Demands reader exuberance ( )

I don't know why all epic books have become epic comedies (oh wait, it's cuz of Ulysses) but this book manages to be hilarious and redefine the impact of WWII on the 20th century. Pynchon's masterpiece. V feels like a warm-up to this. ( )

If you have not experienced Pynchon before, getting ready to have your life taken over for a while. I bought this book when I was a freshman in college at the suggestion of my Political Science professor and, after several unsuccessful initial attempts, it remained unread for more than 25 years. Awhile back, I got sick of the thing sitting on my bookshelf mocking me and so I finally started and finished it, along with the aid of Weisenburger’s 'A Gravity’ Rainbow Companion.' (The fact that a 900-page novel requires a 300-page companion to explain all of the embedded allegories and allusions says a lot, but I’m not sure what exactly.)

That this is the mother of all war novels is at once an accurate and highly misleading statement; it is a ride unlike any other that I have taken. From reading the myriad reviews on this site and others, Pynchon clearly is not to everyone's taste--if you are not hooked within the first 75-100 pages, you probably never will be. I found his (very) playful command of the language to be both impressive and occasionally enthralling. Reading this novel was well worth the effort, once the time was finally right for me. ( )

I've read this cover to cover a half dozen times since the 70's and now just open it anywhere to lose myself in Pynchon's masterpiece. It's also where I got my pseudonym. ( )

I thought the first line of this book was pretentious. In fact, lots of things Pynchon does in this book seem to put off the reader. But I kept going, and eventually got totally sucked into the book. it was my reality. bold, artistic, amazing; a fascinating work, that transcends ordinary life by immersing one, ass over elbow, straight into it. An awesome piece of writing. ( )