1969
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
I heard about this book when it came out in 2009 when I read a review that largely focused on the era-specific soundtrack. The description of both the classic rock which plays such an integral part of the setting as well as the idea of a well-respected author tackling the counter-culture drug culture of the late sixties in a crime noir story seemed very appealing to me.
My understanding is that most of Pynchon's writing covers historical, political fiction and non-fiction and is generally considered dense and unapproachable. 'Vice', however, draws on a very accessible pop-culture content and humor that brings to mind Cheech and Chong more than the NY Times bestseller list. The main character, Doc Sportello, is a lovable mix of The Dude and Fletch who stumbles his way through a parade of intrigues, supernatural and existential mysteries and a cast of characters begging to be performed by a mega-cast in an unavoidable big-screen adaptation.
Much of the convoluted and stoned out plot-line is awash with the semblance of social commentary on the excesses of the sixties, the racial tensions and cultural divides of the time, and the onset of a decade sliding quickly toward a technological and monetarily driven eighties. That stuff is there, but is largely overshadowed by the marijuana smoke of hippie humor, free love and deranged mystery action. Serious Pynchon readers may poo-poo the silliness, and serious mystery fans may poo-poo the hallucinations which de-rail any pretense of structured plot. But fans of rock'n'roll, counter-culture and weird humor will revel in this quick and fun read.
I doubt Doc Sportello will reappear in my timeline history, but he'd feel very comfortable mingling with anything that came his way there. He and his supporting cast are the sort of folks who most likely were real people at one time, and exist now as super-fictionalized versions of themselves that will live on in fantastic crossover literary universes.
By the way, the 'Godzillagans Island' cartoon illustration is ripped shamelessly from
Ward Sutton's review which should be reviewed in full
here.
I heard about this book when it came out in 2009 when I read a review that largely focused on the era-specific soundtrack. The description of both the classic rock which plays such an integral part of the setting as well as the idea of a well-respected author tackling the counter-culture drug culture of the late sixties in a crime noir story seemed very appealing to me.
My understanding is that most of Pynchon's writing covers historical, political fiction and non-fiction and is generally considered dense and unapproachable. 'Vice', however, draws on a very accessible pop-culture content and humor that brings to mind Cheech and Chong more than the NY Times bestseller list. The main character, Doc Sportello, is a lovable mix of The Dude and Fletch who stumbles his way through a parade of intrigues, supernatural and existential mysteries and a cast of characters begging to be performed by a mega-cast in an unavoidable big-screen adaptation.
Much of the convoluted and stoned out plot-line is awash with the semblance of social commentary on the excesses of the sixties, the racial tensions and cultural divides of the time, and the onset of a decade sliding quickly toward a technological and monetarily driven eighties. That stuff is there, but is largely overshadowed by the marijuana smoke of hippie humor, free love and deranged mystery action. Serious Pynchon readers may poo-poo the silliness, and serious mystery fans may poo-poo the hallucinations which de-rail any pretense of structured plot. But fans of rock'n'roll, counter-culture and weird humor will revel in this quick and fun read.
I doubt Doc Sportello will reappear in my timeline history, but he'd feel very comfortable mingling with anything that came his way there. He and his supporting cast are the sort of folks who most likely were real people at one time, and exist now as super-fictionalized versions of themselves that will live on in fantastic crossover literary universes.
By the way, the 'Godzillagans Island' cartoon illustration is ripped shamelessly from
Ward Sutton's review which should be reviewed in full here.
No comments:
Post a Comment