Gravity's Rainbow

Gravity's Rainbow is a novel written by Thomas Pynchon and first published in 1973.

Plot

It is often difficult to follow the plot and direction of Gravity's Rainbow, particularly as a main plot line does not emerge until the second part of the book; the lengthy first part effectively acts as an introduction.

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The plot is complex, involving the V-2 rocket and Operation Paperclip, IG Farben, Standard Oil, parapsychology, behaviorism, psychology theory (Ivan Pavlov's experiments concerning conditioning especially), and conspiracy theories, such as the Phoebus cartel and the Illuminati. Gravity's Rainbow also draws heavily on themes that Pynchon had probably encountered at his work as a technical writer for Boeing, where he worked on the Minuteman missile. The Boeing archives are known to house a vast library of historical V-2 rocket documents, which were probably accessible to Pynchon.

Related Topics:
V-2 rocket - Operation Paperclip - IG Farben - Standard Oil - Parapsychology - Behaviorism - Ivan Pavlov - Conditioning - Conspiracy theories - Phoebus cartel - Illuminati - Boeing - Minuteman missile

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As if to showcase both the erudite and the naughty, the narrative contains numerous descriptions of illicit sexual encounters and drug use by the main characters and supporting cast, sandwiched between very dense dialogues or reveries on historic, artistic, scientific, or philosophical subjects, interspersed with whimsical nonsense-poems and allusions to obscure facets of 1940's pop culture.

Related Topics:
Sexual encounters - Drug - Pop culture

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The main narrative thread (in as far as there is one) concerns a possibly promiscuous US army lieutenant named Tyrone Slothrop. (At certain points in the book, Pynchon leads the reader to doubt the very existence of the women Slothrop claims to sleep with.) In "Beyond The Zero", some of the other characters and organisations of the book note that each of Slothrop's sexual encounters in London precedes a V-2 rocket hit in the same place by several days.

Related Topics:
US army - Lieutenant - London

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He is studied covertly and sent away by superiors in mysterious circumstances to the Hermann Goering casino. There he learns of a rocket, the 00000, and a component called the S-Gerät (short for Schwarzgerät, which translates to black device) which is made out of the hitherto unknown plastic Imipolex G. It is hinted at that Slothrop's prescience of rocket hits is due to being conditioned as an infant by the creator of Imipolex G, Laszlo Jamf. After getting this information, Slothrop escapes from the casino into the coalescing Zone of Europe, searching for the 00000 and S-Gerät.

Related Topics:
Hermann Goering - Casino - Conditioned

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Slothrop's quest continues for some time "In The Zone" as he is chased by other characters. Unfortunately, he is repeatedly sidetracked until his persona fragments totally in part four despite the efforts of some to save him. The final identification of him of any certainty is his picture on the cover of an album by obscure English band The Fool.

Related Topics:
Album - English

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Towards the end of "The Counterforce", it transpires that the S-Gerät is actually a capsule crafted to contain a human. The maniacal Captain Blicero prepares to fire the 00000. He launches it in a pseudosexual act of sacrifice with his bound sex slave Gottfried captive within its S-Gerät. At the end of a final episode where the rocket descends, the text halts with a complete obliteration of narrative from a rocket blast as the 00000 lands (or is about to land) on a cinema.

Related Topics:
Sacrifice - Sex slave

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