Recently in Deathmarch Category

Congrats, ye mighty 'marching band! It's the final week and this week's page count target is pretty straightforward -- we're racing toward the back cover.

When you've finished and posted your closing comment, be sure to drop me a note at "poetry at cecilvortex dot com" with your shipping address to stake your claim on a custom magnet (not actually guaranteed but likely) to pull loose paper toward fridge doors.

Big thanks to you all for taking this ride. I'll confess that I get a huge kick out these 'marches, and I hope youse do too. See ya round the next bend in the trail....
-Cecil

...in which I forgo all attempts at pith to focus instead on (1) timely posting! and (2) correct categorizing! I'm still reading, enjoying, trailing behind. Hope to meet you at the finish line, perhaps while you're all packing up your cars and/or napping under trees.....

Next Wednesday: Let's catch up for at the end of Book Twelve, Chapter 8, along with the "indisputable one!"

(which is to say: please use this thread for comments on pages 0-715; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

Welcome to Week 12 and my first best opportunity to make good on last week's pledge to be late- nae-more. Let me also declare general amnesty to anyone who didn't have a chance to comment last week. There was hardly enough time to get the keyboard, and yet somehow, astonishingly, 17 of you did. I think, by the way, this is a Deathmarch record -- I can't recall this many marchers making it this close to the end afore. Speaking of which.....

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Book Twelve, Chapter 1 (just a little bit less than 100 pages from the finish line), where they're being "called up one by one."

(which is to say: please use this thread for comments on pages 0-662; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

I had a great day today reading 60 pages, and I'm still 30 pages behind the last target! But I pledge this to ye, my deathmarching pals: You've all been wildly patient with me, even a certain Old Man. From here on out, particularly as we close in on the conclusion, I'll put the good of the many above the few, and most especially the one, which means posting on Wednesday, whether I'm with the pack or miles behind.

As regards the text, I'm in the happy-reader camp -- really enjoyed Dmitri's inquisition, all the lovely spins and dips his mind does when his mouth is moving. And the boys section is off to a wonderful start. Kolya walking down the street, messing with everyone he passes, that was an extra pure joy.

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Book Eleven, Chapter 6, where he's making "his way to Smerdyakov again."

(which is to say: please use this thread for comments on pages 0-612; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by, dareIsay, the end o' day Tuesday)

4/30 Update: I'm extra special behind this week but will post tomorrow. For those saying, "what the what?", between you and me, the next target is: Book XI, Chapter 6.....

And just like that, it's Week 10! I'm still reading, having a great time with the book, but I can't say I've caught up. In my world, Dmitri just had a glorious extended freakout involving angry Poles and blood and money and at least one moment of delirium, and then the roof caved in. I can see now what everyone's been talking about in the comments. It does feel like FD spent the first 300 pages meticulously putting his boat together, kneeling by the river's side, and now he's gone and thrown into the rapids. That's right, it's a whiterafting gumball rally! Or something like that. Very glad to have it made to this exhilirating patch, and thanks to you all for pulling me along....

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Part IV, Book Ten, Chapter 7 -- "make sure you come! Ici...."

(which is to say: please use this Week 4 thread for comments on pages 0-562; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

Welcome to Week 9, in which I'm late again, the gap-doth-inflate again, I'm a need-to-be-reading-more 'march mate, again. Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered, I've fallen behind! I'm in a great part of the book tho -- still marveling at the fact that she's an onion. Lovely story, that.

Just think of me as the voice from your not-so-distant past, cheerfully turning pages on the dusty path ye've already trod. Don't wait for me though. Charge on! Charge on! And here's hoping I have that extra productive weekend I need to get back in the thick of the pack.....

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Part III, Book Nine, Chapter 7, or "I'll probably start raving."

(which is to say: please use this Week 4 thread for comments on pages 0-499; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

Welcome to Week 8, my very own week-of-DM-shame, as the days have slipped past and now I'm suddenly a week behind. I blame the Cannonball Run references from a few weeks back, which inspired me to go on a 750-mile trek throwing my DM schedule into mad array! But don't wait for me. March on! March on! I'll aim to catch up with ya before the next bend.

Next Wednesday: Let's Gumball Rally our way to the end of Part III, Book Nine, Chapter 2, "after a long but, I believe, necessary explanation."

(which is to say: please use this Week 4 thread for comments on pages 0-456; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

Welcome to Week 7! From a sort of outrageous 70 or 80 marchers, we're now down closer to a still impressive as hell ~30. Another fun and thoughtful batch of comments this past week. I was particularly gratefully to Cookie for catching this (as So-Called-Bill pointed out) impossibly timely line:

"We are assured that the world is becoming more and more united, is being formed into brotherly communion, by the shortening of distances, by the transmitting of thoughts through the air. Alas, do not believe in such a union of people."

I'm not sure how I missed that one, though I have this theory that whenever there's duels and murders and stinking corpses, I'm fully engaged, and then when things switch to religious philosophy and/or 20-page prose interpretations of poems about religious philosophy, I black out.

Fortunately, we've been ending of late on these lovely pivot points in the action that leave me looking forward to the trail just ahead. Here's hoping that string continues!

Next Wednesday: Let's zip on by the midpoint and catch up with Mitya at at the end of Part III, Book Eight, Chapter 4, where he appears to be running "like a madman."

(which is to say: please use this Week 4 thread for comments on pages 0-395; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

Welcome to Week 6, and let me just say: yikes. I'm talking to you, pages 246-264 in the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. There are brains made to absorb an endless prose description of a religious poem about faith and free will (and aftermath chit-chat) like the one we experienced this past week. Some of those brains are among us, as evidenced by this week's excellent comments section. But I'll confess, I have that other kind of brain. To me it all sounded like the same three sentences over and over and over again. And I say: here's to all the 'marchers! Because I'm sure I would have been left by the wayside had it not be for the lure of the trail and the shame of constructing magnets for others whilst having no BKDM magnet to call my own.

Fortunately, Smerdyakov was waiting on the far side of this maddening section. Good old broth-making, scurrilous, creepy, super-dooper compelling Smerdyakov. Fyodor's beard-behavioral analysis lay just beyond that. And the Brothers Karamazov Cannonball Run was on again....

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Part III, Book Seven, Chapter 2, "because it's very opportune for us."

(which is to say: please use this Week 4 thread for comments on pages 0-343; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

Happy Week 5! I'm about 8 pages behind, but trucking along. Did I fall asleep today in a public place with the book on my lap? And did they almost take an embarrassing picture of me, but then I woke up just in time? Counsel has advised me to neither confirm nor deny.

This one has been feeling to me a little more like a "Cannonball Run" or a "Gumball Rally" than a "Deathmarch" for some reason. Not that it's easy or even zany. Just something about the rhythm -- the book is racing along. And then I get stopped by the cops and Sammy Davis Junior has to dress up like a monk. Something like that. It's not a bad thing though -- "The Brothers Karamazov Gumball Rally" has a pleasant ring to it.

I've been especially enjoying the conversations characters keep having with themselves while other people watch, letting their thoughts tumble out like grapefruits from a busted shopping bag: "I don't want an ice cream cone. Oh, you can see I want an ice cream cone, can't you? It's written on my face! Yes! I do want an ice cream cone! But I won't have one. Unless you give me one. Will you give me an ice cream cone? I'm such a lowly creature! And yet, an ice cream would be fantastic right about now!" he said.

I'm guessing this may in part be because people interrupted each other a lot less back in 19th century Russia. Also, they were mostly insane.

This coming week let's go for a slightly more slenderized serving, to give those marchers-just-a-wee-bit-behind a chance to catch up, so we can march toward page 300 with a mighty trailwind at our backs.

Next Wednesday: I'll see ya at the optimistic juncture at the end of Book V, where "never had his heart bathed in sweeter hopes..."

(which is to say: please use this Week 4 thread for comments on pages 0-282; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

Welcome to Week 4! I'm racing along, slightly behind the crowd, 8 pages shy of the mark my own self. Having a good time by and large, tho I agree with "SBL" that the soap opera component is much more engaging so far than the theological back and forth. Although Smerdyakov's theological games were a kick. Speaking of which, thanks to Colin for finding the Smerdyakov-related picture tucked in here, referenced at the end of Chapter 6, Book III.

Based on the comments in last week's thread (and on the introduction), I may be the rare exception who likes Aloysha. In contrast to all the mayhem, I've found his Richie C.-like innocence charming and a little bit of a relief. I'm also charmed and pleasantly stupefied by the size of the group -- great to see so many folks sticking with it. And now that we're heading toward page 200, no point turning back, right? I mean, math aside, it's almost farther back now than it is just to push forward, right? Trailward ho!
-Cecil

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Part II, Book Five, Chapter 3, where somebody's smiling, "just like a meek little boy."

(which is to say: please use this Week 4 thread for comments on pages 0-236; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

Welcome to Week 3! Things swung wildly last week from entertaining and amusing to, as noted in the thread, oft-horrifying/horrible. Whether you were looking for philosophical treatises, high drama, passion, children of unknown origin, or three different forms of confession, it was all there. As I mentioned in the W2 thread, several characters and motivations have turned out to not be what I'd glimpsed on first glance (is Fyodor a clown or a monster, or a monster-clown?), all of which has left me engaged and pleasantly unsure who or what to root for.

In the thread, a few people were reading on the road, most seemed close-to-caught-up, and at least one birthday was celebrated. Church v. state was debated, as well as whether this modern world was made for such as the K's. Many felt (and I agree) that there was something Dickensian about the flow and feel of things, particularly when Dmitri started racing us through his confessional anecdotes.

Elsethread, Sanbu offered up adam's apple-themed verse. Off-thread, I briefly considered swapping out magnets for "I Survived the Brothers Karamazov"-themed gudgeons (though a little research revealed that magnets are much more cost-effective and easier to ship).

All in all, a rewarding and thought-provoking seven days. Thanks for joining the trek. The thread has been a real treat and a great companion along the way. And now: trailward ho!
-Cecil

Next Wednesday: Let's lurch forward to Part II, Book Four, Chapter 3, "far ahead, without slowing down, without turning around..."

(which is to say: please use this Week 3 thread for comments on pages 0-180; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

And just like that, it's Week 2. It's been fun to see so many people diving in. I can report that this is now, by far, our biggest DM to date. Promising news for the magnet industry!

So OK, you've bought the book and you've read a few chapters. Which is awesome. But don't get overconfident. I agree (so far) with the 'marchers who've said this is more of a treat than a slog. Book 2 in particular started to downright zip along. But could it be that the very enjoyability of the read (so far) turns out to be the thing that gets you to let your guard down? to put the book aside for a day, then two? Be vigilant, 'march-mates! There's a long road ahead with tens of thousands of pages left for us to read (collectively) afore we're through.

On a less overwhelming note, there've been a few questions about how to know when the next thread is up. And I can report that it'll always be Wednesday, usually (hopefully) by 2 pm PST. Some other tips:

* if you want to jump straight to the deathmarch page to see where things are at (rather than going to the site's home page) you can find that here.
* If you use an RSS reader you can also subscribe to the site here to see when the latest post has gone live.
* I also announce each week's post in my poem-of-the-not-quite-every-day mailing list, which features short poetry by Levertov, Snyder, Brautigan, Li Po, Oppen, and other swell poetry-folks. If that interests ya, just send me a note.

Looking forward to the next stretch of the trail. Merry 'marching all...
-Cecil

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Book Three, Chapter 5, where I'm told "there will be no horror."

(which is to say: please use this Week 2 thread for comments on pages 0-122; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

Welcome to the launch of "The Brothers Karamazov Deathmarch" -- a collective exploration of the Fyodorovich family and their tale told in four parts over twelve books that are really two novels, plus: an epilogue. And did I mention it was originally written in another language?!

Based on last week's comments, this could be the largest literary deathmarch we've launched. I'm really curious how many folks will make it through. But I have no doubts about you -- I can tell you're the sort of person who successfully completes literary deathmarches. That's part of your charm and you don't have to feel bad about it. Some people are born with laser vision.

Here's a brief recap of how this thing works:

Everyone's welcome to join -- this is the official start, so if you didn't post last week, not to worry -- feel free to jump in here. Each Wednesday I'll post a new entry (Week 1, Week 2, Week 3...) with our page count target (in the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation) for that week. We're starting with around 50 pages/week and may speed up to 60 or 70 pages/week, but likely not much more than that.

Comment on each week's post, make it through to the end, and you've qualified for your very own "I Survived the Brothers Karamazov Deathmarch" magnet, complete with ferromagnetic attractors. Comments can be profound. Or less so. You can comment before you read that week's section as a "here I go!" or after you're done, as a sort of after-meal mint. Believe it or not, "I'm 200 pages behind and I lost my book!" counts as a comment. I know. Crazy.

You might be tempted to read past the target but try not to get too far down the road -- part of the fun is the slow-go. If you've zipped ahead, be sure not to get past that week's reading in your comments.

And that's the whole shpiel. Barkeep, if you could get me one of those extra-Russian Russian tea cookies in a to-go bag? I'll see ya on the trail....
-Cecil

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Book Two, Chapter 4, where Aloyosha appears to be "right, very right."

(which is to say: please use this Week 1 thread for comments on pages 0-59; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o' day Tuesday)

Life goes better with Russian lit and magnets. To prove that point, on 2/18 a group of us are kicking off "The Brothers Karamazov Deathmarch." And this, right here, is your personal exhortation to join in.

A bit of history
About four years ago, a gaggle of 'marchers tackled Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow, a book I was so scared of, the sight of an actual rainbow could make me weep.

But we made it through. Dizzy from the experience, we followed up with Pale Fire, Don Quixote, To the Lighthouse, At Swim-Two-Birds, and Against the Day. Then we stopped for a bit, and not too long after that the economy tanked.

Now we're switching the DM machine back on for a book that an inebriated friend recently promised "contains the answers to all life's questions." And that's gotta be true. Because he promised.

How it works + FAQ
Starting 2/18, I'll post here every Wednesday morning with the 50-60 page target for the week (digestible bites designed for rich-mulling). Comment on each week's post and make it through, and you get a custom-designed "I Survived 'The Brothers Karamazov Deathmarch'" magnet.

Which version? We picked the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, a beaut, and a bargain at $12.24. Feel free to read another if you won't be flummoxed by the "what page are we on again?" factor.

OK to re-read? Sure -- just be kind and avoid pre-commenting or taunting first-timers like me.

Should comments be well thought out theses or monosyllabic bleats? The machine gratefully accepts all kinds. Wisdom is swell, but not required. And no points allocated for character count.

What next? Pick the book up and hold off reading till the starting post on 2/18 shouts out the page target for Week 1....

We'd love to have you along -- the more the marchier. If you plan on diving in, take a sec to shout out in the comments. Any questions, drop me a note. And please feel free to help spread the word via modern "tweet/blog/FB" technology.

Looking forward to the march. Seems like a great season to spend time with something a little bit timeless.

This is it! -- the last week!

Although I'm still woefully behind (in fact, I'm pretty sure I'm the most behindest of all the many folks still marching), I've really enjoyed all the comments. This has been one of the best 'marches yet ("I bet you say that to all the 'marches"), and I'm hoping youse consider coming back for a future jaunt.

I 'spect the next one will be Octoberish. Not sure what we're going to read so please feel free to keep suggesting ideas. I'm pretty sure it won't be a 20 week/1000+ pager this go around. I'm open to the new notion that's been floated of doing a few books by one author, at a book every two weeks, or somesuch. Or perhaps some 600-page humdinger.

And then there's this: mugs!

When you hit the back o' the book and post your comment (assuming you've posted on most threads, yada yada) please be sure to drop me a line with your shipping address so you can get your very own "I Surivived the AtD DM Mug."

Saturday 6/30: We bring it all home.

(Which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to the inside back cover. Aim to finish reading and to comment on it here by end o' day next Saturday, give or take. Me, I'll be more on the "take" side of that equation.)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

OK, so it's a Thursday and I'm yet I'm not late posting. I love this new system! Now we put our two knees close up tight, we swing them to the left and then we swing them to the right. Can it be done? Can. It. Be. Done? (And by "it" I mean, can we continue to lurch our deathmarch-posting-days over to the right, so as to land on Saturday 6/30?) I think Van Hagar put it best when they observed: "Only time will tell if we can stand the test of time."

Friday 6/22: Shall we meet at the bottom of page 1039? "Thought you're gonna ask."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 1039. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Wednesday, give or take)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

Still lagging behind the pack, but fortunately I've got two plane rides in the next few days, which seems to be the key to staying in this 'un. In fact, if I didn't already have those flights planned I'd probably have to come up with an excuse to go fly somewhere.

We've got a groundswell going for a wrap on Saturday, June 30th, which means slowing the pace down just a tad. Good news for laggards like me. If you find yourself twiddling your thumbs, this might be a good time to re-read and re-comment on the first 50 pages -- sort of the AtD equivalent of fighting me with one 50-page segment of the book tied behind your back....

It's a tricky maneuver, ending on a Saturday, but fortunately I've been slipping on my Tuesday-ness all along. Judo-style, my plan now is to flip that around and use the resulting momentum to our advantage.

This week's entry is on a Wednesday. Next week, let's meet on a Thursday. The following week a Friday, then the last week -- hey presto! It's Saturday the 30th. With all that said.....

Thursday 6/14: We dump the sand from our boots at the bottom of page 999, where "sod [is] giving way to shakes."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 999. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Wednesday, give or take)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

Still reading, still consistently posting late, still about 100 pages behind. But still enjoying the book too, and that's something. A big something. And now suddenly thinking that yes, in fact, I too may someday sip from a dishwasher-safe "I Survived the Against the Day Deathmarch" mug.

I'm really enjoying reading all your comments as I catch up to the appropriate section. You guys are good company, even when you're frozen in time.

By the way, speaking of ice and things that thaw, has anyone else noticed that we're on track to finish just past the summer solistice? That'll be around five months from the kick-off. And we all say: yoinks!

Tuesday 6/5 There's a long chapter coming that doesn't stop on a convenient 50 page line, plus or minus. So we're going to try something a little different. The literary deathmarch equivalent of a triple lutz. We're going to stop mid-chapter. How precise are our boots? Let's find out on page 956. It helps that someone's left out a cheery sign: "Welcome home."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 956. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

I finally got my head back into the book and read 50 pages today, which means I'm only -- yikes! -- 100 pages behind. I did dig the hottentot attempt (remember that?). And you guys are all inspiring me with tales of great things coming down the path.

My new plan is to read an hour a day. What's an hour a day? Nothing, right? I spend 45 minutes a day working on my Mandy Patinkin imitation, so if I just put that on hold for a week or two, I'm 45/60ths of the way there.

Tuesday 5/29 Dang if I'm not gonna aim to meet you at or near the bottom of page 907, where someone's "Constantinople" inclined.

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 907. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

I'm so far behind, I think the Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch just passed me on the trail. Hey guys!

As with all things of late, I blame the Golden State Warriors. See, as a Warriors fan, I've been conditioned to expect to have substantially more free time in May, not substantially less. Still more proof of the end times, and all that.

One thing I've noticed -- the more I fall behind, the more comments we get on the thread. So really, I'm just taking one for the team here. At least, that's my story this week. As for next week...

Tuesday 5/22 It's entirely possible that I'll meet you at the bottom of page 848, where "it surprised him, and did not surprise him." He's complex that way.

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 848. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

(Here) Pugnax! (Here) Pugnax! (Good) Pugnax!
-Cecil

I'm chasing a tangled ball of yarn, I am -- still a little bit behind, not quite a week's worth. Seems like most folks who were likewise lagging have now caught up, which is kind of exciting. Infuriating, too. But mainly exciting.

I count 13 of us still in this thing. 13! Could 13 of us really finish? That's an awful lotta mugs. Exciting! Infuriating! (But mainly exciting.) By contrast, I think 8 of us finished the Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch and 7 folks wrapped up Don Quixote. So 13 would be a mighty crowd at the finish line.

Let's hang tight shall we? And more to the point....

Tuesday 5/15: ...let's meet up at the bottom of page 792, where there's some danger that our yarn may blow away, "as if taken by the wind."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 792. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

(I miss) Pugnax!
-Cecil

After two whole weeks of being on target, I've fallen a bit behind. My hopes to stall some more and catch up before going live this week were dashed when two DMers showed up in an innocent little sidepost about deviant flip-flop habits and jumped me with an (admittedly well-deserved) "where's this week's deathmarch post!"

So here's the post, you goons! You thugs! You people who are not behind this week!

Tuesday 5/8: Let's make tracks for the bottom of page 747, which "would never be here, never exactly here, again."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 747. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

13 weeks in now, fellow lit folks dropping all around us. Good folks. Strong folks. We march on.

Like I think pretty much everyone, the Quaternions wore my marching toes down to a nub, but I liked Bradh's take on it in the comments: "I read the maths like a foreign language: just to enjoy the rhythms of the words."

Things started to get a little zippy with Kit and Günther’s duel ("how lucky to have provoked your quarrel here, in the dueling capital of Germany"), the return of Lew, Lew's encounter with the hanging man, gas traffic, and then Kit, Foley, and the mickfest. By the time we met the "jelly doughnut" man, it was like being handed a new pair of sugar powdered socks.

If you get a chance, take an amble back in time to one of the early posts. I wandered through Week 2 this morning, tipping my invisible hat brim to lost companions -- calliscrapy, buffo, Ms. Maggo, AnemicPrince.... We're down to around 14 hardy souls now. We few, we proud, we folks who get to enjoy lines like "a dog was howling at a moon no one could see, perhaps imagining that, summoned repeatedly enough, it would appear with food of some kind" and names like "Gus Swallowfield" and "Willi Dingkopf."

Tuesday 5/1: Part Four's within reach, so let's lunge for the bottom of page 693, where I for one plan to howl hungrily "at the unexplained and unresponsive moon."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 693. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

Finally caught back up, even if I had to delay posting this week to make it across the line. I was particularly hung up on the Quaternion section from the end of last week -- underlining more than usual, understanding less. One thing's for sure, as Pynchon sez, "all mathematics leads...sooner or later, to some kind of human suffering."

But before long we were into the mayonnaise museum, Pugnax's disturbing taste for human blood, Ryder Thorn, Umeki, and the most powerful weapon in the world. It all seemed a little extra vague and hazy, like Venetian fog, I suppose, but well worth 'marching through.

I wondered at points what must it be like to read this book as a scientist. To me, there are definitely sections that sound like so much arfing from a hyper-intelligent blood-hungry guard dog. Does the scientist reader laugh along with all that arfing? Or do they just say "come on now -- ridiculous!" Any scientists among us? Who will speak for the scientific community?

Tuesday 4/23: While I'm asking questions, what I really want to know is: Can I stay caught up for a whole week? The answer lies on the bottom of page 636, but unfortunately, "you know who I am."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 636. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

I will accept no questions this week about exactly where I am in the reading. Suffice it to say, matters were not helped by an especially raucus Dyngus Day celebration! And then I got all angry about some marketing copy I found. And then someone told me I smelled like Indian food. Really, it's been a rough week.

Still, here we are eleven (11!) weeks in, with double-digit comments and the very real prospect that significant bucks will be spent on mugs before this thing is through. Thanks all for hanging in there. And once again, extra special thanks to the redoubtable Steve "Heurtebise" Evans for cooking up some nigh-edible summarizing notes.

Tuesday 4/17: It's a shorter than usual romp -- let's call it a catch-up week for folks like me who could use one, without actually taking a full week off. I'll see ya at the bottom of page 587 where word is someone "had better kiss her, and soon."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 587. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

Still behind, but to quote Parliament's immortal "Chocolate City," I'm gainin' on ya. Just one chapter shy of the mark now....

