one major complaint: for reasons I'm sure Weisenburger would try to defend but that I don't understand at all, he "gives away" rather early in the Companion the events described in the very last episodes in GR. We're talking major spoiler here! Although there are numerous hints throughout GR leading up to this, the picture doesn't become clear until the very end. Unfortunately, Weisenburger blows the surprise very early on and personally I really resented this.

A minor complaint: As mentioned in other reviews, Weisenburger commits a number of errors when explaining some of the science and math. Often, these explanations just weren't necessary and in some cases work only to deflate the book's magic. As one of a number of possible examples, consider the extraordinary balloon ride episode, in which Slothrop witnesses the earth's shadow moving across the land. Weisenburger chimes in with a discussion as to whether or not the cited speed of the shadow is realistic, and also informs us that of course shadows can't break the speed of sound! Useless over-analysis of the type that explains why generation after generation of students are turned off to literature when forced by professors with too much brain and not enough heart to dissect great books in the classroom.

Definitely get yourself through the novel without this, then let Weisenburger soothe much of your bafflement away with his solid research. He has a lucid, witty style and is not above pointing out Pynchon's occasional errors of fact - though beware, as he makes at least one himself. (He confidently informs us that, contrary to the word of the novel, the tunnels in the Dora V2 rocket factory are not S-shaped - but in fact, as a glance at a map of them will show you, they are.) Weisenburger laid much of the groundwork for research now being carried out on Pynchon discussion groups on the internet; perhaps a new edition of this book is called for, which can incorporate their findings.

Indispensable. I plowed through GR in my mid twenties without the Companion. Large portions of Pynchon's encyclopedic epic were totally baffling to me. However, I've always been intrigued by GR. So, some fifteen years later, I undertook to read it again, this time with the help of the Companion. Not only did it aid in my understanding of the novel, but I actually enjoyed reading GR this time around. Now perhaps I'll tackle Mason & Dixon.

Why does Weisenburger decide to randomly drop spoiler after spoiler into his annotations? The companion was extremely helpful but the first time I read GR I realized I had to hide this companion about halfway through the novel. I cannot figure out why when describing a simple German phrase (adequately and with illuminating context to the specific situation, mind you) Weisenburger surrenders plot points that don't surface until the last part of the novel. It ended up happening almost every other episode. It was infuriating. So beware. Probably wait until your second time through to use this useful but endlessly frustrating companion.

I agree with all the above. However, to avoid the disappointment of finding out how it ends, I suggest reading the novel right through first and using this companion piece for a more leisurely second read. You should soak up the (often seemingly incomprehensible) poetry and enjoy the sheer pleasure of the language before starting the deconstruction - just like other 'difficult' greats (Wasteland, Ulysses etc..). Agree that an annotated version would be brilliant. Surely someone out there fancies a go at it ?

So you've decided to try and tackle GR. The novel is certainly worth the time and frustration that can sometimes accompany reading it. As far as this companion goes, I usually had it with me while reading GR but certainly did not feel lost without it. The problem is that while Weissenburger does a lot to explain the myriad historical allusions contained within GR, there is very little in the way of literary analysis or deep engagement with any of the interesting ideas and themes. (By contrast, J. Kerry Grant's companion to Lot 49 does a much better job in this respect.) I imagine one could always read the abundance of essays on GR to get such information, and Weissenburger is only a mere mortal. But still, I would have appreciated a companion that was slightly more provocative than one that simply points out references to a type of pudding traditionally eaten by soliders in the Crimean War (not an actual reference in the book, so purists lay off). In other words, the companion sometimes helps make sense of things or provides a few interesting points, but does little to truly enrich your appreciation of the novel as a whole.

If you're on the fence, I would still recommend buying the companion, especially if you can find a used copy. But don't feel that this is indispensable or anything. It's flawed but, unfortunately, for the time being it seems to be the best there is.

There are two editions of this book. The first was published in 1988. The second was published November of this year (2006). It contains twenty percent additional material and some corrections. Double-check. Both editions have identical titles but the covers differ.

Seriously they should package the two books together. If you're going to try to read Gravity's Rainbow get this book too, it will make the process alot more pleasant.