EDitorial ± 1-Mar-2010

Over The Rainbow

To quote the Big O, it's over. After some three months, I finished my book. Reading that back, sounds like I'm writing one (not yet, come back, do not be alarmed) when actually I've been reading one. Quarter of a year? One entire season? Did I run out of crayons?

Nope, the faithful book light has been pinned to the back cover of a minor tome called Gravity's Rainbow by a chap named Thomas Pynchon. This whopper weighs in at a stonking 902 pages. That's a papermill of papyrus. Mightn't be so bad if it was a rollicking page-turner; instead, it's bloomin' hard work, so much so that separate readers' guides are available. Being honest, there were times when I didn't have a clue what was going on.

Central character to emerge is Tyrone Slothrop, a WWII GI with a bizarre link to the German V-2 rocket. Other fantastically named individuals include Pirate Prentice, Roger Mexico, Jessica Swanlake and Ronald Cherrycoke, and that's just in the first 200 pages. Interesting man, Mr Pynchon. Avoids all publicity yet has appeared in The Simpsons a handful of times, his character always shown with a paper bag covering his head.

Immediately prior to this epic, I'd read a charming book called All Of My Friends Are Superheroes -- quite large text and a grand total of 108 pages. It'll be good to return to reading paperbacks that won't crush you if you fall asleep, though I shall miss the Rocketman.