From the comments, it looks like a number of us have renewed energy for this adventure. Whether it's the sweetness between Frank and Mayva, Zoltan flying off his barstool, the increasingly crude Suckling (who I keep waiting to learn is part werewolf), a side trip inside the Hotel Noctambulo, Roswell's enthusiasm, the Thorvaldic Telegraph, my absolutely favoritist name yet in "Stilton Gaspereaux," or the entire spectacular adventure under (or inside rather?) the sand, this felt all around like one of those "that's why we read TP" sorta weeks.

As a few have pointed out, there's also the sense that threads are coming together -- that a few patterns that were once (dare I say) invisible, are now becoming visible. Thanks to all that lovely light, I guess.

Once again, the mighty Steve "Heurtebise" Evans has come through with a batch of madeleines -- be sure to drop by for a well-earned snack.

Tuesday 4/10: Let's make camp at the bottom of page 547, where we'll do our best to avoid "death by mayonnaise."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 547. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

Well, my head is spinning. I woke up this morning 100 pages shy of the target. That's no good. And I can't say I caught all the way up either. But here we are, 11:30 PST, and I'm on page 396, so that's something. About 30-40 pages short. But back in the game, I tell ya.

And I was having good fun too, right up until page 394, when I ran into this: "You are a good man, but kind of disgusting, with all that hair growing out of your face, and you always smell like coffee."

What the hell is that? I mean, how can I not take that personally? He might as well have added "and your name is Cecil Vortex." It was all I could do to not light the book on fire. But I resisted because I'm strong like that.

In cheerier news, happy to see the Chums are right around the corner (in the rear view mirror for those of you on track). I think you probably know by now how much I enjoy the Chums. Should make for good reading tomorrow morning over...coffee. Damn you Pynchon!

Happy also to see new 'marchers on the trail. Welcome! And delighted to see that Steve Evans has baked up another batch of piping hot madeleines.

Tuesday 4/3: I'm hoping to meetcha at the bottom of page 488 where, ominously enough, nobody's talking "to anybody for a while unless they [have] to."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 488. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

Almost 2 months in (!) and on the one hand, bodies are droppin'. On the other hand, we have something like 17 or 18 folks still with us, which is certainly a record for this deep into the journey.

I think RaptorMage is right when he says its the nature of these DMs to feel impossible. We're looking for books that aren't page turners and then we're reading those books slow. It's a challenge for sure. The one book in the series that really flipped itself for me was Pale Fire, and that one almost felt like we were cheating.

I remember in Book I of Don Quixote feeling like it was just going on and on and slipping away from me. But Book II picked up and good Lord the ending of DQ was beautiful and worth the trip.

With Gravity's Rainbow, there were points when I was downright angry with Pynchon. And the last 20 pages still sounds like dogs barking to my brain. But there are so many parts of that GR that I'm glad I experienced. With AtD, I'm still enjoying the individidual segments. I'm still not pulled to pick the book up from the shelf. I'm still, unfortunately, about 40 pages behind. (Ack!) But I'm still hanging in there, watching as old pals (Merle, Dally, Kit, Vibe) come back into play, as a few characters start to become borderline real. Maybe at the end it'll add up to less than the sum of its parts. Maybe it'll rise to some shockingly coherent crescendo. I'm game to find out.

Doubt ye not the Week-8-summarizing skills of so-called "Steve Evans," whose madelienes await ye here.

Tuesday 3/27: Let's hop, and/or skip, and/or jump on over to page 428, where someone with a silly name is leaving "the Mysteries of Time" to others.

(in other words: please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 428. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

(I miss) Pugnax!
-Cecil

Welcome to Week 7 and our slick new server. Hopefully we'll have a smoother ride from here on out. I'm about 20 pages behind right now, still enjoying the ride.

On the thread, it's clear that some folks are falling a little out of love with AtD. Me, I find that when I'm reading it, the love is still there. It helps that I'm a Merle Rideout fan, so I was delighted to see his return. Still, when I'm not reading it, it doesn't linger in the brain or call to me from wherever I dropped it last. So the trick is mostly getting myself to pick the book back up.

I do keep puzzling over these racial/ethnic stereotypes. More than anything it feels like Pynchon's just screwing with us -- trying to get a rise out of his readership. He's got my buttons pretty well configured so far. For example, every time he says the word "invisible" I twitch. Likewise for "explosion."

On the pro/anti-Traverse(seses) debate, I'm with Andy and Cap'n M. in that they've started to really grow on me. They're certainly the most human characters in this crowd.

A few random questions: Anybody have a clear sense of what year we're in now? How old Dally is? What was in that tunnel with Dally and Frank? Mebbe these all become clear in the last 20 pages of the week's reading, but if not, and if you have a theory, shout out.

In other news, Steve Evans has once again come through with helpful notes on last week's reading.

Tuesday 3/20: A good chance for folks to catch up, as we'll be doing a relatively short week. Let's meet at the bottom of page 373, where "we're already ghosts."

(which is to say: please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 373. Aim to get near that target and add a comment by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

For the past week I've been moving Cecil over to a new server. The work is pretty much done and we're in that interesting limbo where there are actually two different Cecil site's out there and the web is in the process of sorting out which one to go to. I'm told it can take up to three days to fully resolve, but I think it'll be clearer as early as tomorrow night. So I'm going to hold off on posting and opening the new thread up to comments for one more day, in hopes that by tomorrow night, there will be one cecilvortex.com to rule them all.

By the way, in case you're curious, if you got to this version of Cecil, you're looking at the new site.

Until two days ago I was 70 pages behind, but a pair of flights got me (finally) caught back up. If you're one of the many good folks stuck a bit back on the trail, let me just tell ya, all you need is a stop over in Houston (real or metaphorical) and you'll be right back in the game.

In general, I'm finding AtD's kind of like Chutes and Ladders. Sometimes I move slowly. Sometimes I'm zipping on ahead. Occasionally I'm fumbling backwards, trying to figure out just what it was that I must have missed somewhere, somewhere....

This week I used a way-back chute to revisit the attempted hustle in Chapter 3. "At times there were too many cards to count, at others none at all were visible, seeming to have vanished into some dimension well beyond the third, though this could have been a trick of what light there was." (23) That seems a fair description of the way Pynchon uses throwaway characters -- a blurred sleight of hand designed to force us into keeping our our eyes open a little wider than usual.

One of the kicks of the book, I think, is that every once in a rare while all this frenzy leaves us with that Blundellian feeling that we can sense "how everything fits together, connects." Sure, as with Miles, it doesn't always last long. And more often than not, we end up "just back to tripping over [our] feet again." (24) But that's OK. I'm happy to stick around to see if some T.W.I.T. is going to pass around another batch of brain explosives.

Hope you all stick around too. While I'm required by law to love all the 'marches just the same, I'll confess between us that the commentary this go-around has been particularly swell.

Speaking of which, the mighty, the mighty, the mighty Steve Evans has come through with another invaluable batch of madeleines -- the perfect way to flash the previous week's reading into your lizard brain before ambling back onto the trail. And speaking of that...

Tuesday 3/13: Let's meet at the bottom of page 335 and the glory of a "mean, nervous, scheming servitude to an enfeebled conscience."

(which is to say: please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 335. Aim to get near that target and add a comment by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

A few years ago, my daughter took part in what started out as an entirely unremarkable dance recital. She and maybe eight other 6-year-olds were bopping around on stage along with some familiar holiday tune. "Let It Snow"? "Jingle Bells"?

Midway through, the CD starts to skip. And it's awful. One of those 15 second stretches of time that feels like the taste of melting tar. It's not right. It's not getting better. Somebody take this melting tar out of our mouths!

Then the music stops altogether and in the silence something lovely happens. The dancers just keep dancing. In silence. They finish the song with exceptional grace. And it was probably the best dancing I've ever seen.

This week reminded me a little of that. Not that we're all a bunch of dancing 6-year-olds. Just that there was the lurch of the site. And then the silence. The silence. And then out of that silence, a graceful swirl of comments that began to spin out across the Week 4 stage almost as soon as the generators kicked back in. Lovely.

Which is all my longwinded way of saying, thanks to you all for bearing with this past week's headaches. It's fun to be back on the 'march and great to see that, if need be, we can make do without a trail for a few days.

Of course, some of us faired better than others. Without the spur of daily posts, I my ownself fell about 20 pages shy of the target. But I've got some quality airport time coming up, and I'm leaving the old cylomite at home. So I'm hopeful I'll be caught back up by next week. Speaking of which...

Tuesday 3/6: We have nothing to fear but page 280 itself, where the word on the street is, "we'd better get in some drinking..."

(in other words: please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 280. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Oh, and don't forget to check out Steve Evans rockin' readin' notes for last week right here.

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The trail is thick, I say thick! with boots. Great to have such a rich collection of folks to share the journey with. And nice to feel like we're starting to make some real forward progress.

I've been thinking a lot this week about the way that Pynchon plays us. He's got a great feel for when he can bring on the thick stuff, and when he should throw us some candy. I remember Part II of GR starting beautifully (was it the Casino and the Octopus mebbe?). Like a reward for getting past the first 100 pages or so. Similarly, the first big stretch of Iceland Spar was a great run of "yeah -- that's why I'm reading this book!" Around page 150, my head started to cave in. I was reading sentences three times. Felt a little bit like I was back in GR's London with the rockets falling. And then right as the pressure behind my eyes started to build, we're off to Yale, meeting the various Vibes, humming along with Mischief in Mexico.

Another kind of manipulation: Around page 167, as Yitzhak Zilberfeld began to lapse into a stereotype, I wrote in the margin: "is he trying to make us uncomfortable?" And yeah, I'd have to guess he is.

Don't forget to search for "Steve Evans" in the W3 comments to find his hugely helpful fly-over of last week's reading. You can also jump straight to it right here.

Tuesday 2/27: Let's dry our socks out on page 232, where someone's "pretend(ing) to lament."

(in other words: please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 232. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

And just like that, we're at the end of Part I.... Lots to like in this last stretch: The dual identities of Blinky Morgan. The Aetherists and their Asylum. That oily Zombini ("I don't suppose you'd have a spare electrical coil around?" (68) -- how could Merle not see trouble brewing?). "Skip" the ball of lightning, who seemed like a distant cousin to "Byron the Light Bulb" of Gravity's Rainbow fame.

A foul-mouthed Finn. A talking Tesla. An attack on the current administration even? ("Why, you could write a whole foreign phrase book just on what Republicans have to say." (93)) A slice of Scarsdale Vibe's past, the Traverse clan, and a rising extrasensory shimmer from Foley and Miles. All that, plus The Chums of Chance and their turn toward the Center, wherein Rodney and I get an excerpt from that Chums novella we crave....

Also: How creepy would it be to get sneered at by a guy named Darby Suckling?
Also also: On page 112, a passage that could have been plucked from Gravity's Grainbow -- the description of the rocket's ascent, followed by Darby shouting "Stop, stop! ...it sounds like Chinese!" -- as if TP's promising that we won't be going back down that road this time around.

My thanks to Steve E. for his summary notes in the comments. They're a great condensed way to give us a quick-glance back over the last week's reading. Steve, if you find the time, please keep 'em coming..... (and if anyone's looking to review them, search "steve evans" on the W2 comments page.

Tuesday 2/20: We'll plant our dynamite sticks at the bottom of page 170, right next to "the purity, the geometry, the cold."

(in other words: use this thread to comment through page 170. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

If I knew Tesla was coming, I might very well have baked a cake. Because, well, you know how much Tesla loves to eat cake.

Lots of fun this week -- excellent comments from an international crew of 'marchers, plus a promising start to the novel with all sorts of rich plot threads. It sounds like many of us, me included, are thinking "hey -- that was actually kinda fun." But we can't rename this a "funmarch" can we? That would just be silly. And of course, who knows what lies 'round the bend....?

Like several of the commenters, I've been making lists of characters. I tend to write "intro so-and-so" in the margin when a new character makes their first appearance. Another habit I picked up when we read Gravity's Rainbow is writing a quick summary of the action on the top of each page. So, for example, page 13 was "naked lady below," page 42 was "Lew can notice things," and page 48 was "a fight avoided."

