Gravity's RainbowGravity's Rainbow
Score Classic
What it's about
London, 1944. German V-2 rockets are falling on the city, and an American lieutenant named Tyrone Slothrop seems to have a strange link to them: a map of his romantic encounters matches the map of where the rockets land. As the war ends, Slothrop drifts across a ruined Germany, chased by agencies he doesn't understand, in search of a mysterious rocket and its secret.
Why it's worth reading
It won the National Book Award and is on TIME's list of the best novels. It's one of the most ambitious American novels ever written: comic, paranoid, encyclopedic and unlike anything else.
You'll love it if you liked
Catch-22
Infinite Jest
Slaughterhouse-FiveGood to know
It's famously difficult: hundreds of characters, songs, long digressions and no clear plot. It also has graphic and disturbing sexual content. A reader's guide helps.
By the numbers
- Readers48 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics85 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller30 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #70 of the 309 literary novels we rank
- #197 of the 762 classics we rank
- #621 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Thought-provoking, Moving, Adventurous
If you like this, read next
Breakfast of Champions
Cat's Cradle
Franny and Zooey
Gormenghast
Cat's Eye
Point Counter PointExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is Gravity's Rainbow worth reading?
Yes. It won the National Book Award and is on TIME's list of the best novels. It ranks #621 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 76.8 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Gravity's Rainbow about?
London, 1944. German V-2 rockets are falling on the city, and an American lieutenant named Tyrone Slothrop seems to have a strange link to them: a map of his romantic encounters matches the map of where the rockets land. As the war ends, Slothrop drifts across a ruined Germany, chased by agencies he doesn't understand, in search of a mysterious rocket and its secret.
How long does it take to read Gravity's Rainbow?
About 19 hours (760 pages), or about 5 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What awards has Gravity's Rainbow won?
National Book Award (Fiction) winner (1974).
What should I read after Gravity's Rainbow?
If you liked it, try Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace or Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr..