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=================
Gravity's Rainbow
=================

:by: Thomas Pynchon

Excellent German Words
----------------------
These are some of my favorites from http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/gravity/extra/german.html


Weltschmerz
    world-weariness
Leunahalluziationen
    gasoline hallucination
Schweinheldfest
    pig-hero festival
Purpurstoff
    purple substance
Folgsamkeitfaktor
    obedience factor
Versuchsanstalt
    research institute, experimental station
Urstoff
    primordial stuff
Kadavergehorsamkeit
    corpse-like obedience, i.e., slavish obedience
Hinterhof
    back-courtyard
Bohnenkaffee
    pure coffee

Rocket Limericks
----------------
*(These are interspersed on pages 305-335)*

|     There once was a thing called a V-2
|     To pilot which you did not need to-
|     You just pushed a button,
|     And it would leave nuttin'
|     But stiffs and big holes and debris, too.
|
|     <refrain:>
|     Ja, ja, ja, ja!
|     In Prussia they never eat pussy!
|     There ain't hardly cats enough,
|     There's garbage and that's enough,
|     So waltz me around again, Russky!
|
|     There was a young fellow named Crockett,
|     Who had an affair with a rocket.
|     If you saw them out there
|     You'd be tempted to stare,
|     But if you ain't tried it, don't knock it!
|
|     There was a young fellow named Hector,
|     Who was fond of a launcher-erector.
|     But the squishes and pops
|     Of acute pressure drops
|     Wrecked Hector's hydraulic connector.
|
|     There once was a fellow named Moorehead,
|     Who had an affair with a warhead.
|     His wife moved away
|     The very next day-
|     She *was* always kind of a sorehead.
|
|     There was a technician named Urban,
|     Who had an affair with a turbine.
|     "It's much nicer," he said,
|     "Than a woman in bed,
|     And it's sure as hell cheaper than bourbon!"
|
|     There once was a fellow named Slattery
|     Who was fond of the course-gyro battery.
|     With that 50-volt shock,
|     What was left of his cock
|     Was all slimy and sloppy and spattery.
|
|     There was a young fellow named Pope,
|     Who plugged into an *os*-cillo-*scope*.
|     The cyclical trace
|     Of their carnal embrace
|     Had a damn nearly infinite slope.
|
|     There was a young fellow named Yuri,
|     Fucked the nozzle right up its venturi.
|     He had woes without cease
|     From his local police,
|     And a hell of a time with the jury
|
|     There was a young man named McGuire,
|     Who was fond of the pitch amplifier.
|     But a number of shorts
|     Left him covered with warts,
|     And set half the bedroom on fire.
|
|     There once was a fellow named Ritter,
|     Who slept with a guidance transmitter.
|     It shriveled his cock,
|     Which fell off in his sock,
|     And made him exceedingly bitter.
|
|     There once was a fellow named Schroeder,
|     Who buggered the vane servomotor.
|     He soon grew a prong
|     On the end of his schlong,
|     And hired himself a promoter.
|
|     There was a young man from Decatur,
|     Who slept with a LOX generator.
|     His balls and his prick
|     Froze solid read quick,
|     And his asshole a little bit later.