Thomas Pynchon: Gravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow: A Study of Its Conceptual Structure and of Rilke's Influence
This study delineates what can be called the conceptual structure of Gravity's Rainbow.
Review by Kachig Tölölyan, Wesleyan University
Though first conceived as a PhD dissertation for the University of Ziirich, Hohmann's book brings much that is new to the rapidly growing field of Pynchon studies (20 books since 1974, of which the most important are T. Schaub's Pynchon, CH, Sep "81; M. Hite’s Ideas of Order in Thomas Pynchon, CH Feb *84; and Approaches to Gravity's Rainbow, ed. by C. Clerc, CH, Jun '83). He draws effectively on resources not always familiar to American specialists—e.g., Roland Barthes and Mikhail Bakhtin—and
on the work of the great German poet, R.M. Rilke. The use of this material sheds new light on numerous old issues of genre and narrative style, but the special virtue of Hohmann's text is that he raises a number of virtually new issues. OFf these, his comments on Pynchon’s use of the Gnostic religious tradition and his analysis of conspiracy in terms of the “Father imago* are
especially intriguing. The 100 pages on Rilke are perhaps longer than necessary, but Hohmann's substantiation of an old and seemingly flimsy claim that Slothrop, a major character in Gravity’s Rainbow, should be read as “a parody of Rilke’s Orpheus” is impressive, Similarly, the claim that Gravity's Rainbow may be viewed as an “expansion” of Rilke's Tenth E!egy will alter debate. Strongly recommended to undergraduate libraries
with good collections of contemporary American literature, and essential graduate libraries.—K. Tölölyan, Wesleyan University
Angel and Rocket: Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow and the Duino Elegies
The study analyzes Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow it in terms of Rilke's Duino Elegies, a text which was a major influence on Pynchon's novel.