If the slew of references gets you dizzy, bookmark the AtD wiki. I'm mostly staying in the text and avoiding a ton of extra research, but I did drop by the wiki twice this week -- once to find out what a "charabanc" was, and once to confirm my suspicion that "The Unsleeping Eye" referred to the dread Pinkerton's.

All in all, a great start. I'm really surprised how downright excited I am to back in Pynchonville.

Next Tuesday: Let's stretch our page count just a touch so we can get to the end of Part One. We'll pull over for nuts and clementines at the bottom of page 118, "toward a fate...few would willingly have chosen."

(which is to say: use this thread to comment through page 118. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

Welcome to The Against the Day Deathmarch -- a mass-tackle of Pynchon's latest tome. This is our fifth deathmarch, and I haven't been this excited about an onine mass read of a challenging book since, well, since we tackled Gravity's Rainbow back in January, 2005.

I've read the first few pages of AtD, and I can report from the trailhead that it doesn't start out in nearly as dense a thicket as Gravity's Rainbow. But it does appear to share at least three things with GR: (1) silly names packed with portent ("Darby Suckling"), (2) a new character every 7 sentences, and (3) something particularly startling or amusing on every page. "lavatorial assaults from the sky," "the brighter star-shapes of exploded ballast-bags," "The Great Bovine City of the World"? What's not to like?

Um...OK, but how's this whole deathmarch thing work again?

Here's a quick recap for new folks....

Short version: read, comment, finish, get a prize.

Longer version: comment on every thread from this week till the end, and finish the book, and you qualify for your choice of either an AtDDM mug or magnet. (Capped at 30 winners to protect my children's college fund.) Comments can range from erudite analysis to content-free exclamations. "I've fallen woefully behind" counts as a comment. Not a great comment. But a comment. Try not to get very far ahead. And if you have zipped ahead, be sure not to get past that week's reading in your comments. Every Tuesday I'll post a new thread, and it all starts up again.

Next Tuesday: Let's meet up at the bottom of page 56, where "the temperature" is "headed down."

(In other words, use this thread to comment on pages 0-56. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment here by end o' day next Monday)

Merry 'marching,
-Cecil

Got my book this week. I'm all excited, and who can blame me? I'm fighting the urge to dive in. I have read the quote that opens the book, and I have read the first line, and I can report that they are both excellent. The second sentence will have to wait till next Tuesday.

Today's post is another spot for chiming in if you're planning on joining the 'march, or for just saying hey to other 'march-types. Based on the response to the launch post, I'm guessing we'll start with something like 20 folks on the trail. A nice number to tackle such a mighty tome.

In last week's post, I mentioned prizes. A few folks are first-timers, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to explain how that works.

Tell me more about these so-called "prizes"

OK. Read and finish the book and comment every week (starting next week), and the AtDDM prize mechanism will release a deathmarch mug or a magnet, your choice, like a mother hen dropping a mug or magnet-shaped egg. (note: prizes capped at 30 winners.)

Here's a look at a couple of past prizes (note: len flares not included):

The "I Survived the 'Gravity's Rainbow' Deathmarch" mug

As you can see, the molecular structure of the GRDM mug is solid enough that all these many months later it can still securely contain a beverage such as milk, or chocolate milk, or orange juice. It calls to you, yes?

The "I Survived the 'To the Lighthouse' Deathmarch" magnet

The TtLHDM prizes should be going out to lucky winners shortly. While you can't tell this from the picture, please take my word when I say that the magnetic pull of these beauties is so powerful that I had to have them delivered to me in sealed lead boxes to avoid adversely impacting the local tides.

Alright then -- I hope the stakes are clear now and your collective mouths are watering as much as mouths can water in response to non-edible objects like mugs and magnets. See you back here next week, when we "single up all lines" and let boots and dust collide....
-Cecil

Back in January aught 5 a hardy band of pioneer types set forth on what some say was the very first blog-based literary deathmarch -- the so-called "Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch," in which a crew of modern day Lewis and Clark types banded together and managed, over five months, to read an extremely difficult book.

Two years later, we've read Pale Fire by Nabokov At Swim Two Birds, by Flann O'Brien, Don Quixote by Cervantes, and To the Lighthouse by Woolf. And now it's time for perhaps our greatest feat yet. Not only will we read a difficult book, but it will be a difficult book that was published in this century. Specifically: Against the Day, Pynchon's recently released behemoth.

But when's it start?
The spines crack Tuesday January 30th. All are welcome. We'll probably need a thousand people to join this time to get three people through, which seems unlikely, but, ya know, tell a friend. If you'd like to join up, this would be a great time to pick up a copy. But try if you can to hold off on starting it till January 30th so we can all leap onto the trail in synch. The dust cloud's purtier that way.

Dare I ask...prizes?
As ever, we'll be tackling around 50 pages a week. And yep, there will be the nigh magical lure of mug prizes for up to 30 people who finish and comment every week.

So what now?
Well, right here on this very thread would be an excellent place for you to sound off if you plan on marching, with your excitement, your fear, your loathing, all your strongest emotions. We'll need to put that behind us soon. For on the 'march we can only afford ourselves steely resolve. And the occasional donut.

See you on the dirt,
-Cecil

Congrats to the many who've made it through or are on the verge of crossing the finish line! (oh math, from hell's heart, we stab at thee. For hate's sake, we spit our last breath at thee.)

If you haven't already shouted out, or you have last thoughts to share that you were holding back for fear of spoiling endings and such, you've come to exactly the right spot. Thanks to all for an excellent 'march and most especially thanks for your high patience with me, and my, well, let's just say imprecise posting habits this time around. I should be much more on the dime when we tackle The Monster aka Thomas Pynchon's brand-new book, Against the Day. Deathmarch to start in mid-January. And may God have mercy on our souls.

Next week: Can you hear it? That sound? The whirring of machines, the gathering of magnetism? Watch this spot for...a magnet preview....

-Cecil

Folks who've made it through the previous deathmarches can attest to the fact this one has been exceptionally botched on my end, but you've all done a great job putting up with it. And it looks like collectively the group is spitting in the eye of math -- 19 comments this near the end is mighty mighty.

If you've missed commenting one week because of the jumble, not to fear. Everyone gets one mulligan on this 'march. Post on all but one, finish the book, and verily ye shall be magnetized.

This here would be the place to comment on everything up to Part III, chapter 2 (e -- you were right about that error in last week's target....).

Wednesday Nov 29: Let's meet up at the back cover of the book for a wrap party, replete with "extreme fatigue."

Who was the maroon who scheduled a Deathmarch right in the middle of election season? Oh yeah, I was the maroon. Sorry to all excellent Deathmarchers. I've really punked it up this week, missing Week 4 on Wednesday and remaining behind on my reading. But heck, I'm just one marcher. Fortunately, there are a lotta the rest of youse doing a great job staying up-to-date or near it. So let's charge on. With only two weeks to go, hopefully I can get my act together by next Wednesday.

Comment-wise, this would now be the place to post on anything up to the end of Part I.

And speaking of next Wednesday: I hope to see ya at the end of Chapter II, Part II, just past "an extraordinary face!"

Never let it be said that I didn't post the thread for Week 3 before midnight on Wednesday.

Never!

Still, this is really just a placeholder. Life -- what with elections , Halloween, and all the time I've had to spend anticipating the release of the Borat movie -- has overflowed into my Deathmarching time a tad, so this will be an unacceptably thin soup of an entry, hopefully replaced tomorrow with heartier fare. I will say this: loving the book. And this: digging the conversation this week -- especially the back and forth re Mr. Ramsay.

Next Wednesday: Let's meet at the end of Part I, where rumor has it she's triumphed again.

Welcome to Week 2.... Looks like we've got an excellent bunch of 'marchers onboard. And yes, a part of me fears I'll be bankrupted by all them magnets. But then I'm reminded of that old wax devil math. Good old math.

Since some folks are new, here's a quick word about what to post when: At the start of a new thread, post about the previous week. That is, you'd post about the first week's reading right here. As the week and the thread roll on, people tend to start posting about the current week's reading. And that's fine too. Really, there's no hard and fast rule about this. We're all just just trying to avoid dropping accidental spoilers by jumping ahead of the pack.

That bit o' business aside, let me say: golly I enjoyed this week's reading. This is my first brush with Woolf. I expected there'd be leaping in and out of people's heads. But I didn't expect anything as goofy-great as Mr. Ramsay's heroic efforts to conquer R. Or anything as vivid as that selfsame Mr. taking his leave "with a movement which oddly reminded his wife of the great sea lion at the Zoo tumbling backwards after swallowing his fish and walloping off so that the water in the tank washes from side to side..." All this and the repeated refrain from Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade -- "stormed at by shot and shell, boldly we rode and well...."

I'm sold. It's a great start, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes us. See ya on the trail,
-Cecil

Next Wednesday: One more relatively short hop, and then we'll start to pick up speed. Let's meet at the end of Chapter XVI where we can "assemble in the dining-room for dinner."

Welcome to "The Deathmarch to the Lighthouse" -- a group read of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse.

I think we have something like 15 or 20 people planning to read this go-around -- a nice solid number. Simple math, however, tells us only that two will finish, and I won't be one of of them. Still, as my Italian nanny used to say: "il per la matematica è una cosa della cera ed i numeri sono fatti della cera." Which means (roughly) "math is a wax thing, and numbers are made of wax." She was a crazy old coot.

For anyone new, here's how it works: every Wednesday I post an entry saying how far we're reading that week. Folks drop by and comment over the next seven days.

But Are There Prizes?

Yes! There are prizes! Finish the book and comment each week, and you'll receive a genuine To-the-Lighthouse-themed talisman hand-imbued with a fractional sampling of the raw power wielded by Magneto, Master of Magnetism. (on the off-chance we get more people than we're expecting, let's cap that at 30 hand-imbued talismans)

Be sure to shout out in the comments (click on "Whaddya Think" below) if you're on the 'march, both to stay talisman-qualified, and so's we can get a headcount. Don't sweat it if you fall a little behind on the reading -- "I'm so far behind!" actually counts as a legitimate comment. And of course, If you've read the book before, try to keep comments from getting ahead of the weekly reading.

And that's it. Mostly, it's just a chance to read a great book, share thoughts and questions, and shake a fist at that old wax devil, math, by making it through to the end.

See ya on the trail,
-Cecil

Next Wednesday: We meet at the end of Book 1, Chapter 7, where someone's about to say nothing and take opium.

Over the last year or two, a loose cabal of aliased co-conspirators has been using this site to tackle challenging books en masse -- everything from the dread pirate Gravity's Rainbow to the surprisingly Spanish Don Quixote. We call these experiences "Deathmarches," despite the increasingly rabid protestation of my erstwhile nemesis, Itto Ottagami.

The fifth in this series -- "The To the Lighthouse Deathmarch" -- is comin' 'round the bend, and I thought I'd take this moment to extend an open invitation.

How It Works

As you may have guessed, this time out we're reading Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. (More specifically, I'll be reading the HBJ hardcover edition, available on Amazon.)

We do this in small bites -- 40-60 pages a week. Every Wednesday starting 10/18, I'll post an entry up here on ye olde cecilvortex.com letting folks know how far we're aiming to read that week. In the days that follow, folks comment on the thread. These comments range from "I like donuts" to "[insert sophisticated literary analysis here]." And are all comments are viewed as equal in the eyes of el cabal.

Up to 30 Deathmarchers who make it to the end of the book and post a comment every week get prizes -- in this case, prizes that tap the awesome power of magnetic energy. I can't tell you more than that because it's a really big surprise. OK. I give. They're magnets.

So, all that said, if reading a book by Virginia Woolf and quite possibly gaining partial control over one of the most powerful forces in nature has any appeal to you, you've almost certainly come to the right place. Any questions, just drop me a line at deathmarch@cecilvortex.com.

