Gravity's Rainbow, Domination, and Freedom

by Luc Herman, Steven Weisenburger

When published in 1973, Gravity's Rainbow expanded our sense of what the novel could be. Pynchon's extensive references to modern science, history, and culture challenged any reader, while his prose bent the rules for narrative art and his satirical practices taunted U.S. obscenity and pornography statutes. His writing thus enacts freedom even as the book's great theme is domination: humanity's diminished "chances for freedom" in a global military-industrial system birthed and set on its feet in World War II. Its symbol: the V-2 rocket.

"Gravity's Rainbow," Domination, and Freedom broadly situates Pynchon's novel in "long sixties" history, revealing a fiction deeply of and about its time. Herman and Weisenburger put the novel's abiding questions about freedom in context with sixties struggles against war, restricted speech rights, ethno-racial oppression, environmental degradation, and subtle new means of social and psychological control. They show the text's close indebtedness to critiques of domination by key postwar thinkers such as Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, and Hannah Arendt. They detail equally powerful ways that sixties countercultural practices--free-speech resistance played out in courts, campuses, city streets, and raucously satirical underground presswork--provide a clearer bearing on Pynchon's own satirical practices and their implicit criticisms.

If the System has jacketed humanity in a total domination, may not a solitary individual still assert freedom? Or has the System captured all--even supposedly immune elites--in an irremediable dominion? Reading Pynchon's main characters and storylines, this study realizes a darker Gravity's Rainbow than critics have been willing to see.

Genres: Criticism, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism

258 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2013

Reviews

[Chris Via]

Mandatory.

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

Moore endorse'd ::
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2SLMVTL...


and I just can't help myself ; a [free] pedantic point ::
"If your interest in GR extends beyond its surface entertainment value (which is considerable, and enough for some folks), [then] this book is required reading." You'll note that the 'required reading' claim has been set up for you with an if...then pairing ; which usually means-- you're required to do nothing if the if=clause does not apply to you. This is nearly always the case when you see things like 'required reading' or 'must read' or &c. I mean, it is always the case that such claims are always conditioned by a conditional clause, spoken or assumed. And yes, GR is a must=read!!!

[Andrew Merritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting analysis into Gravity’s Rainbow and the historical context in which it was written. I’d recommend this to any student of GR and/or its author.

[Matěj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Herman and Weisenburger have produced a great study in Pynchon criticism. I have gone through quite a bit of Pynchon scholarship and this volume is simply too good to pass up. It is well researched, concise and most importantly, clever. I see it as something of a pinnacle in Gravity's Rainbow criticism. I would say that if you want to learn about the novel's influences and sources, this is the pick. Outstanding H+W team, outstanding!

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensable for all Pynchon fans

Anyone attempting to read and understand Gravity’s Rainbow needs this book. Nearly as good a read as the novel itself. But depressing as hell, without the songs, jokes and porn that make GR tolerable and divert the reader’s attention from the book’s dire message: It’s just too late.

[Маx Nestelieiev · Rating 4 out of 5]

brilliant but quite boring book, especially the last two parts (there are 3 parts in it). nice essay on Long Sixties and two main motives (look at the title).
Ergo: essential but pretty useless textbook if you`ve read previous H&W`s articles and books.

[Hugues Dufour · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book if you want to start thinking about Gravity's Rainbow and its relevance. Strongly recommended for fans of Thomas Pynchon.