u/LiterallySagan

Where to start. It took me almost a year. After having enjoyed Infinite Jest I thought I was ready for everything. Well, Gravity’s Rainbow was the exception, and it has taken me some time to digest it and finally start writing this. The story alternates between concrete understandable narrative which is very enjoyable, and dreamlike sequences in which one loses the thread of what’s happening and you need to re read everything. It was a surprise for me finishing a chapter, and then reading what the guide at https://www.gravitysrainbowguide.com/had to say just to realize I had understood something totally different. It also does not help that it is filled with obscure references about the postwar Europe.

The initial book premise is really interesting: it focuses on Tyrone Slothrop, whom I might call the main character, an American lieutenant in England during World War II. We learn that Slothrop unknowingly “predicts” the place a bomb is going to land: he has sex with a woman at certain place and days later a bomb falls in said place. Statistician from PISCES is really interested in this and says it’s just a casual Poisson distribution. As we unravel Slothrop’s story, we discover he was given to a scientist called Laszlo Jamf, a multidisciplinary intellectual with interests in both psychology and plastics. Supposedly he experimented with young Slothrop, using his erection as the variable to measure with his experiments. Dr. Jamf also invented Imipolex G, a new plastic that was used in the fabrication of the Schwarzgerät (black device) rocket, which is actually the main subject of the book. It is hypothesized that Slothrop’s bombing-related erections are due to a reaction to that plastic, however all that is left unfinished, when at the end of the book the existence of Dr. Jamf (who is mentioned constantly around the book) is denied, and explained as a way to justify Slothrop’s sexual arousal induced by death.

There are a lot of other loose threads all around the book. Pynchon takes the time to create complex tales and elements, and makes you believe they are going to play a major role in the book. Examples of these are the octopus that attacks Katje. Katje Borgesius is an agent with a complex backstory, who is at the beach and is attacked by an octopus trained to attack her - this causes Slothrop to save her and they become attached. Another example is a secret book that is only to be read by seven scientists, Kevin Spectro amongst others, who mysteriously die one by one.

Getting back on track, the main themes of the book are death, and the contrast of the opposites: how life requires death in order for life to be life, how white requires its contrast black (Weiss / Scwharz). This takes us to Captain Blicero (Blicero is a teutonic name for death), real name Lieutenant Weissman (German for white). Captain Blicero may be the real main character of the book. He is part of the German SS, and part of the V2 rocket program, in charge of developing the A4 rocket (the real main character of the book). Blicero is a racist white-supremacist; however, he had a black Herero lover: Enzian, he actually named him Enzian after a poem. Quick detour to Enzian, Enzian is a survivor from the Herero genocide, he is the son of a Herero woman, and a Russian sailor (making him half brother of Tchitcherine, but more on that later), who eventually becomes leader of the Schwarzkommando (black-commando) a Herero guerrilla group also obsessed with the rocket. Back to Blicero, he had a house in the woods where he held Gottfried and Katje Bourgesius captive in order to play sick sexual recreations of Hanzel and Grettel. Eventually Katje Fred herself from the house, but Gottfried remained under Blicero’s control, and was eventually launched in the 00000 A4 rocket.

Once free, Katje starts working for “The Firm”. There is a lot of confusion, since the word Them is constantly used, and we do not know who is Them, is it The Firm, PISCES, The White Visitation? Or something above? I think The Firm and PISCES (Psychological Intelligence Statistics Centralized EEOC Staff, headquartered at The White Visitation) are the same, an organisation led by Ned Pointsman, a psychological scientist who wants to use Slothrop’s supposed sexual link with the rockets to find the A4 rocket; thus, a lot of efforts of The Firm are to follow and control Slothrop. They use Katje who meets Slothrop in the “mysterious” octopus attack by previously-trained octopus Grigori.

After Slothrop’s encounter with Katje in the French Riviera, Slothrop begins becoming extremely more paranoid, suspecting there’s someone spying on him at all times and controlling his life. After having sex with Katje, she disappears and so do all of Slothrop’s belongings, and a naked persecution ensues. Slothrop begins reading rocket-books and discovering secret information on the S-Gerat 00000 rocket. He takes a train to The Zone (post-war Germany), where he meets comedic relief character Major Marvy. Off the train, Slothrop meets Geli Tripping, a self-described witch, and romantic partner to (again) Vaslav Tchitcherine. He starts asking questions, he is determined to find the rocket. Slothrop visits the tunnels where the V2 rockets are produced and meets Marvy again, who sends all of his soldiers to kill him. Slothrop only survives thanks to the help of Dr. Glimpf. Then, Slothrop takes a hot air balloon to Berlin, and meets again with Marvy, only to defeat him in an airborne cake-fight (every encounter with Marvy is comical, and the last encounter is the funniest one, when They are chasing Slothrop who is wearing a pig costume; Marvy and Slothrop switch costumes, and They take Marvy and castrate him mistaking him for Slothrop).