Hope to see you out on the trail,
-Cecil

Which relates to the adventure of the enchanted blog, as well as other foolishness that must be recounted. Apologies for the late post this week -- real life intruded. I'm still about 65 pages from the finish line my own self -- just got through the enchanted head section.

"...this is enough for me to realize, O head, that you know everything."

In terms of satisying sentences sent forth to us over 4 centuries, really, what more could we ask for than that?

Thanks to all for taking the 'march, ye many who began, and yes, ye mighty who are wrapping it up. Definitely a book I'm glad I read. And definitely one I wouldn't have finished without the push. There was a great flurry of comments these last few weeks -- much enjoyed and appreciated. And special thanks to So-Called Bill for suggesting DQ in the first place.

Please use this week's thread to talk freely about the end of the book -- those of us still flipping through the last centimeter or so will just tread with caution. And speaking of us stragglers -- please do shout out when you wrap, and let me know if mug or magnet be your preference (with apologies to SC Bill for lack of true mugnet (tm) technology).

I hope y'all had a good time. We'll definitely be tackling the new Pynchon in December or January. And if we can find the collective stamina, we may well try a mini Woolf-march in the Fall, with either Mrs. Dalloway or To the Lighthouse.

May your horse be lean and your sidekick full of aphorisms,
-Cecil

Which describes the condition of the famous marchers as they skip and/or stumble toward the far side of this escapade. And yes, perhaps, like me, you've fallen a little behind again. But with so little food left on your plate, surely you've got appetite enough to pop this wee remaining morself?

Some will finish in the next few days. Others will likely finish next week in the wrap up post. As you cross the line, be sure to shout out and stake your claim to glory. Mug or magnet? Which will it be?

Next Wednesday: on to victory! (aka page 940 Grossman) where we will "undoubtedly fall to the ground."

Regarding the troubled end and conclusion of week 16. Puff puff puff -- almost there, almost there. As we near the close of this adventure, my question this week is, what's next for you? I know a lot of folks read other books while they deathmarch, but I've pretty much been reading just this, with the exception of a brief dive into "Dean and Me (A Love Story)" by Jerry Lewis.

It's looking like my next book -- not next deathmarch, just the next thing I'm hoping to read -- will be "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," which I somehow never got around to. A friend picked up a copy recently, and I think I'm gonna tag along. The other contender is an interesting bit of recent history called "The Nightingale's Song" that one of my brothers lent me for a couple of lawn-chair page-flips when I was away on vacation.

How about you -- anything in the on-deck circle?

Next Wednesday: let's meet up at the end of Chapter LXV (892 Grossman), just before what may well be my favorite italic chapter opening line yet (is there a technical term for that feature?): "Which recounts what will be seen by whoever reads it, or heard by whoever listens to it being read.).

Concerning what befell the marchers on their way to Week 16. As ever, I'm one week behind. Good meaty section, I thought. And there's the thrill of holding a thin slice of a big book in your right hand, which never gets old.

Hit one of my most favoritist moments in the book so far on page 726, whence Sancho regales the Duchess and co. thusly:

"Without saying anything to anybody, not even my master, very quietly and gently I got down from Clavileno and I played with the nanny goats, and they're as sweet as gilly flowers, for almost three-quarters of an hour...."

What's better than Sancho letting himself pretend that he stopped time and played with nanny goats in the sky?

Other miscellaneous notes:

(1) When it comes to the whole proverb thing, I'm pretty sure Sancho has a medical condition.

(2) I was struck by Cervantes prophetic vision on 716 -- after all, here in the 21st century, you can't throw a rock without hitting an air-propelled wooden horse controlled by forehead pegs. How could he have known that? How?!

(3) A dozen bearded duennas? I will admit, that twist took me by surprise.

(4) A trio of favorite DQ lines: "God endures the wicked, but not forever." "I won't remember them any more than I do yesterday's clouds." "...the first thing I recommend is that you keep clean, and that you trim your nails and not allow them to grow, as some men do whose ignorance has led them to believe that long nails beautify their hands, as if those superfluous growths that they refuse to cut were nails, when they are actually the claws of a lizard-eating kestrel: a filthy and extraordinary abuse."

Next Wednesday: Catch ya at the end of Chapter LVIII (842 Grossman), whence someone's experiencing "more shame than pleasure."

A teensy tiny entry this week, since I'm mostly offline. Here's to Week 15 and your arrival therein!

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Chapter LI (aka page 797, Grossman), just before "the claw marks had healed."

And just like that, there it is: Week 14, in which the diverting advertures of these deathmarchers continue, along with other things that are really very worthwhile.

I'm dragging along a little behind agin' this week, but hopeful that an all-day trip tomorrow will be my key catch up time. Meanwhile, I've been enjoying the heck out of this week's exchange. Also: 13 comments in week 13 is an exact tie with week 13 of our original Deathmarch (Gravity's Rainbow), way back in April '05. What does it all mean?

Next Wednesday: It's on to the end of Chapter XLIV (746 Grossman), just before our encounter with the "perpetual discloser of the Antipodes, torch of the world, (and) eye of heaven." Finally!

Welcome to Week 13, regarding matters that concern and pertain to this adventure and this memorable online reading group.

Almost caught up -- got to about the halfway point in this week's reading. Over the last week or two the thing I keep coming back to is the feeling that DQ is really living the dream. He's not just a knight errant, standing up to lions, spelunking into the unknown, "brandish(ing) his lance with so much strength and dexterity that he filled all who did not know him with fear" -- but even better, he's become a knight errant of legend, literally a character in a book, which mebbe was his real dream all along.

Like I think just about everyone on the 'march, I'm finding Part II much more compelling and flat out fun than Part I. Besides all the neat meta moments, even the language has become more lively -- I find myself underlining some cool phrase on just about every page. Looking forward to seeing where this all lands.

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Chapter XXXV (696 Grossman) where I'm thrilled to report that "there really was nothing that gave them greater pleasure."

Welcome to Week 12, which recounts what will soon be commented.

I read 80 pages in the last two days, and I'm still a week behind. Not sure exactly how that happened. I blame a vile enchanter. But on the upside, I've gotten to really roll around in the first several chapters of Part II, which I think we'll all agree is filled with glorious stuff. And speaking of glorious stuff -- 18 comments in Week 11?! Gadzooks!

Meanwhile, as we mourn the loss of e and the good Captain, I'm hearing rumors that there are two or three folks racing through Part I at this very moment, in a zany, madcap effort to meet us at the finish line. Sort of like The Gumball Rally of literary deathmarches. Or mebbe The Cannonball Run of online reading groups? Either way, keep an eye on that rearview mirror....

Next Wednesday: Destination -- page 641 (Grossman) and the end of Chapter XXVIII, where, in a bit of eerie foreshadowing, we find ourselves "in that place [where] they would have raised a [mugnet] to their victory."

More excellent comments this week -- it looks like Part II is off to a rousing start. Me, I'm behind and a bit bushed, so I'm going to drop this placeholder here, with apologies, so new comments can start up. And I'll swap in hopefully somewhat more on topic verbiage by the weekend.

Next Wednesday: It's just a short hop over to Chapter XXI (591 Grossman) where an unspecificed hindering something or other is about to "be recounted below."

Week 10, no less, in which the identities of many marchers and their monkeys may be revealed -- and yes, Part II! Congrats to you not-so-few, you justly proud, you still-marching marchers. I'm really delighted with how many people are hanging in there and with the rich spate of comments from this past week. I'm sure some folks are a bit behind (I'm about 20 pages shy of the mark my own self), but, call me a delusional marcher errant, it feels like this remaining crew is gonna make it through.

Besides the Part II-ness of it all, I had a personal DM-related milestone this last week: suddenly both my kids are old enough that I can take them with me to the coffee shop for 20-30 minutes of mellow time -- just enough to read a chapter or two of the ole DQ, while they sip their lemonade and draw. And the days are long. And life is good.

Next Wednesday: Let's catch our breath at the end of Chapter XIII: (aka page 538, Grossman), where two squires appear to be loaded, and we're just about to learn -- finally! -- "what befell the Knight of the Wood and the Knight of the Sorrowful Face."

Oh my stars and garters -- Week 9!, wherein both marchers errant and their faithful squires cavort, with strange and pleasing results. As Mr. Magoo pointed in last week's comments, we've hit a heckuva milestone by flipping past page 400 (Grossman). And you know what they say about Don Quixote: the last 540 pages are the easiest.

For me, this last patch wasn't quite up to the level of, say, the tale of Zoraida and the Captain, which was a pure page-turning treat. But I'm glad we've left that inn, at least for a stretch. It was starting to get kinda claustrophobic in there -- like some sort of 17th Century Bob's Big Boy, with an infinite number of wandering Dons and their flawless luvs supreme. It feels like most of the main threads have to come to some sort of resolution, leaving an appealingly open road for the second part of the book. Speaking of which...

Next Wednesday: ...to Part II and beyond! -- let's aim for the end of our second Chapter II (page 473 Grossman), where I'm glad to report that the three of them appear to be having "a most amusing conversation."

Welcome to Week 8, which recounts the pleasing tale of the mugnet inclined, along with other strange events that occured along the way. This was a week of highs and lows for me. There was the high of finding out that Mr. Magoo finds me extremely hot. Followed almost immediately by the low of finding out that he thinks "So Called Bill" and "Jeff" are hot too. And then another low -- losing my book. And finally, the high of finding it again. I'm spinning, I am. I'm also a couple of chapters behind, and like a lot of folks, finding the plot sorta blending into itself. But then there's the Second Part of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha," just a short flip ahead. It calls to us! And so we march on!

Next Wednesday: let's hang our spurs at the end of Chapter XLIX, just before something Don Quixote appears to think is "really good!"

Week 7, in which our weary band of 'marchers may or may not end up attacking some skins of red wine, and other diverting adventures. I just finished the week's reading, with about an hour+ to spare (west coast time). And I will admit to much relief that this whole Don Fernando, Luscinda, Camila, Anselmo mishigas appears to have come to some sort of swirling resolution. Or at least a stable moment. And yes, as promised, we've found that place where all the misfortunes on earth reach their conclusion and we've got to love ourselves for that. Still, here's hoping the next section brings back the dwarves.

Next Wednesday: now that we've had a moment to catch our breath, let's pick the pace back up and aim for the end of Chapter XLII, where if you press your ear against the book, you may just hear that "the boy was singing."

Week 7, in which I'm quite lame and behind and largely off-web for various and sundry, but hoping to catch up and post the real thread shortly. Feel free to post toward mugnet on this placeholder. When I swap the real post in, the comments will remain......

Update: By popular demand (OK, two people, but still....) this is officially the 7th week stretch. A week for those behind to catch up and those caught up to get ahead. In terms of mugnet glory, comments are optional this week. Feel free to chat amongst yourselves :-) Next week, we dive back in with vigor!

-Cecil

And hey Presto: Week 6!, which recounts the pleasing commentary laced upon these light beams by varied marchers and the squires of same.

Nearly 300 pages in now. Lots and lots and lots to go, and yet...we're too far from shore to easily swim back. I'll confess to finding "the two friends" a tad tedious. They sorta deserve each other, at least in terms of their tediousness. And then, wouldn't ya know it, the week ends just as the madcap misadventures of the man who was recklessly curious finally start get interesting. Ah well. Reason enough to chug on.....

Next Wednesday: A few marchers errant have fallen a tad behind, so what say we go for a slightly smaller than usual leap and meet up again at the end of of Chapter XXXVI, "where all the misfortunes on earth reach their conclusion and end." I like the sound of that....

And then before you know it, it's Week 5, regarding the diverting comments posted by the readers of this agreeable history.

Much sound and fury this week regarding potential casting and music for the movie. And out of that dust a clear path emerges: Melody's vision of a DQ update that we'd have to assume would be titled "Dude, Where's My Papers Promising Me Those Donkeys?"

As I mentioned along the way, I dug this week. I did. The book has really started to pick up some 400-year-old steam. 200-something pages down. 700 or so to go.... If you're a tad behind, not to worry -- just keep a goin'. There's still plenty of time to catch up on some upcoming sunny weekend afternoon.

