Reading from Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow"

[Laker34]

Dude fuck this book, so many characters!!!!!!!!!

[TommyTomato93]

SLOOWWW DOWWNNN

[huffnat]

I'm reading this right now. It's amazing, but very disturbing at parts. Also would just like to say excellent reading by the way.

[adrianvino]

haha.

[AcePilot101]

One of the most important novels written in the 20th century.

Thanks for posting this!

[alarmclocks]

hey man, don't read into this like i'm trying to butt heads together. but are you familiar with the house of seven gables by hawthorne? the house is known as the old pyncheon manor. the family in the book is fictional but the history of the house is accurate, and these pyncheons were, in fact, the ancestors of thomas pynchon. i don't know when the spelling changed, but with the old spelling Pyncheon, when you visit the house in Massachusetts they will tell you the pronunciation as "Pinchin"

[toReasonWhy]

@fodao42

Did you read me say that I get them? I've never read them. Let me tell you what's happened here: you came to someone else's video and made a snide comment about their being elitist. You are the one who needs to think about getting over himself. Cheers.

[toReasonWhy]

@fodao42

Aw, it's not nice to take out your resentment on other people. I might agree with you if it was Joyce, or that guy who wrote Dhalgren, or William Gaddis or something. It does not take any more intelligence to read pynchon than any other great but "easier" author, like Kafka or Fitzgerald or Tolstoy. The only thing you need to add for pynchon is some coffee.

[Scott89119]

I just bought that edition, but haven't started it yet. The book freaks me out, but I heard if you take your time and go with it it's readable.

[LOUISELIBERTINE]

This is a good reading, in fact it has made me want to read this book. Nice one :-)

[Artlitfan]

sometimes it's hard to figure how this book, and Pynchon himself, is not held in higher regard, i guess it's because he's so challenging, but yeah, this was a great passage, but i think one can pretty much turn to any page of the book and recite memorable, brilliant lines, such is the book's magnificence,

though i still prefer Mason & Dixon

[FeelOfFriction]

This book is fucking epic.

[menotyounotme]

Actually, while I've always pronounced it the apparently incorrect way, one can stay on youtube and watch/listen to the 20 sec snippet of the great Simpsons episode wherein the author himself pronounces it as rhymes with "on." So our poster is correct.

[wildereemoss]

I take it you've spoken to the big Myth-man himself and he said, 'my name is pronounced this way'.

Some 'expert' geek told me that Flann O'brien's name was pronounced 'O'briin' when it isn't, I've heard Pynchon pundits pronounce his name both ways, but obviously you know better than us first-class degree plebs.

[toReasonWhy]

To muse a little further on your commentary, is your constitution so offended by one quick comment I made at the beginning of a video made clearly so that I could share a passage I loved that you felt the need to employ that internet sarcasm we're up to our ears in in such a vicious way? On re-watching this video I made back in March, I can't fathom how you felt such arrogant animosity from my statement made in relatively humble passing. Shit, calm down, man. I'm sorry for appearing snobby.

[ThrowbackTheHomebo]

That is such a cool passage, thanks!

Otherwise, you appeared more than a tad on the defensive wrt someones response to your invitation (after all) to respond to your assertion wrt the pronunciation of the authors name.

I always understood it to sound as in "pine"-chon but what do i know... this i picked up way back in the late seventies from a grad student doing a summer school seminar on the man.

Keep up the readings!

[toReasonWhy]

He did not give me a reasoned response, but a snide insult. He was correct that I acted with a slight overload of authority, but I hadn't been rude, and I was more elitist about things back then. I wasn't being defensive in my comments, but trying to show him the inanity of his insulting me on two of my videos in a completely counterproductive way.

In contrast, Throwback, your response is an example of courtesy. Thanks for the kind words-- it's a fantastic passage from

P!

[centurion180ad]

What is your interpretation of Dumbos white feather?

There are no childrens stories, and we are all adults here tonight!

[centurion180ad]

Thank you for the reading.

Id never heard of Pynchon, until Doctor Stephen Bezruchka referenced a quote of his that struck me as incisive.

If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they dont have to worry about the answers.

[toReasonWhy]

Or, to better suit your complaints, not appearing, but actually being snobby. Are you appeased?

[ArmyofBoglins]

God, I remember getting to this section and re-reading it and re-reading it because it was so beautiful.