Category: Archived DMs

Welcome to Week 13, Part 4, and the start of the last big push. I’m still a little bit behind my own self, chasing after the march, coverless copy flapping in my left hand. But I read 50 pages in the last two days and now my head, it’s swirling with Deathmarch.
Early on I read someone somewhere saying that one of the special things about this book and Pynchon in general is the way he wows you on virtually every page. Over and over and over again. And I continue to find that to be true and baffling.
For example: “‘Say, there.’ It appears to be a very large white Finger, addressing him. Its Fingernail is beautifully manicured: as it rotates for him, it slowly reveals a Fingerprint that might as well be an aerial view of the City Dactylic, that city of the future where every soul is known, and there is noplace to hide. Right now, joints moving with soft, hydraulic sounds, the Finger is calling Tchitcherine’s attention to–”
It’s those big, juicy ropes of taffy that keep pulling me through. That taffy and all of youse leading the way. So here we go, just three (3!) weeks left. By my insta-math, it’s looking like 10-12 people will make it all the way through to the other side. Perhaps right before we finish, we’ll take two hours and walk around the island making totems to all the fallen, like they do on Survivor. “This circle represents a donut for Jeff. He always wanted a donut.”
Next week: It’s a hike up to the peak of “Mount Page 663 (p/v)”. Let’s meet at the cafeteria. I’m told “there are things to hold on to. . . .”

It’s Week 12 and I can literally feel the back of the book in my hands when I’m reading. That’s how close to the end we are. By my admittedly rough and unreliable calculations, just 4 weeks remain. Der Jinkeys!
Enough of us marchers have fallen a little bit behind that I think this would be a good time for a demi-catch-up week. Instead of tackling the usual 50, let’s target around 36 pages, which will take us all the way to the end of the Zone and the start of Part 4.
Next week: See you at page 616 (p/v), which rumor has it “is done on paper….”

Week 11. I mean, are you kidding me? Seriously. 11? This is ridiculous!
I my own self have fallen back behind. Caught a wee spot of the old TB this last week. But I’m bouncin’ back (coughhack!) bouncin’ back I tell ya!
On to next week: Let’s make camp at page 580 (p/v) where “Jamf was doing it in the least obvious there was.”

10 weeks — 10! And now we’re roughly two-thirds of the way through. What’s left? Just a pamphlet really. A hop, a skip, and an analepsis.
Last week was challenging for different folks in different ways. Some of us battled with the lengthy Pokler section, which I loved, perhaps because I read most of it on a flight back from Vegas, the way it was meant to be read.
Me, I was displeased with the Bianca/Slothrop section, which left at least some others unphased.
What will this week bring? More Zone? Oh yes. Count on it.
Next week: Page 532 (v/p) aka 620 in (b), and all those “good-bys in his pockets warming his empty hands….”

Week 9 and and we’re hard-charging through the Zone… Despite the relative quiet on the blog this last week, I count around 14-15 people out on the trail. Not bad at all….
Speaking of quiet, we’re suddenly down to only around five or six folks qualified for Grand Poobah mug status. And here I am, still flush with the irresistible urge to fling GRDM mugs across the country when this is all over. And so I’ve arbitrarily decided to modify the rules of this experiment thusly: Both Grand Poobahs and Big Poobahs will qualify for mugness. In other words, it’s a a thin slice of general amnesty — them what may have missed commenting a week or two, there’s still a way for us to get you into that mug. (So what’s the difference now, you may ask, between Grand and Big Poobah status? Well, for one, Grand Poobahs will find it surprisingly easy to get restaurant reservations at hot spots all around town.)
I’m trailing our target by around 20 or 30 pages — got to page 404 (v) last night. Still swooning from the opening Rocket Man/Potsdam sequences. And now remaining pages are starting to get thinner than pages read. And I’m starting to think about how I’ll miss you, you old sonuvabitch.
Next week: Meetcha at page 482 (v), you know — over by the “glowing black mudslide of nausea…” -CV

Hey all,
Well congrats! This week we hit the halfway mark! All that, and we still have something like 13-15 people on the march, on and off the blog, which is pretty impressive. Like a 40% survival rate to-date. And I’d have to guess that most of the folks who made it this far will see the inside back of the cover.
From this point on, let’s revert to the Unified Thread approach. And let the donuts fall where they may. So long as they don’t fall into my Georgian fruit soup. You see? You see how I did that?! An obscure reference! The power! The power! And again: “No one here seems quite right in the head.” It’s so true….
Next week: Let’s make camp at page 433 (v), where we’ll find “…a blanket, or a night indoors, or a ride home….” -CV

I met a traveler from an antique land who said: “A Gravity’s Rainbow Chat Thread stands in the desert.”

Well alright now, week 7 and as we near the halfway mark, there are still some 15 or so people with us, both on and off the blog. Not bad. If you’re hanging out around page 100-150 and wondering whether to push on or toss the book aside, I’d say (big surprise here) push on! Pages 200-320 (as far as I’ve gotten so far) are much more flat-out fun (and easier going) than the first 100 pages. Things have gotten pretty spectacular and, for my tastes at least, it’s been well worth the effort to get here. What do other people on the march think up to this point? Worth the effort? Overrated? Shout out….
OK, that said, you know the drill: This is the spot for book-related comments. Chat thread coming up shortly.
Next week: Let’s meet up at page 383 (p), ya know, “hovering coyly over the pit of Death….” See you at the next turn in the road, -CV

“‘Come in to the Gravity’s Rainbow Deathmarch Chat Thread,’ said the spider… et cetera…”

Hey presto: Week 6!
Welcome back from the break. Thanks to so-called “Bill” for the suggestion — it just in time for me. I finally caught up last night — for the first time in, oh about 6 weeks. For anyone still a ways back, the good news is that the trail from around 200-278 has struck most folks as a tad easier on the brain than, the opening stretch. Though perhaps not easier on the stomach….
This is the spot for bookly comments. Here’s one tidbit to startcha off: “Mindless Pleasures” (a phrase found on page 270 (p) was once the book’s working title. True that.
Chat thread coming shortly….
Next week: Let’s meet up at page 329 (p/v) (Bantam page # coming in a bit), with the section that ends “Enzian is heading into the North….” See ya there, -CV