I first read "V" in 1966 in Tucson, I believe it was during the summer, after summer school at the U of A was out. I discovered "Gravity's Rainbow" at a periodical stand in West L.A. in the mid 70s. Glad to see there is another.  Something to look forward to reading when I get a copy.  I have always had a taste for the darker side of literature.  I suspect such tastes are mutually exclusive to those for, say, triumphalism.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."