Pynchon Wiki: Gravity's Rainbow

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Welcome to the Gravity's Rainbow Wiki!

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This is the wiki for Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. Besides using the Alphabetical Index and the page-by-page annotation, you can also take a look at Gravity's Rainbow covers, read the reviews, or entertain some theories on the source of the title.

Review of Weisenburger's 2nd ed. of A Gravity's Rainbow Companion
Professor Don Larrson, he of the Companion's Companion to Gravity's Rainbow (which was rolled into this wiki), reviews Steve Weisenburger's the second, revised edition of A Gravity’s Rainbow Companion: Sources and Contexts for Pynchon’s Novel. Read it....

Marc Getter - Designer/Illustrator
Marc Getter (1947-2008) illustrated and designed the original covers for Gravity's Rainbow, in 1972 (published in 1973). Read his bio, as well a pictures of Marc, his wife, and some of his watercolors from the 1990s.

Hawaiian cultural references in Gravity's Rainbow

1 How to Use this Wiki
2 Alphabetical Index
3 Page by Page Annotations
4 Character Map
5 Pynchon Wiki Help and Contributor Guidelines
6 External Links
7 Featured Article
8 Gallery

How to Use this Wiki

There are two major ways to use this wiki. The first is the Gravity's Rainbow Alphabetical Index, used to keep track of the myriad characters, real and imagined, as well as events, arcana, and lots of other stuff. The second is the Spoiler-Free Annotations by Page, which allows the reader to look up and contribute allusions and references while reading the book, in a convenient and spoiler-free manner. These two sections are so far almost entirely different, but we're working on integrating them.

Apart from those, it's up to you.

Alphabetical Index

Information on the characters, events, and everything else in Gravity's Rainbow, organized alphabetically:

Gravity's Rainbow Alpha Guide

A·B·C·D·E·F·G·H·I·J·K·L·M·N·O·P·Q·R·S·T·U·V·W·XYZ top of page

Page by Page Annotations

1 Beyond the Zero	3-7, 7-16, 17-19, 20-29, 29-37, 37-42, 42-47, 47-53, 53-60, 60-71, 71-72, 72-83, 83-92, 92-113, 114-120, 120-136, 136-144, 145-154, 154-167, 167-174, 174-177
2 Un Perm' au Casino Herman Goering	181-189, 189-205, 205-226, 226-236, 236-244, 244-249, 249-269, 269-278
3 In the Zone	279-295, 295-314, 314-329, 329-336, 336-359, 359-371, 371-383, 383-390, 390-392, 392-397, 397-433, 433-447, 448-456, 457-468, 468-472, 473-482, 482-488, 488-491, 492-505, 505-518, 518-525, 525-532, 532-536, 537-548, 549-557, 557-563, 563-566, 567-577, 577-580, 580-591, 591-610, 610-616
4 The Counterforce	617-626, 626-640, 640-655, 656-663, 663-673, 674-700, 700-706, 706-717, 717-724, 724-733, 733-735, 735-760

Character Map

**Contains Spoilers**
A character map showing how most of the major characters connect together (PDF).

Pynchon Wiki Help and Contributor Guidelines

Click here for help with editing and creating pages.

We have a few conventions we ask that you follow:

When creating a new page, first check to make sure a page/article about what you want to write about hasn't already been created, by checking the list of all Wiki pages on Pynchon Wiki. If a page already exists, please modify that one.

When creating a new page, if its information pertains to one (and only one) specific Pynchon novel, please categorize it with the appropriate identifier. For example, a page pertaining to Gravity's Rainbow, should use the syntax [[Category:GR]].

To open a discussion on an individual listing of the Alpha Index, create one using the entry on Peter Tait as an example. Basically, give it a name that identifies the alpha listing (eg [[Name Discussion|DISCUSSION]]) and notice that the visible name will be "DISCUSSION" in full caps, so it stands out a bit.

More help for this wiki available here.

External Links

The Modern Word: Gravity's Rainbow

The Fictional Woods - a Pynchon forum

Zak Smith's Illustrations for Each Page of Gravity's Rainbow

Featured Article

Marc Getter

Marc Getter, Designer & Illustrator of the original Gravity's Rainbow Cover

Last year, I (Tim Ware) decided to find out more about Marc Getter who did the original Gravity's Rainbow cover design and illustration — the city silhouette with sunburst sky. I wanted to ask Marc about the process of creating that beautiful cover. Alas, Marc had died in 2008. However, I was able to get in contact with his wife, Linda, who really wanted to assist in creating a page about Marc for the Gravity's Rainbow wiki. Read about Marc Getter and view his lovely paintings.

Digitization: Progression from Physical to Cyber Space Via Gravity’s Rainbow, and What Meaning We May Find There

At Sixes and Sevens
To be "at sixes and sevens" is an English phrase and idiom, common in the United Kingdom. It is used to describe a state of confusion or disarray.

"He'd never told her, he avoided telling himself, but that was the measure of his faith, as this seventh Christmas of the War came wheeling in another charge at his skinny, shivering flank..." - Gravity's Rainbow, p.126

"A miscount" - Steven C. Weisenburger, A Gravity's Rainbow Companion

Um, not so fast there, Steve...