Later on, Slothrop joins a party of smugglers leaded by Saure. They gather costumes from a play, and Slothrop wears a viking helmet without horns, giving him the nickname Rocketman. They ask him to go to Postdam to retrieve some marijuana. He uses a fake ID with the name Ian Scuffling. He is drugged by Tchitcherine, and wakes up to find Greta Erdmann, an actress that conceived her daughter Bianca while recording one of Gerhardt von Goll’s movies (a famous German director also known as the Springer). She is in shock when she discovers the fake ID since she used to work with an Ian Scuffling.

Anyways, somehow both Slothrop and Greta end up in a ship named the Anubis, where they meet Greta’s current husband, Miklos Thanatz. We learn that both Greta and Miklos are sexual performers of SnM that used to perform for Captain Blicero, also involving her underage Bianca in their sexual spectacles. Slothrop is obsessed by Bianca and sleeps with her. Slothrop falls into the water and is rescued by smugglers towards Peenemunde, where they try to raid a rocket factory, and where Slothrop meets Tchitcherine and switch clothes.. Slothrop meets Franz Pokler, a scientist kidnapped by Captain Blicero to work for him developing the rocket. Pokler and his wife Leni conceived their daughter Ilse while watching Greta’s movie where she conceived Bianca.

The people at the White Visitation (Pirate Prentice, Roger Mexico, and Katje) reunite feeling guilty for all the wrong they have done in the name of peace, and create the Counterforce, an organization also looking for the rocket. The book becomes ever more cryptic with random stories, such as “Byron the Bulb” (a fun short story about an immortal bulb, and how the bulb mafia and the energy grids confabulate). Slothrop begins to “collapse” and fragment in hundreds of pieces, although the real question is was he ever not fragmented? Was Slothrop ever a real person, or just an idea?

In the last section the reader expects closure. The only incident that gets closure is Enzian and Tchitcherine’s relationship. The half-brothers were destined to kill each other; however, when they meet, they cannot recognize each other. Last we know about Slothrop is his tarot and that he was seen photographed in an UK rock band’s album “The Fool”. Captain Blicero finally launches the rocket with Gottfried inside, and somehow the rocket transcends space and time and hits a movie theater around 30 years later.

Where to start. It took me almost a year. After having enjoyed Infinite Jest I thought I was ready for everything. Well, Gravity’s Rainbow was the exception, and it has taken me some time to digest it and finally start writing this. The story alternates between concrete understandable narrative which is very enjoyable, and dreamlike sequences in which one loses the thread of what’s happening and you need to re read everything. It was a surprise for me finishing a chapter, and then reading what the guide at https://www.gravitysrainbowguide.com/had to say just to realize I had understood something totally different. It also does not help that it is filled with obscure references about the postwar Europe.

The initial book premise is really interesting: it focuses on Tyrone Slothrop, whom I might call the main character, an American lieutenant in England during World War II. We learn that Slothrop unknowingly “predicts” the place a bomb is going to land: he has sex with a woman at certain place and days later a bomb falls in said place. Statistician from PISCES is really interested in this and says it’s just a casual Poisson distribution. As we unravel Slothrop’s story, we discover he was given to a scientist called Laszlo Jamf, a multidisciplinary intellectual with interests in both psychology and plastics. Supposedly he experimented with young Slothrop, using his erection as the variable to measure with his experiments. Dr. Jamf also invented Imipolex G, a new plastic that was used in the fabrication of the Schwarzgerät (black device) rocket, which is actually the main subject of the book. It is hypothesized that Slothrop’s bombing-related erections are due to a reaction to that plastic, however all that is left unfinished, when at the end of the book the existence of Dr. Jamf (who is mentioned constantly around the book) is denied, and explained as a way to justify Slothrop’s sexual arousal induced by death.

There are a lot of other loose threads all around the book. Pynchon takes the time to create complex tales and elements, and makes you believe they are going to play a major role in the book. Examples of these are the octopus that attacks Katje. Katje Borgesius is an agent with a complex backstory, who is at the beach and is attacked by an octopus trained to attack her - this causes Slothrop to save her and they become attached. Another example is a secret book that is only to be read by seven scientists, Kevin Spectro amongst others, who mysteriously die one by one.

Getting back on track, the main themes of the book are death, and the contrast of the opposites: how life requires death in order for life to be life, how white requires its contrast black (Weiss / Scwharz). This takes us to Captain Blicero (Blicero is a teutonic name for death), real name Lieutenant Weissman (German for white). Captain Blicero may be the real main character of the book. He is part of the German SS, and part of the V2 rocket program, in charge of developing the A4 rocket (the real main character of the book). Blicero is a racist white-supremacist; however, he had a black Herero lover: Enzian, he actually named him Enzian after a poem. Quick detour to Enzian, Enzian is a survivor from the Herero genocide, he is the son of a Herero woman, and a Russian sailor (making him half brother of Tchitcherine, but more on that later), who eventually becomes leader of the Schwarzkommando (black-commando) a Herero guerrilla group also obsessed with the rocket. Back to Blicero, he had a house in the woods where he held Gottfried and Katje Bourgesius captive in order to play sick sexual recreations of Hanzel and Grettel. Eventually Katje Fred herself from the house, but Gottfried remained under Blicero’s control, and was eventually launched in the 00000 A4 rocket.

