I have read either
V or
Gravity's Rainbow, and
Vineland. However, and as may be apparent from my ambiguity, it was over 20 years ago when I was a teen consuming books like a teen consuming McBurger-and-fries. I read them the same way I read the
Belgariad books of Eddings during the same time period. In my opinion, that was not the correct method of consumption for me.
What (little) do I remember? That they were books that really required better and longer thought on my part. Greater consideration and reflection. Probably even far greater volumes of knowledge (and experience?) than I had at that stage crammed into my tiny little mind (now, the tiny little mind is there - it's just under much greater pressure
). James Joyce came to mind (not that I've read any of his, other than
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man). Rumour and hearsay lead me that way.
That is, now that I am somewhat more...relaxed, they are books that I would like to read now.
I have read somewhere that
The Crying Of Lot 49 is a good place to start (an "easier" read) and that
Gravity's Rainbow is probably one to save until you have determined whether you like his work (but then, super-pleasurable if you do). I think
Mason & Dixon sometimes has an "Avoid" comment attached to it from some Pynchon-lovers, though I'm sure it has its fans too (Harold Bloom being one).
I'm really not offering anything helpful here, seeing as it's based on memories 25 years buried and almost completely lost, and hearsay. Perhaps it'll encourage someone to come out and correct my perceptions, however, with us both being better for it.
Cheers,
Marc