Novel
Gravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon · 1973
Synopsis
London, December 1944. The V-2 rockets strike before their sound arrives, and the map of the conquests, real or claimed, of the American lieutenant Tyrone Slothrop precedes the points of impact by two to ten days. A secret unit, housed in a former asylum, studies him. Sent to the Côte d'Azur, then to the Zone, postwar Germany, he looks for a rocket bearing the number 00000 and the mysterious part it is to carry, and meets engineers, spies, traffickers and descendants of the Herero who survived the genocide of 1904.
Context
His past as a technical writer in the aeronautical industry partly feeds the scientific material of the book, written from the mid-sixties to the early seventies, notably in Manhattan Beach. At the 1974 National Book Award, his publisher sent the comedian Irwin Corey in his place, whose speech baffled the audience. The Pulitzer Prize jury chose the book unanimously; the board judged it unreadable and in places obscene, and no novel was awarded the prize. In 1975, the author declined the Howells Medal.
Who it is for
A very long novel, with an immense cast and a teeming, fragmented plot, which demands patience. Translated into French by Michel Doury.
Prizes and reception
1974 National Book Award, shared with Isaac Bashevis Singer, and a Pulitzer Prize recommended by the jury but never awarded.
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