The rainbow of gravity: illustrations by Zak Smith for a masterpiece of American literature
The rainbow of gravity: illustrations by Zak Smith for a masterpiece of American literature

Video: The rainbow of gravity: illustrations by Zak Smith for a masterpiece of American literature

Video: The rainbow of gravity: illustrations by Zak Smith for a masterpiece of American literature
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Gravity's Rainbow: Illustrations by Zak Smith
Gravity's Rainbow: Illustrations by Zak Smith

Book Thomas Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow is a cult subject. Fans of the writer call themselves "Pynchonites" and do not stop exploring the 760-page tome, first published in 1973. One of them is an artist Zak Smith - decided to illustrate every page of the outstanding novel.

Drawing by Zach Smith
Drawing by Zach Smith

"The Rainbow of Gravity" is considered to be the main contender for the title of "the greatest postmodern novel." Literary scholars and ordinary readers have been fighting over attempts to interpret a difficult to read, multilayered book for decades. Illustrator Zach Smith's goal was to create drawings "as rich as Pynchon's prose."

Gravity's Rainbow, page 536
Gravity's Rainbow, page 536

All English-language editions of "Rainbow" have strict page numbering. Therefore, for fans of Pynchon it will not be difficult to correlate each drawing with one or another event or character. In addition, Smith accompanied all illustrations with explanatory quotes. For example, the drawing on page 536 corresponds to the phrase "the sun of bright colors is shining from the head with thorns." The graphic depicts Osby Chipchon - one of the approximately four hundred main characters in the book.

Gravity's Rainbow, page 75
Gravity's Rainbow, page 75

"Nobody asked me to do illustrations, I took it myself," - says Zach Smith, - "I mainly painted with ink, but in the cycle there are several paintings with acrylics, photographs and experimental collages. I tried to reproduce these or those as literally as possible. phrases from the text ". The resulting array of 760 works has already been exhibited at prestigious museums (including the Whitney Biennale). Also, the drawings were published as a separate book.

Nazi scholar Zwitter (page 314)
Nazi scholar Zwitter (page 314)

The author of "Gravity's Rainbow" Thomas Pynchon regularly are called a potential candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. For example, in 2012, an American novelist entered the top 100 most likely candidates, according to bookmaker counts … Alas, it is not possible to find out Pynchon's attitude to Zach Smith's illustrations: the writer leads a reclusive lifestyle and fundamentally does not communicate with the press.

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