Next Wednesday: We shake out our shoes at the end of Chapter XXXIII, one half-whisker shy of the continuation of the novel of The Man Who Was Recklessly Curious.

Welcome to Week 4 on ye olde deathmarche, which recounts the fierce and uncomon battle for mugnet glory waged by nineteen travelers, and other events.

Some good debate this last week on the pleasures of DQ. I'm still having a swell time with the book, though I'll confess that DQ's grand chivalric imagining (around page 159 in Grossman) did make my eyes begin to bulge. While I'm confessing, I should add that I've got Zero Mostel stuck in my head as Sancho. And not just any Zero Mostel, but a characture of Zero Mostel from some Mad Magazine parody from my youth (a Fiddler send up called "Antenna on the Roof"). I can't decide if this adds or subtracts from my reading pleasure. OK, that's a lie. It adds.

Next Wednesday: More glory! And it all leads us to the end of Chapter XXVII, as "concluded by that wise and judicious historian," ladies and gentlemen, won't you please give a warm Don Quixote Deathmarch welcome to your friend and mine, the one, the only: Senor Cide Hamete Benengeli.

Welcome to Week 3, in which are found the disparate comments of the mug-net inclined, along with other unexpected epistles. Speaking of which, 26 people are still mug-net qualified. Jinkies!

On each of these 'marches so far, I've especially dug the end of Week 2 -- past page 100, the book starts to take hold. From last week's comments, it sounds like a lot of us were applauding Chapters 12-14, with the build up to Marcela's soliloquoy (if you prick her, does she not bleed?) followed by a shining moment for DQ: "Let no person, whatever his circumstance or condition, dare to follow the beautiful Marcela lest he fall victim to my fury and outrage." Not that she needs his help, or that anyone's even necessarily paying attention. But still, that's our Don!

And then there's Chapter XV, with what has to be my favorite line so far: "I wish I had enough breath to speak with less effort and that the pain I feel in this rib would ease just a little so that I could make clear to you, Panza, how wrong you are." If this was the '70s, I'd slap that puppy on a t-shirt, and my fortune would be made.

All in all, it's been a real treat so far, and I'm glad to have so many excellent 'marchers along for the trek.

Next Wednesday: We careen on, with vigor! Let's meet up on page 172 at the end of Chapter XXII, just before what I'm told is one of the strangest adventures recounted in this true history.

Welcome to Week 2, which tells of the second sally our heroes made from their native land. The first week featured a frenzied dialog, particularly on the heated subject of magnets v. mugs. Speaking of which, it looks like around 26 people are currently mug-net qualified. Gadzooks!

I enjoyed the first week's read. There's a gentle rhythm to this book -- the smallish chapters, the amusing misunderstandings, the occasional unexpected references to dwarves. And it's good to be back in DM mode, finding 15 minutes here or there to read the day's allotment.

A question to throw out there for Week 2: Now I'll stipulate that Don Quixote is "the first modern novel." But I don't really know what that means. Anyone care to shed a little light on what defines the modern novel, compared to everything that came before it?

Next Wednesday: Let's crash past page 100 (Grossman) and meet up at the end of Chapter XV.

Welcome to the Don Quixote Deathmarch, Week 1. This is our fourth 'march, and I'm so excited, well, I honestly just can't hide it. So I won't even try.

We've got a potentially huge crew along for the ride, including some first-timers from around the country. We may even have a few high schoolers amongst us. To all of youse newcomers, let me encourage you to dive right into the comment-stream. (Just hit the "Whaddya think?" link on the lower-right of each entry -- any questions on that, drop me a line at vortex@mediajunkie.com.)

Other words of wisdom? Well, don't sweat it too much if you fall behind. Everyone does at one point or another. And of course, if you've read the book before, be kind to the rest of the crew by focusing comments on what we've read to-date. Sure, you say. That's all fine and good. But what about...

...prizes?

Excellent question! On the very first Deathmarch, we tantalized weary wanderers with visions of "I Survived the Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch" mugs. And at this very moment, said mugs are winding their way through the countryside, en route to the lucky winners. OK, so it took me a year. But these are fabulous mugs.

This go-around, we're offering genuine 2.25" "I Survived the Don Quixote Deathmarch" magnets for folks who make it through and comment every week. No need to write essays to qualify -- any old shout out will do.

UPDATE: Amazingly, two patrons of the arts have appeared and offered to help underwrite prizes. So we're upgrading those magnets to genuine DQDM mugs [capped at, let's say, 30 winners] for folks who finish the book during the DM and post on every entry, every week!

Thanks a lot for coming along. Have fun out there. Stay frosty. And I'll see ya at the next bend in the road.

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Chapter VI, just before "the second sally."

Hi all,
As previously intimated, the Don Quixote Deathmarch does in fact loometh. In fact, it so loometh that we even have a start date: Wednesday, March 22 (meaning we aim to open the cover that day).

Looks like we may well have a good-sized group, including several first-timers. Should be fun (and grueling, but also fun). If you're interested and looking to pick up a copy, most of us will be reading the new translation by Edith Grossman, and that's what page references will refer back to.

For them what are new to the DM world, here's basically how it works:

Every Wednesday I'll post something right here on your computer screen laying out how far we'll be marching that week (usually around 50 or 60 pages). Over the next 7 days, folks drop by and leave comments ranging from "owie" and "this hurts" to slightly more erudite analysis. And that's pretty much the whole idear. Week by week and nibble by nibble, we make our way through. And by the end, this weary band of wanders will have another of The Great Books flashing sparks deep within our brains.

Anyways, we'd love to have you along. In fact, consider yourself personally exhorted. And of course, feel free to bring a friend. The more, the marchier....

See you on the trail,
-Cecil

Just a quick heads-up for them what follow such things, that the Don Quixote Deathmarch is now officially looming on the horizon. The exact start date hasn't been selected yet, but it'll most likely be right around the beginning of March. Probably a Tuesday.

Me, I've got a little work to do before we kicking the DQDM off -- like, finishing the last one (At Swim-Two-Birds), which I jumped back into yesterday. And ordering those dang Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch mugs! Must get mugs!

OK...watch this space for more news.....
-Cecil

Here it is -- finally. The spot for final thoughts on Flan's Irish stew....

Well, this has officially been the most mismanaged literary deathmarch of the 21st century. In fact, I don't mean to brag, but I recently received a notarized letter letting me know that this is the most mismanged literary deathermarch of the 21st century. Which doesn't happen every day. Is all I'm saying.

Clearly: it's high time we bring it all home. Let's wrap this puppy up by next Tuesday. Them what have already finished, legion that you are, feel free to begin end-game banter on this thread, using a little gentle-loving kindness toward those of us who still have the one-last-push to go with regard to your revelation of unexpected zigs or zags.

As for me, I finally caught up but yes, the very day I caught up, OK, I lost my copy. So clearly some powerful cosmic force doesn't want me to finish this book. And I respect that. But I'm pretty sure I won't be beat.

I continue to enjoy the book, which veers from wildly entertaining to fairly entertaining to slightly tedious and then back to wildly entertaining. As much fun as I'm having, it's easy to imagine it all ending in an unsatisying way, as some has already suggested. One thing I'm starting to wonder is, how much am I missing by not being a scholar of classic Irish lit and myths? I suspect tons.

For example, I happened to pick up a Seamus Heaney collection this weekend and came across an aside about Heaney's Sweeney Astray "a translation of the medieval Irish work Buile Suibhne, which tells of the penitential life led by Sweeney after he was cursed and turned into a wild flying creature by St Ronan at the Battle of Moira." Which, ya know, sounds a little familiar. Is all I'm saying.

Next week: See ya back here for the grand finale.

Been on the road and having a hard time keeping up with DM responsibilities. Lame? Yes!
But I aim to replace this 'un with a real post in the morrow. For now, feel free to post any/all complaints about the way this DM is being mismanged here. (For example: "I could pull a better At Swim-Two-Birds Deathmarch out of a hat!")

-Cecil

It's funny, when this one started I remember thinking "golly, this may be too easy for a deathmarch." But for whatever reason, this is the deathmarch that has brought the highest percentage of folks low. I'm not sure how many we're down to now -- mebbe 10-14 or so folks reading along? Jinkies!

Anyways, with apologies to them what're actually caught up or even ahead, I'm going to declare this week a punt so that what folks are looking to catch up can take one last noble stab at it. Meanwhile, I'll put our ASTBDM scientists to work trying to develop an equation that adequately reflects this developing phenomenon. Feel free to use this comment thread (if you're so inclined) to rage against the injustice, yes: rage! against the injustice!

Next week: Once more with feeling, see you at the bottom of page 209 (Dalkey).....

I am now (ack! agack!) a week+ behind. And miles and miles and miles from home. But still reading along. Still loving it. Just got up to the legend of Jem Casey, Poet of the Pick. Gold, and nothing but the shiny stuff. Now don't wait for me. Onward! Onward!

Next week: I can only hope I'll see you all at the bottom of page 209 (Dalkey), where the Pooka himself sez it best and sez it all: "We are honoured that you accept our poor offerings...You are very kind"....

And then before ya know it, it's Week #3.

Continuing a longstanding Deathmarch tradition, I'm now a tad behind. In good company there, from what I hear -- a few stalwart marchers have had a little trouble getting their books and will be joing us mid-trail. Still having a swell time though and hope youse are being likewise regaled. Cowboys too? Oh come on now.

Next week: Let's meet up at the bottom page 168 (Dalkey), right in the middle of a "glorious extravagance."

Week 2 starts here, and if you've been reading along at home, that'll place you on page 54 (Darlkey), at the very moment of John Furriskey's unusual birth.

I'm enjoying the heck outta the book so far. In particular, the Fin Mac Cool stuff just slays me. It struck me that beyond a predeliction for unusual names, this also does ASTB have in common with Pale Fire and Gravity's Rainbow: the big brainflood (aka the use of detail as an opiate).

Hope you're enjoying yourself and keeping yer socks clean. Best I can tell we have something like 20 folks on the march. Nice healthy headcount. This one seems a little easier on the eyes than the last two, and I'm guessing most of us will make it through. What say we pick up the pace just a tad in the coming week?

Next week: See you at the bottom of page 115 (Dalkey), where the two of them are "talking with each other in a lay of generous staves."

*****
From the intro to the Dalkey edition:

"According to its author, Adolf Hitler hated At Swim-Two-Birds so vehemently he started World War II in order to interfere with its sales."
*****

Welcome to Day 1 of Week 1, which means for them that are marching, the marching starts roughly...now! In fact, once I hit Save, I'll be heading off to BART, ASTB in hand. Looks like it starts with someone eating, which is always a good way to kick off really any work of art. Except for perhaps a trumpet solo.

If this is your first march, (1) yay! and (2) here's how it works: we'll tackle the book in 40-50 pages/week chunks. Don't sweat it if you fall a little behind -- most folks do at some point. Try to resist racing ahead so as to accentuate the commonality of referential data. Every Tuesday, I'll post a thread right here on cv.com. Use that thread for comments, which can be as low-key as "I am the 'At Swim-Two-Bird Man of Alcatraz.'" or as thought provoking as [very thought provoking example here].

(And of course: If you're re-reading the book, please do yer level best to avoid spoilers.)

And that's it. Both the kit and the kaboose.

Thanks much for coming along. This is our third book, and it's the one I'm the most outright excited to read. In fact: I'm way too excited. In fact: I think my brain is vibrating.

I'm reading the so-called Dalkey Archive Press edition and will be using that for page break references -- if you have a different edition with different breaks, just let me know and I'll see what we can do to synch up....

Next week: Let's meet at page 54 (Dalkey), just before the "Extract from Press regarding Furriskey's birth."

Hi,
Next Tuesday we start up Deathmarch #3. This time out it's another relatively short book -- At Swim-Two-Birds written by Irish author Flann O'Brien and published back in 1939. I'm especially looking forward to this one -- a brilliant darkly comic romp, or so I've been told by some really smart people. But that said, I'll keep this post a bit on the ultrashort side since I'm on the road this week and up way past my bedtime. Hope to see you out on the trail....
-Cecil

Pale Fire Peoples!

As suggested last week, here's a bonus round for folks interested in re-reading the first section, talking about the Richard Rorty introduction to the Everyman's Library, and/or bringing other external sources to the party.

My 2 cents: I was a bit disappointed with the Rorty intro. Seemed to me he was commiting a Kinbote of sorts -- putting himself too much in the center of things. I kept waiting for him to say "When we first encounter so-called 'Gradus,' we are wearing those pants we thought we'd given away, but then it turned out they were just buried under some other clothes on our rocking chair in the back room."

Some of what he described as what the reader would go through rang true for me -- in particular the section on page x where he talks about the experience of reading the intro and the poem. But after that, I started writing "no" in the margin of my copy every paragraph or two. "The awed sense that royalty has condescended to treat us as a confidant"? no. "the revelation of some new and surprising fact about our remarkable host and commentator"? no again. I just didn't have that experience -- at the start, for me at least, Kinbote was a clown. It was only toward the very end that I was surprised to find myself getting a wee bit of sympathy for the narrator.

Those are quibbles, I suppose. My biggest beef is that so much of Rorty's essay hinges on the idea that Nabokov wanted us to forget about Hazel and then only come back to her in the end. (1) did we really forget about her? didn't seem that way to me. (2) I don't recall N. swinging her story back into view in the last few pages.

Still, it made for an interesting reading. Your thoughts?

Next up: starting on August 16th, Deathmarch 3: At Swim-Two-Birds, by Flan O'Brien (aka Brian O'Nolan), which, according to James Joyce, is "A really funny book." (I'm not making that up.)

Pale Fire Peoples!

Just finished PF this very morning. Enjoyed the close very much -- it felt like a soft and very satisfying landing. Looks like many of the folks (at least the commenting folks) on the 'march appear to be in the "he's a nut" camp. But me, I didn't feel like VN was committing 100% either way. It felt to me like at least three stories kept in focus at the same time -- the story within the poem, the story of Charles the eccentric ex-King, and the inferred story of Charles the looped stalker. I'd been braced for some sort of neat "it was all a dream" ending and this more open-ended close was a bit of a relief. Or mebbe that's my delusion :-)

Either way, I'm glad I read this one. As with GR, it just felt good on the brain to be reading this ecstatic (to swipe Updike's word from the back cover) prose in small, savoured doses.

Next week: This is the thread for closing thoughts on the book itself. Next week, by popular demand, we'll add a thread for folks what want to re-read the poem, intro, and foreword, and throw any other external sources into the stew.

Thanks all,
-CV

Pale Fire Peoples!

Welcome to Week 5 and the final push. It's been an action-packed week filled with revelations and disertations. Suicide? Prejudice? The Legend of Curdy Buff? It's all in there. I enjoyed this week's read and was surprised at points to find myself starting to become just a wee bit sympathetic with our narrator. Still, I will confess: Tout en ayant connaissance des traductions françaises de "John Donne" et d'"Andrew Marvell," j'ai mis ma tête vers le bas, et ai pris un petit somme court. (What oh what did we ever do before we had the Babel Fish?)

Next week: We wrap! Let's meet up on the far side of the index to compare closing thoughts. Speaking of which, a word to the wise -- this last patch includes a few revelations. Folks are doing what they can to avoid full-on spoilers, but if you're a bit behind this week's target, you might want to skim these comments with caution.

Thanks all,
-CV

Pale Fire Peoples!

Welcome to Week 4! A nice long flight yesterday and some quality Father's Day reading time has me nearly caught up. It seems like once I hit the King's escape, things really started to move.

I was struck this week by two stylistic features this book has in common with Gravity's Rainbow (perhaps they define the Cornell School): a predeliction for silly names (Gahr?!) and a love for the tangential detail, though where N. spins them out like playful fractals that go on a sentence or three or four, Pynchon was laying down dense-packed multi-paged tangents designed to re-, de-, and cross- wire our brains. (I 'spose ya could argue that the whole commentary is like a 200+-page tangential detail, so mebbe Nabokov wins that battle after all.)

In related news, I've begun to read certain Kinbote passages with the voice of Dr. Evil. ("Physically, he was a sickly bald-headed man resembling a pallid gland.")

Next week: We've got just two weeks to go (can ya believe that?). To keep them roughly even, this week will be a little on the short side. Let's meet back up round about the "anonymous bard of the twelfth century," which is to say, right after the commentary on Lines 681, also known as page 188 in the Everyman's Library.

Pale Fire Peoples!

Welcome to Week 3. It's very special week for me, because this is the first week when I'm officially a little bit behind, which means we're really rollin' now. I've been savouring it a bit too much methinks.

But enough about me -- how are you doing out there? And more to the point, have you checked out the Palefire Deathmarch Wiki yet, for the demystification of tricky vocab? (Created some say by "Cort," others say by "DavidG." But in such murky matters can the truth ere truly be known?)

Speaking of "Cort," don't miss his exhortation to write frothy heroic bather-verse (wiki-style, no less) at the tail end of the thread for Week 2. I could be wrong here, but I think he's talking to you.

Next week: Let's meet back up just past "the adjacent position of these rhymes," which is to say, right after the commentary on Lines 367-370, also known as page 149 in the Everyman's Library.

Pale Fire Peoples!

Looks like we're off to an excellent start. Lotsa folks on the march, with fully 20 posts so far on last week's thread, including an excellent bit o' background on the Zemlya of it all, filed just last night by so-called "Cort." Good stuff!

This week is a bit of a paradox. We've now read the poem, so this would be an appropriate week for commentary on the poem before we read the, er, commmentary. On the poem. It's sorta like a thin crack into which our world may whisper out. So, you know, stay frosty out there.

Me, I was surprised by how flat-out funny the foreword was -- with occasional fore-shades of my beloved "Cruel Shoes" -- and then again at how sad the poem sometimes dips, especially Canto 2, as Other Dan noted in last week's thread. It's a regular Pale Fire Emotional Death Roller Coaster March is what it is.

What'd you think?

Next week: Let's dive into to the madness of King Kinbote and then meet up at page 105 in the Everyman's Library, which is to say, the end of the comentary on Lines 130, in other words somewheres round about a passing reference to "the interesting note to Line 149."

Welcome Pale Fire Peoples! Today is the first day of the rest of your Deathmarch. By my (very rough) count, we have around 20-30 folks on board -- this should be fun.

For them what're new to Deathmarching, here's how it works: we'll tackle the book in 40-50 pages/week chunks. Don't sweat it too much if you fall a little behind -- most folks do at some point. Try to resist racing ahead so as to exentuate the commonality of referential data.

Every Tuesday, I'll post a thread right chere on cecilvortex.com. Use that thread for comments, which can be as low-key as "Hello Pale Fire Peoples!" or as erudite as [very erudite example here]. One request: If you're re-reading the book, do yer best to avoid spoilers.

And that's it. The entire sheebang.

Thanks much for making the 'march. The book's entirely new to me and I'm really looking forward to tackling page 1. The first two words appear to be "Pale" and "Fire," which are words I already know, so I'm feeling pretty good.

Let's hit the Foreword and the poem this week. Depending on the edition, that appears to add up to around 40-50 pages of actual text.

Next week: See ya at the start of the Commentary (page 57 in the el [everyman's library], 73 in vi [vintage international]).

One week from today, the PFDM kicks off. Job one for this week: make sure you have yourself a copy of so-called "Pale Fire." Job two: don't read Pale Fire! Oh, you can read the cover copy. And you can read the spine. Please, read the spine. But as we learned with the GRDM, one of the biggest challenges in these DMs is not getting too far ahead o' the pack, so be sure to leave them innards alone.

Over the next few days, getcher booties polished and yer canteen cleansed. Shake out the old pup tent. Next week: we ride!

A few weeks back, we wrapped "The Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch," in which some 13 or 14 of us went screaming across Pynchon's notoriously challenging uber-book.

Mark yer calendars. Two weeks from today -- on May 31st -- tanned, rested, and ready, we'll be starting up Deathmarch 2. This time out, we're tackling something a wee bit lighter and a whole lot shorter. By its rep, Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire is a wild, one-of-a-kind read. Anthony Burgess says it's a "brilliant confection." Mary McCarthy, never one to be out done by Anthony Burgess, says: "This centaur work, half-poem, half-prose . . . is a creation of perfect beauty, symmetry, strangeness, originality and moral truth. Pretending to be a curio, it cannot disguise the fact that it is one of the great works of art of this century." And various folks I know who've already read it say: "Great stuff!"

Here's how the PFDM works: every Tuesday, I'll leave a short post here on the site. If you're reading along, drop by and post a comment -- something insightful or erudite, random blather, or just a quick "hey now!" That's it -- that's the whole deal. The book looks like a great ride. And the whole adventure should take around 7 weeks or so.

All are welcome -- good friends, new acquaintances, and outright strangers. And yes, my old enemy, my nemesis: The Man with Five Hands: you are welcome too. The Big Idear is to use the momentum of the pack to get into books we might otherwise miss.

There are two main bargain editions online -- The Everyman's Library edition (an inexpensive hardcover) and the Vintage paperback. Either will work -- I'll include page references for both when we set our weekly targets.

And say, if you're thinking of marching along, why not be here now and practice commenting at this very moment, by leaving one on this very thread. As an added bonus, it'll help us get a rough head count so we know how much food and water to pack in. Metaphorically speaking.

See you out on that winding road.... -CV

In which our journey ends....

Congratulations and my thanks to everyone who took to the trail, you 35 or so who started this journey and enabled us achieve launch velocity, and you 13 or 14 who will make it through to the other side, 750 pages and 350+ comments later. A survival rate to be proud of, I think, given the history this book has for breaking people's spirits.

Me myself, I've still got about 30 pages to go, which seems appropriate -- I've been just a little behind most of the way. I'm savoring the last little bit now, sorta soaking up the sauce. Just got to a sequence this morning that seemed an excellent sharp-elbowed response to anyone understandably searching for a tidy wrap (page 733, p/v):

Underneath, someone else has written, in English: Good drawing! Finish! and underneath that, in another hand, It IS finished, you nit. And so are you."

Defensive jabs and all. I've just loved the hell out of this book. The first 100 pages or so were pretty rough going for me, as I struggled to get the rhythm of the thing. And there were a few parts in the middle where he almost lost me. But certainly, from the Casino on, the pure fun factor has been much richer than I ever expected.

All in all, there are few books I've gotten more out of than this beast. And there's just no way I would have ever gotten past page 30 without the group. So here's to you all, with a mighty clink to clinking mugs in celebration.

Next week: We take a little bit of a break and soak our feet in preparation for the next trail -- something a little bit easier on the knees and a great deal shorter. Look for "The Pale Fire Deathmarch" -- coming soon to a cecilvortex.com near you.

Well this is it -- the last stop before the final push! Just 7 days till we receive Ultimate Wisdom! Woo!

I enjoyed the last week's reading, packed with taffy bits, although I'll confess to getting pretty lost during the FF sequence. I'll hafta go back and give that another read.

One recent passage I thought I'd pull out for the thread, on page 691 (p/v): "You didn't like the haiku. It wasn't ethereal enough? Not Japanese at all? In fact it sounded like something right outa Hollywood? Well, captain -- yes you, Marine Captain Esberg from Pasadena -- you have just had, the Mystery Insight! (gasps and a burst of premonitory applause) and so you -- are our Paranoid . . . For The Day!)" which I thought was a really nice explicit statement re what we've talked about a fair bit here on the thread -- the often cartoony/genre-heavy/cinematic style of the proceedings. It doesn't necessarily say why he's doing it, but at least it does say that we're all named Captain Esberg from Pasadena. And again: Woo!

Next week: What can I say? See you on the other side. Perhaps it'll be like the end of Narnia, and we'll all be partying with the dead. Reepicheep! Peter Sachsa! Here I come!

At So-Called Bill's excellent suggestion, last week turned into one final rest, reflect, and reread week before the grand finale. Now here we are, tanned and ready, primed for the big wrap and just -- jinkies! -- two more weeks to go. I really like the word "jinkies."

Next week: Page 706 (p/v), once more with feeling....

So here we are at Week 14, and now it's all right there, all right there within reach. Me myself, I'm about 8 pages off target, which is the closest I've been in a long while. The most recent stretch has been one of my favorites. In particular, the story of Byron the Bulb, which came across as pretty much a perfect thing. And it's just two more weeks now. Just two more weeks, and the inside back cover will finally be revealed....

Next week: UPDATE -- we'd originally targeted page 706 (p/v), but I like So-Called Bill's suggestion from the comments of belaying those orders and taking one more week to soak up a little extra Pynchon goodness. So let's call this week a time loop and let folks catch up and retrace their steps.

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

"so much depends
upon

a Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch Chat Thread

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens."

In last week's comments, so-called "Bill" made the excellent suggestion that we use this week to give folks a chance to catch up, rest, recuperate. Consider this "The Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch Picnic in a Trench by the Side of the Road." Enjoy the break and use this thread for bookly comments. I'll post a chat thread just above.

This also represents a catch-up moment mug-wise -- ifn you're missing one week in your prize qualifications, post this week and get back in the game....
See you next Tuesday at page 278 (p),
-CV

"You best start believing in chat threads for Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarches, Miss Turner; you're in one."

Welcome to Week 4. We're holding pretty steady with something close to 20 people still on the march. Not bad at all... Most of us, me included, are a little bit behind. My current strategy is to catch up by skipping every other word on pages 250-300. We'll see how that goes.

The comments flew fairly fast and furious last week -- 34 of 'em, if you add all three threads together. Thanks for your patience with my monkeying around, thread-wise. In the end, the split thread approach seemed to work pretty well. Let's try it for one more week and see how that shakes out. It's all one big experiment, doncha know.

For now, this is the spot to have at it re pages 160-230 (p/v) or so.

Next week: See you at page 278 (penguin/viking) aka 323 (bantam). -CV

Hi,
Per the previous entry, this is the spot to post re the latest chunk of Gravity's Rainbow. For chat, please scroll down to the next entry below.

Note: And for completists, don't forget to take a stroll through the first batch of comments this week, over in the original Week 3 thread.

Thankee, -Cecil

Hi,
Here's an experiment -- I enjoy the banter, but I don't want it to keep us from actually talking about the book. If we had threaded comments, we could prolly do both together, but in this one-big-stew approach, I'm not sure. So howzabout we use this entry as the bantery and chat thread... And then I'll post another entry in a sec right above this one that folks can use for more book-related posts. We'll see over the course o' the week if this approach works.

(In the spirit of eternal warmth and generosity, chat and book comments both count toward mugness....)

Well, we started this venture with an astounding 35 or so folks out the gate. And inevitably, people are beginning to tumble off the trail. (Well, we wouldn't call it a deathmarch if it was easy....)

At this rate, by my calculations, -5 people will finish the journey. But what's math, right? A poor predictor of the human soul.

March on you valiant page turners, though thy arms ache to pluck mysteries from thy sagging bookshelf, though thy very retina begin to shake and swell, march on!

Around 20-25 people appear to be head down, still making progress, some commenting on these threads, and others reading along offline but opting to forsake much coveted Grand Poobah status. I respect that. And I will toast them when the march is done, with fine champagne in a sturdy mug.

For now, you've found the spot to comment on pages 113-167 plus or minus.

Next week: Let's meet up at page 226 (263 in Bantam), a section that ends with the phrase "...with a war on...." (Sorry for the spoiler...)

See you there, -CV

Welcome to the end of week 2! This is the place to comment on (roughly) pp 50-113 (p/v). That said, as last week rolled on, a lot of people dropped comments past the mark, to keep up with what they were reading that day. I thought that went great. So in the course of this week, feel free to comment on page 120, 130... Just use a little restraint on spoilers for later sections.

There was some confusion amongst prize-peoples regarding the first two weeks. In the spirit of loving-kindness that is the GRDM, we're gonna count both of those two weeks as one, meaning if you commented Week 0, but not Week 1, you're still a candidate for potential "Grand Poobah" status. Those who haven't commented yet, don't give up -- highly regarded "Poobah" and "Big Poobah" status are still well within reach!

Hope everyone's holding up OK. Me, it's work, and I'm about 12 pages behind. But hell, that's still about 94 pages farther than I've ever gotten before. Mainly I've been surprised how much fun there's been along the way. More like a Hallucinatory Death Dance than a Deathmarch, methinks...

Next Tuesday: Let's meet back up at page 167 ((195 in the Bantam edition) a week from today -- it's the section that ends: "Is God really Jewish?"

See you there, -CV

I'd like to try opening a new thread on Week 1 of GRDM -- we have 26 comments on the first thread and it might help us to start fresh every 20 or so comments.

So if you've got a comment to add on the first batch (or so) of GR pages, please starting posting those comments on this entry.

And if you want to read what's already been said in the last three days, you can find the first piece of this thread right here.

Thanks. Rainbow on, -CV

Welcome to the end of week 1! Got any insights on the first 50 pages? Advice for the weary? Complaints about bunions? If you're on the march, this is the spot to share, to care, and to shout out.

(I should also say, for them what's interested in qualifying toward Poobah status and fabulous GRDM prizes, this also marks the first week that "counts," stats-wise -- the league has ruled last week as sort of a warm up.)

Next Tuesday: Let's meet back up at page 113 (132 in the Bantam edition) a week from today -- it's the section that ends: "tarnished silver crown...."

If you missed last week's thread, be sure to check it out -- a number of entertaining comments were dropped off just yesterday, including an entirely unexpected bodyslam on Kurt Vonnegut, jr.

Thanks much for joining in and see you at the tarnished crown,
-CV

Today it begins -- our first few steps on "The Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch." And I will admit the obvious -- that I'm a little intimidated by this old book. But I can share this as well: the last two days, I went off on a little scouting mission -- read the first few pages -- read them aloud to my better half, in fact, while she tried to sleep. And dang if they weren't entertaining. At least to me. I had no idea there were so many ways to prepare a banana.

Let's make the target for this week a touch shy of 50 pages -- we'll make camp at page 47 and the line "time for home." [update: this is page 54 in the Bantam edition]

If any of youse have any other words orf wisdom regarding the first handful of pages, or good natured advice for your fellow marchers, please use this entry as an open thread fer shoutin' out.

Thanks and gulp and see you next Tuesday and...here we go,
-Cecil

(For those hearing about this for the first time, you can find all the details -- the gameplan, the prizes, the whole sheebang, by going to "The Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch" category page. In short, around 20-30 of us are going to try to read this thing in roughly 50 page chunks/week. And for them that make it through and drop a comment here most weeks, there will be glory, and yes, the possibility of a free Pat Benatar CD and/or a mug. All are welcome -- Gravity's Rainbow loves company.)

We're right around 30 people strong and launch is next week. If you haven't yet purchased a copy of Gravity's Rainbow, and you intend to deathmarch, now's a great time to pick one up. One thing you don't want to do is show up for a Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch without Gravity's Rainbow.

See you back here next week for the starting line....
-Cecil

You may be wondering: How will you, as an active participant in the GRDM, be rewarded for your considerable pain and suffering? It's a question as old as The Book of Job. And once again, as with Job, the answer involves Pat Benatar.

To incent group participation (in the form of weekly posting to the GRDM thread), we've developed devised a cunningly complex 3-tier program. Here's how it works:

GRDMer the Third Level (aka Poobah): Post all but four weeks and you'll receive a copy of Pat Benatar's 11th studio release: Gravity's Rainbow.

GRDMer the Second Level (aka Big Poobah): Post all but two weeks and you'll earn a copy of Richard Brautigan's underappreciated, and extremely easy to read The Tokyo-Montana Express. (Think of it as a cool down after GR.) As an added bonus, Big Poobahs will also *not* receive a copy of Pat Benatar's 11th studio release: Gravity's Rainbow.

GRDMer the First Level (aka Grand Poobah): Post to the GRDM thread each and every week, starting on Jan 11, and you'll be rewarded with a copy of the Tokyo-Montana Express. plus -- and here's where it gets exciting -- a genuine Monkey Vortex brand "I survived the Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch" mug. GP's will also not receive a copy of Pat Benatar's Gravity's Rainbow. Unless they really want to. In which case, oh, sure, what the hell.

Quasi-legaleso: Needless to say, prizes will be limited to folks what finish the book in the course of the Deathmarch. All books and CDs will probably be secondhand, though serviceable. And I'll set an arbitrary max of 30 winners. Because, much as in real life, there can only be 30 winners. (On the off-chance we break 30, I'll pull names from a beret or somesuch. At this point, we have around 28 people signed on, so...) Also, what is a qualifying post? Glad you asked. A qualifying post can be as simple as: "still here, still suffering" or: "owie" or even just: "ow." Really, any old post will do. The goal is just to keep us all engaged and pushing each other along.

That's it. I hope you're enjoying the holidays. Now's a great time to watch a lot of TV. Go outside. Look at some puppies. For soon your eyes will be filled with rainbow.
-Cecil

27 people have now signed up for the Deathmarch. And I think it's safe to say that this little idea has now morphed from an amusing notion into a full-fledged movement -- a movement that may well change the way people think about reading books and talking about them on blogs forever.

Here's the rough plan: Tuesday will be GRDM day here on cecilvortex.com. For the next couple of weeks, that will mean short updates as folks holidize, stretch their legs, wash their socks, that sort of thing. But starting on the morning of Jan. 4, we'll have a post indicating how far we aim to travel on the first week. Each week's journey will be roughly 50 pages. Since editions may vary and numbers can't be trusted, the marker will be "read up to X" rather than "read to page Y."

Starting on the 11th I'll post short entries here every Tuesday morning that will be meant as open threads -- a spot to drop comments. I'm encouraging everyone to chime in, if only with "oh my lord, this is awful, what have I done?" More than anything, this is a GR support group.

Although a paragraph or three of pithy analysis will always be welcome, I'm going to discourage folks from giving in to old habits and churning out a 6-page paper each week. (If 27 people wrote 6 pages each week of the GRDM we'd end up with 2,430 pages of critical analysis. And that, I'm pretty sure, would make my head blow up.)

Prizes? Oh yes, there will be prizes. More on that next week....

It's not to late to sign yourself (or several loved ones) up for the march. All are welcome. Just add a comment to this link, or drop me an email.

Merry Tuesday and watch the skies, -Cecil

So I was talking to one of my brothers last night, and we agreed that this Pynchon book has bedeviled us long enough. Me, I've started Gravity's Rainbow at least 3 times. And let's just say I'm very familiar with the first 30 pages. OK, sentences. OK, consonants. Hell, I've never even finished The Crying of Lot 49 and that's a damn pamphlet.

So we made a pact. We made a death pact. You know, minus the death. 50 pages a week, starting the first week in January. No stopping till we reach the other side. Then we thought: hey! There must be other folks out there who've been similarly confounded. Let's see if we can gather together a tribe of like-minded long-suffers and tackle this beast en masse. Thus was born The Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch.

We'd like to use this site as a forum, post an open thread once a week for shared thoughts, comfort. Mebbe I'll even spring for some exciting incredibly cheap end-of-journey prizes for them what make it all the way through, and manage to check in each week, all depending on how many people are interested.

So that's the shpiel. All are welcome -- friends, foes, strangers, passersby. If you're reading this, and if you're interested in joining, drop a comment here, or send me an email. We'll work out the details in the next couple of weeks.

I hear the clamor of boots, the clatter of coffee cups, the straightening of glasses. Today we order paperbacks and shuffle through dusty shelves for old unread college copies. For tomorrow we ride!

-Cecil
update: if you're buying a copy, I'm told one handsome option is this swank Penguin edition. That's the one I'll be picking up, fwiw.