Reading Inherent Vice

The later Lew Basnight episodes in Against The Day are a lot closer to traditional hardboiled detective fiction than this. When I first heard about the concept for this book I initially thought Pynchon was going to pick up his story where he left off.

there's really no femme fatale in this, is there?

It's true that Doc does carry a gun sometimes and is not adverse to putting himself in dangerous situations (though some of those decisions come across as more befogged than brave). He's not a wuss by any means.

I'm reading the latest Elmore Leonard now and there are some comparisons to be made in terms of the weird, shady, characters and the ear for street-level speech. But Leonard's dialogue is far better.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2009/08/pynchon-lotion.html

by all accounts he's not any kind of crazy total recluse: he just doesn't do publicity, for the most part, and is perhaps a little cagier than most about being ex-directory

used to know someone who went to school with his niece and saw him at, like, open days and stuff

This niece?!?

I am tempted to put together a spotify playlist of these:
http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Songs_mentioned_in_Inherent_Vice

Well that's one way of rebelling against your reclusive, rarely photographed famous uncle I suppose.

(That Spotify playlist is a great idea, do it!)

Bigfoot's Fatso Judson namecheck was a nice touch, I thought.

"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" covered by The Bonzo Dog Band"

^ now i think about it, this doesn't actually exist, does it?

Blog post about Pynchon and comics: http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/08/12/pynchon-and-comics/

A friend of mine has a good story about meeting Pynchon. He was working at Kim's Video (RIP) and Pynchon came in to buy Simpsons DVDs with credit card.

The Bonzo cover does exist - it's included in this Spotify IV playlist I just put together: http://open.spotify.com/user/stevietee/playlist/3FMKzyb1IUEJJtGjVqaaZL

niiiice

good luck, USA

god i love the bonzo dog band.

I was amazed to discover, incidentally, that Dark Shadows actually existed!

Oh, man, Dark Shadows was what we all ran home from school to watch in 1970.

^ old

"Japanese Replica Barbed Wire"

loooooooooooooool

god, the bonzos. thanks for that.

does anyone know the origin of it?

huh. the wikipedia page for 'the doughnut in granny's greenhouse' has it a prv. unreleased bonus track on that album's cd remaster. on the other hand, it also claims

The phrase "the doughnut in granny's greenhouse" is British slang for lavatory.

Original Soundtrack

I'm such a Pynchon novice - read Lot 49 2-3 times like a decade ago and it was rough going, got only like 10 pages into V. after buying it (still have it), borrowed Against The Day from the library but only managed a few pages (the length was daunting and I had a bunch of other things I needed to read at that time).

Maybe I'll give this one a go.

Pat Dubonnet

“In conversation, Thomas Pynchon really did seem to know a lot about Godzilla.”

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/pynchon-and-the-new-yorker-pranksters-fess-up/

Bought this last night, only read the first chapter before crashing out last night but it does seem like it'll be a quick, fun read as compared to most other pynchon i've read.

I feel a John Garfield DVD spree coming on.

is there a "vineland" thread anywhere? borrowed it from the library over the weekend since "inherent vice" hadn't arrives yet.

"arrived"

I just started it after finishing I.V.!

there's no one vineland thread, but it is mentioned on every other pynchon thread

Dark Shadows appears to be torrentable - worth a go?

this book was a total gas. funny and great and a quick read, too.

Very pleasantly surprised. Many of the reviews I read seemed unfavorable, so I thought I might not enjoy it, but it is definitely my favorite Pynchon so far. Makes me want to re-read Vineland, my first Pynchon. I picked up Against the Day at the library, but I don't think I will stick with it. Also picked up Mason & Dixon, another passed over Pynchon.

passed over Pynchon

lol.

Scored the library copy of this the other day and will hope to give it a read soon...

The guy has gotten better at writing last sentences since GR.

Read it while on vacation, laughed my head off. Great fun and sad in all the right ways too. Pretty much the book that most leapt to mind while reading it was City of Quartz.

[i]Makes me want to re-read Vineland</>

This is exactly what I am doing. I liked VL just fine the first time around but now it seems even better. I've never understood why it's not highly regarded. Is it just because it isn't GV2?

I mean GR2 of course.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/paul_thomas_anderson_looks_to_adapt_thomas_pychons_inherent_vice_with_rober/

that could be cool! i am actually reading this right now -- lots of funny stuff, though the plot itself seems to be getting in the way. love all the south bay content -- the book basically takes place right where I grew up!

Yeah, this could work really well.

Blimey. Hope this actually sees the light of day.

yeah tbh, not holding my breath for it -- seems like a lot of variables that could easily fall through. does anyone know if pynchon has been opposed in the past to film adaptations, or is it that no one in their right mind has thought to try? other than the phenomenal V TV miniseries of course.

Closest thing to my mind mind was the time he was supposed to "appear" on The John Larroquette Show (which fell through):

The show made several passing references to Pynchon, but the most specifically “Pynchonian” episode was Episode 11, airing in 1994 and titled “Newcomer.” Guest-starring David Crosby, the plot had Hemingway’s new girlfriend joining Alcoholics Anonymous and swearing off sex for six months. At one point, reference was made to a “Pynchon sighting,” describing the reclusive author as wearing a Roky Erickson T-shirt[...]

wonder waht happened to pta's scientology film...

Was excited until I saw RDJ's name.

does anyone know if pynchon has been opposed in the past to film adaptations, or is it that no one in their right mind has thought to try?

Well the rights have been sold, right?

other than the phenomenal V TV miniseries of course.

Does this actually exist?

think it's a joek - failed sci-fi thing