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Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow
A collection of critical essays on Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow" arranged in chronological order of publication.
127 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1986
About the author
Harold Bloom
1,676 books2,241 followersHarold Bloom was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." After publishing his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and one novel. He edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literature departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" (multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Cornell University.
Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literature departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" (multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Cornell University.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 28, 2016
Gabriele Schwab's "Creative Paranoia and Frost Patterns of White Words"—the final essay in this collection of Pynchon criticism—boasts the following epigram:
If only Schwab had put these words into practice! The same goes for the other critics in this book (and some pretty prominent names too): Harold Bloom, Richard Poirier, Paul Fussell, Edward Mendelson (the literary executor of W.H. Auden's estate), Louis Mackey (the high-flown philosopher from Waking Life ), Tony Tanner and Craig Hansen Werner. Because illuminate Pynchon's stimulating and disorienting and infuriating tome they most certainly did not.
Granted, Gravity's Rainbow: Modern Critical Interpretations came out in the mid-80s, so I guess I should have expected the buzzwords, the namedropping and the manifesto-like assertions, not to mention the almost complete lack of close-reading analysis. And I guess one can understand (if not condone) the temptation for a critic to ape Pynchon's own inimitable prose style. Thus, you get rather silly sentences like this:
Or this:
And then there's the inescapable influence of High Theory, with its unfortunate tendency for rendering every art work it touches into a gray goo of dichotomy-bashing and "epistemological uncertainty." Indeed, had I read this book without also reading its source text, I suspect I would've come to the erroneous belief that Gravity's Rainbow was probably pretty dull insofar as novels go. If this isn't a failure of criticism, I don't know what is.
In short, Gravity's Rainbow: Modern Critical Interpretations largely comprises the turgid musings of a pack of flaccid intellectuals. ("Largely," because I actually quite enjoyed Bloom's take on "Byron the Bulb.") Not so much recommended.
It is not expected of critics as it is of poets that they should help us to make sense of our lives; they are bound only to attempt the lesser feat of making sense of the ways we try to make sense of our lives.
—Frank Kermode
If only Schwab had put these words into practice! The same goes for the other critics in this book (and some pretty prominent names too): Harold Bloom, Richard Poirier, Paul Fussell, Edward Mendelson (the literary executor of W.H. Auden's estate), Louis Mackey (the high-flown philosopher from Waking Life ), Tony Tanner and Craig Hansen Werner. Because illuminate Pynchon's stimulating and disorienting and infuriating tome they most certainly did not.
Granted, Gravity's Rainbow: Modern Critical Interpretations came out in the mid-80s, so I guess I should have expected the buzzwords, the namedropping and the manifesto-like assertions, not to mention the almost complete lack of close-reading analysis. And I guess one can understand (if not condone) the temptation for a critic to ape Pynchon's own inimitable prose style. Thus, you get rather silly sentences like this:
Tyrone Slothrop is preterite not only in his destiny but also (heh, heh) in his chronicler.
Or this:
In all this, certain abiding preoccupations may be discerned. Pattern, plots and paranoia — these are familiar in Pynchon's world; add to those paper, plastic, preterition, probability theory and Pavlovian conditioning, and some of the main themes have been listed.
And then there's the inescapable influence of High Theory, with its unfortunate tendency for rendering every art work it touches into a gray goo of dichotomy-bashing and "epistemological uncertainty." Indeed, had I read this book without also reading its source text, I suspect I would've come to the erroneous belief that Gravity's Rainbow was probably pretty dull insofar as novels go. If this isn't a failure of criticism, I don't know what is.
In short, Gravity's Rainbow: Modern Critical Interpretations largely comprises the turgid musings of a pack of flaccid intellectuals. ("Largely," because I actually quite enjoyed Bloom's take on "Byron the Bulb.") Not so much recommended.
May 21, 2010
some of these essays are a tad dense but still inspiring. makes you feel part of our chaotic universe.
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June 30, 2012a train wreck in my head ..reread it a couple of times and was able to reap the rewards...Pynchon's best book before he began to coast on his legend
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews