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Mark's Reviews > Gravity’s Rainbow
Gravity’s Rainbow
by
by
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A SCREAMING comes across your skull. It is the sound of a bone saw, revved full throttle, splintering, decimating; shards of cranium shimmering to dust, falling into your eyes, blinding; hands curling into fists, drumming against matted hair charred with sweat; convulsions overtake your body, sing the body electric, vibrating upward, reaching an orifice, manipulating mouth, throat muscles, and you sing:
while the cancan dancers do the up-down leg number, shiny silk stockings glisten and chuff, and out front Carmen Miranda does the boom-chikee-boom with banana maracas with transistor rattlers; and then the onstage sex show begins, light bulbs rammed home into nether regions which were never meant to illuminate, but brighten the corners just the same; and a pig strolls by, 12-bar blues issuing from a 10 hole harp gouged between its haughty mandibles; and then you're lost, the churning sea, sailors sloshing:
then its: "Man OVERBOARD!" and a you're drowning, drowning in words, drowning in language, drowning in conspiracy theories borne high on the waves before your very being, and do you know who your parents are? and if you do, do you really? because there's always the possibility that you were a lab rat chemical baby who while living in a test tube one day met your own twin before that tragic day when the guy who swept the floors at night, drawn near the tube because of some violet light, mesmerizing as the Aurora at noon, and his hand slips, reaching for the reefer stick in his breast pocket, and now isn't the time to finish this story so we'll save it for later...
...Zooooommm, wooooooosh! the sound of rockets overhead, where will they land? but no one knows, ah, save that one man, what was his name? the kid with the funny name and looks like Beetle Bailey in tights and a cape,
And then you close the book and you will never look at the world the same way again(.)
(For a real review, check out my friend Jenn's.)
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A SCREAMING comes across your skull. It is the sound of a bone saw, revved full throttle, splintering, decimating; shards of cranium shimmering to dust, falling into your eyes, blinding; hands curling into fists, drumming against matted hair charred with sweat; convulsions overtake your body, sing the body electric, vibrating upward, reaching an orifice, manipulating mouth, throat muscles, and you sing:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, I'm just wild about Harrrrrry
And Harry's wild about meeeeeeeeee
while the cancan dancers do the up-down leg number, shiny silk stockings glisten and chuff, and out front Carmen Miranda does the boom-chikee-boom with banana maracas with transistor rattlers; and then the onstage sex show begins, light bulbs rammed home into nether regions which were never meant to illuminate, but brighten the corners just the same; and a pig strolls by, 12-bar blues issuing from a 10 hole harp gouged between its haughty mandibles; and then you're lost, the churning sea, sailors sloshing:
Yo ho ho and a bottle in your bum
then its: "Man OVERBOARD!" and a you're drowning, drowning in words, drowning in language, drowning in conspiracy theories borne high on the waves before your very being, and do you know who your parents are? and if you do, do you really? because there's always the possibility that you were a lab rat chemical baby who while living in a test tube one day met your own twin before that tragic day when the guy who swept the floors at night, drawn near the tube because of some violet light, mesmerizing as the Aurora at noon, and his hand slips, reaching for the reefer stick in his breast pocket, and now isn't the time to finish this story so we'll save it for later...
...Zooooommm, wooooooosh! the sound of rockets overhead, where will they land? but no one knows, ah, save that one man, what was his name? the kid with the funny name and looks like Beetle Bailey in tights and a cape,
But don't forget the death cult, folkssss
Cause it's about time for a plotzzzz
(here, the violinist trips over the bassoon player, and they fight, great fisticuffs while the rest of the horn section turns to applaud, instruments lying in unoccupied chairs where the ants work to find bread crumbs that the 3rd cellist left behind before last Tuesday night's performance, the unwashed varmint!)...
And then you close the book and you will never look at the world the same way again(.)
(For a real review, check out my friend Jenn's.)
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Gravity’s Rainbow.
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Reading Progress
September 28, 2010
– Shelved
May 8, 2012
–
Started Reading
May 17, 2012
–
19.07%
"Pointsman, in crisis of conscience, has mini nervous breakdown. War getting to him?"
page
148
May 18, 2012
–
20.23%
"More detail about the members of Psi Section. Particularly Carroll Eventyr"
page
157
May 21, 2012
–
26.8%
"Slothrop and entourage at casino resort. Katje. Paranoia strikes deep."
page
208
May 28, 2012
–
41.24%
"There once were men named Zwitter/Glimpf Who in a castle they always spent Time as mad scientists Nazi mad scientists Then retired down-mountain for tea and mint"
page
320
May 28, 2012
–
41.88%
"I don't like Burger King, I don't like anything. And I'm against it!"
page
325
May 28, 2012
–
45.49%
"Don't Bogart dat opium, Piang. Need it to find the way outta dis German forest o' text"
page
353
May 29, 2012
–
47.04%
"Reading pages sewn with ajtys / Better than it getting stodgy / Aneurysm, cranium-knocking / Pass that stogy, great Malachi!"
page
365
May 29, 2012
–
47.04%
"Reading pages sewn with ajtys / Better than it getting stodgy / Aneurysm, cranium-knocking / Pass that stogy, great Malachi!"
page
365
May 30, 2012
–
50.39%
"'There is a fifth dimension ... [a] middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition ...'"
