Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Set during the end of World War II, the novel follows Tyrone Slothrop, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, as he tries to uncover the truth behind a mysterious device, the "Schwarzgerät", that the Germans are using in their V-2 rockets. The narrative is complex and multi-layered, filled with a vast array of characters and subplots, all connected by various themes such as paranoia, technology, and the destructive nature of war. The book is known for its encyclopedic nature and its challenging, postmodernist style.
The 226th greatest book of all time
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Total Points: 1601
This book was first published in 1973
33 Lists
- score: 190 -- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die - 2006 (Weight: 180)
- score: 170 -- Best Foreign Work of Fiction Chosen by Francophone Writers - 2006 (Weight: 170)
- score: 169 -- Harenberg Buch der 1000 Bücher - 2005 (Weight: 160)
- score: 150 -- 50 Best Cult Books - 2016 (Weight: 142)
- score: 148 -- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read - 2009 (Weight: 140)
- score: 133 -- 100 Life-Changing Books - 2006 (Weight: 126)
- score: 116 -- 100 Books, 100 Companions - 2023 (Weight: 110)
- score: 95 -- TrueLit's Top 100 Favorite Books (2023) - 2023 (Weight: 80)
- score: 81 -- All-Time Classics, According to Academics - 1985 (Weight: 81)
- score: 63 -- Harold Bloom's The Western Canon - 1994 (Weight: 60)
- score: 59 -- 4chan’s Literature Board’s Aggregate Top 100 Books for the Decade 2014 - 2024 - 2024 (Weight: 50)
- score: 42 -- 150 Great Reads - 1988 (Weight: 40)
- score: 33 -- The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels: The Readers' List - 1998 (Weight: 30)
- score: 32 -- 100 Best 20th-Century American Books - 1999 (Weight: 31)
- score: 32 -- The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time - 2004 (Weight: 30)
- score: 28 -- National Book Award - Fiction - Yearly Book Award (Weight: 27)
- score: 16 -- TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels - 2005 (Weight: 16)
- score: 10 -- Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English since 1939 - 1984 (Weight: 10)
- score: 10 -- The 100 Greatest Novels - 2007 (Weight: 10)
- score: 1 -- 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction - 1999 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- 100 Best Novels in English Since 1900 - 2014 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- Our Users' Honorable Mention Favorite Books of All Time - 2024 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- A Century of Reading - 2018 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Graphic Canon - 2012 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Modern Library: The Two Hundred Best Novels in English Since 1950 - 2011 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- Top 100 Books - 1999 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List - 2018 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Dream of the Great American Novel - 2014 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- Select 100 - 2015 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1893 – 1993 - 2013 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The 50 Books Everyone Needs to Read, 1963-2013 - 2013 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- Edmonton's Top 100 - 1998 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- One Hundred Best American Novels, 1770 to 1985 - 2014 (Weight: 1)