Once free, Katje starts working for “The Firm”. There is a lot of confusion, since the word Them is constantly used, and we do not know who is Them, is it The Firm, PISCES, The White Visitation? Or something above? I think The Firm and PISCES (Psychological Intelligence Statistics Centralized EEOC Staff, headquartered at The White Visitation) are the same, an organisation led by Ned Pointsman, a psychological scientist who wants to use Slothrop’s supposed sexual link with the rockets to find the A4 rocket; thus, a lot of efforts of The Firm are to follow and control Slothrop. They use Katje who meets Slothrop in the “mysterious” octopus attack by previously-trained octopus Grigori.

After Slothrop’s encounter with Katje in the French Riviera, Slothrop begins becoming extremely more paranoid, suspecting there’s someone spying on him at all times and controlling his life. After having sex with Katje, she disappears and so do all of Slothrop’s belongings, and a naked persecution ensues. Slothrop begins reading rocket-books and discovering secret information on the S-Gerat 00000 rocket. He takes a train to The Zone (post-war Germany), where he meets comedic relief character Major Marvy. Off the train, Slothrop meets Geli Tripping, a self-described witch, and romantic partner to (again) Vaslav Tchitcherine. He starts asking questions, he is determined to find the rocket. Slothrop visits the tunnels where the V2 rockets are produced and meets Marvy again, who sends all of his soldiers to kill him. Slothrop only survives thanks to the help of Dr. Glimpf. Then, Slothrop takes a hot air balloon to Berlin, and meets again with Marvy, only to defeat him in an airborne cake-fight (every encounter with Marvy is comical, and the last encounter is the funniest one, when They are chasing Slothrop who is wearing a pig costume; Marvy and Slothrop switch costumes, and They take Marvy and castrate him mistaking him for Slothrop).

Later on, Slothrop joins a party of smugglers leaded by Saure. They gather costumes from a play, and Slothrop wears a viking helmet without horns, giving him the nickname Rocketman. They ask him to go to Postdam to retrieve some marijuana. He uses a fake ID with the name Ian Scuffling. He is drugged by Tchitcherine, and wakes up to find Greta Erdmann, an actress that conceived her daughter Bianca while recording one of Gerhardt von Goll’s movies (a famous German director also known as the Springer). She is in shock when she discovers the fake ID since she used to work with an Ian Scuffling.

Anyways, somehow both Slothrop and Greta end up in a ship named the Anubis, where they meet Greta’s current husband, Miklos Thanatz. We learn that both Greta and Miklos are sexual performers of SnM that used to perform for Captain Blicero, also involving her underage Bianca in their sexual spectacles. Slothrop is obsessed by Bianca and sleeps with her. Slothrop falls into the water and is rescued by smugglers towards Peenemunde, where they try to raid a rocket factory, and where Slothrop meets Tchitcherine and switch clothes.. Slothrop meets Franz Pokler, a scientist kidnapped by Captain Blicero to work for him developing the rocket. Pokler and his wife Leni conceived their daughter Ilse while watching Greta’s movie where she conceived Bianca.

The people at the White Visitation (Pirate Prentice, Roger Mexico, and Katje) reunite feeling guilty for all the wrong they have done in the name of peace, and create the Counterforce, an organization also looking for the rocket. The book becomes ever more cryptic with random stories, such as “Byron the Bulb” (a fun short story about an immortal bulb, and how the bulb mafia and the energy grids confabulate). Slothrop begins to “collapse” and fragment in hundreds of pieces, although the real question is was he ever not fragmented? Was Slothrop ever a real person, or just an idea?

In the last section the reader expects closure. The only incident that gets closure is Enzian and Tchitcherine’s relationship. The half-brothers were destined to kill each other; however, when they meet, they cannot recognize each other. Last we know about Slothrop is his tarot and that he was seen photographed in an UK rock band’s album “The Fool”. Captain Blicero finally launches the rocket with Gottfried inside, and somehow the rocket transcends space and time and hits a movie theater around 30 years later.

Currently, solving the Daily Pokedoku and keeping your streak has no benefits. And thus no incentives for me to fill it everyday. I might wait for a couple to build up and solve them all at once to shiny farm.

This is why Pokedoku should add an incentive for us to keep our streak, and that should be an increase in the shiny rate. E.g.

10-day streak: +0.1% shiny rate

100-day streak: +1% shiny rate

1000-day streak: +10% shiny rate

I think it would be cool and would be a real nice incentive for us to keep playing daily