page
391
May 31, 2012
–
53.48%
"Pokler - Leni - Illse (joy divisions?) - Metaphysical origins of rocket - Kekule, origins of organic chem"
page
415
June 2, 2012
–
53.48%
"'...eyes room after room strung into the shadows of an old prewar house he could wander for years...' - end of Pokler novella"
page
415
June 2, 2012
–
55.8%
"'...eyes room after room strung into the shadows of an old prewar house he could wander for years...' - end of Pokler novella"
page
433
June 8, 2012
–
66.11%
"More fun than a barrel of monkies. Meeting der Springer, Frau Gnahb, Narrisch"
page
513
June 9, 2012
–
69.85%
"S in Stralsund; Pudding pays the check. Either I'm high, or this is beginning to make a lil bit of sense again"
page
542
June 10, 2012
–
73.58%
"Paragraph-long reminder what the hell's been goin on for the last 600 pages"
page
571
June 11, 2012
–
86.21%
"This lil light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine"
page
669
June 19, 2012
–
93.43%
"Note to self: get Porky Pig tattoo on stomach. Da ladiez are posed to love eet"
page
725
June 21, 2012
–
Finished Reading
January 30, 2013
– Shelved as:
hooray-for-the-winners
Comments Showing 1-33 of 33 (33 new)
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message 1:
by
Jenn(ifer)
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
May 09, 2012 11:15AM
I'm gonna finish Tolstoy today and start this puppy up tomorrow. Liking it?
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(Jenn)ifer wrote: "I'm gonna finish Tolstoy today and start this puppy up tomorrow. Liking it?"As fast as you guys read, I figured an extra day would be in my favor! In this one, I'm seeing bits of V., which seemed like a more convoluted read than his Lot 49. It's keeping me entertained and headachey at once, kinda like Joyce. Somewhere, someone said to just keep focused on the basic plot and don't try so hard to keep up with all the minutia. You have to keep telling yourself that, but so far it's a worthy suggestion :)
How ya liking Tolstoy? First time with him?
Tolstoy is ace. I'm almost regretting doing this GR read cos I really really really want to read Anna Karenina now. Like RIGHT NOW.
How are ya liking Karenina? :PWhy not read two big monster-sized novels at once, eh? If not, save it for next and I'll read along. Been wanting to read it too.
Crap, I wanted to read Karenina last winter and forgot!
That's right! What was going on last winter? Done totally forgot. Let's try to work it in this winter. Cause right now, we gotta make it through Game of Thrones :P HAHAHAHA
I was sick 3 times and was after the move, guess it took me mind of reading :P
I cant wait to read Game of T!!!!!!!!!!!! 1st book is supposed to be da bomb.
Aww, that's right. You kept getting sick. Those horrible colds. We oughta read these sometime. Jenn said she was looking really forward to reading Anna too.
There's been so much brewing about Game, I'd love to read it sometime. See what all the hubbub's about. Prolly better to wait on Thrones til we can hop into the next one fairly soon after the first, keep us from losing the storyline.
Ooo, and Hemingway. Gotta hit one of his, too. And, and, and!!! :P :D
Ya, we have a lot of hits to make.
Good thing we got lots o' Louisville Sluggers!
Omg you're still up ! I thought you were snoozing haha!Just posted my review of Cross Bones, phew!, that spilled right outtttttt
Yay!! This Benadryl's almost knocked me out. Can't wait to read your Cross Bones review over morning coffees! :)
Mark wrote: "Yay!! This Benadryl's almost knocked me out. Can't wait to read your Cross Bones review over morning coffees! :)"Hehe goodnight! I's 1:11 here.. guess I'm going to bed late, work in 7 hrs!
And 'prise, 'prise, you're awake and bushy were-tailed STILL. How you do it??
From the view on my screen you only have 1/2" to go! :P
Thank goodness! That sounds so much more doable than 200 pages, lol
Longest half inch in the history of the written word.
OMgoodness, it is!! The story seems to have rambled the prairie, playing with the whippoorwills, long enough and finally jumped back on track
You know what they say; "Tchit happens." :)
HA, it sure does! And in GR, it happens pretty often, metaphorically and literally
Your review makes this sound like the Illuminatus! trilogy or something.
Holy crap. This review is epic.
Yahoo! Excellent review sir.
Your review is like the Big Bang man! All that shimmery magical stuff happening in the blind of an eye, superb.
You did it! Congrats. This review is amazing, Pynchon would surely be jealous. And I want a harmonica playing pig!Also looking back over your reading progress notes, many of those should be used as chapter titles in a Extra-Deluxe Edition.
Richard wrote: "Your review makes this sound like the Illuminatus! trilogy or something."Yay! Picked up the Illiminatus! trilogy last year and itchin to give it a look. If it's like Tommy P. and his conspiracy theories, should be a terrific read!
Stephen M wrote: "Holy crap. This review is epic."(Jenn)ifer wrote: "Yahoo! Excellent review sir."
Thanks, you guys!! Stephen, dive in, get this sucker done! :D Jenn, we gotta get back to the thread you created discussing all the allusions to other works. There's a neato Pynchon wiki you gotta see when you get back!
Kasia wrote: "Your review is like the Big Bang man! All that shimmery magical stuff happening in the blind of an eye, superb."Whose reviews first captivated me all those years ago? Who encouraged me to give it a try myself? Could it beeeeeeee youuuuuuuuu?? :D
s.penkevich wrote: "You did it! Congrats. This review is amazing, Pynchon would surely be jealous. And I want a harmonica playing pig!Also looking back over your reading progress notes, many of those should be used ..."
Thanks, Penk! Haha, if only I could dream up this kinda thing originally instead of playing off Pynchon's seething story! I spoke with the harmonica band conductor and he's willing to give you 1st chair if you'll allow his pet goldfish to borrow your banjo on weekends. Deal?
Deal! Let me just see if I can find it in this here toilet...
And whatta ya know, the band's agreed to provide you with a 16 fl oz. bottle of Germ-X, gratis!
