It's FINISHED. I guess I still don't really know what to make of it, and nothing was really tied together for me in the end, which I was secretly hoping for but didn't expect. My enjoyment and understanding of the book was very parabola-like: I slogged miserably through the first and last readings, but really enjoyed the middle sections.
One thing that did really bother me was the Gottfreid being launched in the rocket scenes- I had no idea what to make of this, what Gottfried might symbolize in his Impoplex G shroud, etc.
Did anyone have any thoughts on this? I was *SO* confused, but really excited to be done with this very challenging novel.
I agree-- when I finished reading, all I could think was, "what happened to everyone?" But, like you, I didn't expect Pynchon to tie anything together (plus, tying 700+ pages together at the very end would be quite a feat.)
As for the launching of Gottfried/0000, I too was pretty confused. The Imipolex G is definitely significant, though. On page 769, Pynchon writes that "the soft smell of Imipolex, wrapping [Gottfried] absolutely, is a smell he knows. It doesn't frighten him. It was in the room when he fell asleep so long ago, so deep in sweet paralyzed childhood . . . it was there as he began to dream. Now it is time to wake, into the breath of what was always real. Come, wake. All is well." It seemed as though Gottfried was almost anticipating the rocket launch? (Now I'm just confusing myself.) But I think this scene at least helps to explain a little bit of the situation.