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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
trilby001's review against another edition
5.0
The dust jacket blurb: "in this lively yarn, Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the 60s, you weren't there. . .or. if you were there, then you. . .or wait, is it. . ." This is a good entree into the novel, a mystery/satire of life in California in the '60s. Although I never visited California during that decade, I lived through all the hippie craziness spun out of it.
I readily admit to being a Pynchon cultist. On my car is a bumper sticker that reads: "My other car is a Pynchon novel." I couldn't wait for the 104 people in front of me in the queue for the library copies, so I bought the book. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was rather surprised that this Pynchon novel turned out to be quite accessible (unlike "Gravity's Rainbow" or "V").
The title refers to a legal term meaning the quality of certain property or goods that makes them difficult to insure. This theme of
fragility or evanescence permeates the L.A. landscape. Characters die or come close to death, get disoriented or abducted, lose their way, are resurrected, shift shapes and identities. This is a world on the verge of extinction, fading away into the Nixon presidency.
The common element underlying the lives of all is popular culture: the suburban developments, shopping malls, cars, TV shows, movies, clothing, and music that defined the era. Characters frequently break into song, commenting, often ironically, on the situation at hand.
Set in the spring of 1970, the novel is an oblique spoof of the tough-guy L.A. detective genre. Larry "Doc" Sportello, the protagonist, is a kinder, gentler stoner Sam Spade. He's usually blitzed on pot or hash, a condition that frequently lands him in tight spots. But like Spade, he is no fool and somehow manages to wriggle his way out.
Maybe it's just me and my experience of the 'Sixies, but I found this an hilarious, yet darkly evocative portrait of the time when the people now running this country were coming of age. I can easily recall a dozen Larrys of my acquaintance who were born 1935-1950.
But Sportello is more than Everyhippie. His eyes might look like targets, but his head's on straight. Like Chandler's detective, he has an integrity notably missing in the police, drug lords, developers, rock musicians and attorneys that populate this book.
On Facebook, I belong to a group dedicated to awarding Pynchon the Nobel Prize. . . although he never will get it, nor would he go to pick it up if he had. "Inherent Vice" is not a maze of postmodernist ironic allusions like Pynchon's early works, but it still displays his unerring mastery of the American-English language. In my opinion "Gravity's Rainbow" is the Great American Novel. "Inherent Vice" ain't half-bad, either.
I readily admit to being a Pynchon cultist. On my car is a bumper sticker that reads: "My other car is a Pynchon novel." I couldn't wait for the 104 people in front of me in the queue for the library copies, so I bought the book. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was rather surprised that this Pynchon novel turned out to be quite accessible (unlike "Gravity's Rainbow" or "V").
The title refers to a legal term meaning the quality of certain property or goods that makes them difficult to insure. This theme of
fragility or evanescence permeates the L.A. landscape. Characters die or come close to death, get disoriented or abducted, lose their way, are resurrected, shift shapes and identities. This is a world on the verge of extinction, fading away into the Nixon presidency.
The common element underlying the lives of all is popular culture: the suburban developments, shopping malls, cars, TV shows, movies, clothing, and music that defined the era. Characters frequently break into song, commenting, often ironically, on the situation at hand.
Set in the spring of 1970, the novel is an oblique spoof of the tough-guy L.A. detective genre. Larry "Doc" Sportello, the protagonist, is a kinder, gentler stoner Sam Spade. He's usually blitzed on pot or hash, a condition that frequently lands him in tight spots. But like Spade, he is no fool and somehow manages to wriggle his way out.
Maybe it's just me and my experience of the 'Sixies, but I found this an hilarious, yet darkly evocative portrait of the time when the people now running this country were coming of age. I can easily recall a dozen Larrys of my acquaintance who were born 1935-1950.
But Sportello is more than Everyhippie. His eyes might look like targets, but his head's on straight. Like Chandler's detective, he has an integrity notably missing in the police, drug lords, developers, rock musicians and attorneys that populate this book.
On Facebook, I belong to a group dedicated to awarding Pynchon the Nobel Prize. . . although he never will get it, nor would he go to pick it up if he had. "Inherent Vice" is not a maze of postmodernist ironic allusions like Pynchon's early works, but it still displays his unerring mastery of the American-English language. In my opinion "Gravity's Rainbow" is the Great American Novel. "Inherent Vice" ain't half-bad, either.
mvmckenzie16's review against another edition
4.0
quite laid-back for pynchon. maybe because it's about hippie surfers? (sort of.)
gomek's review against another edition
2.0
Amusing characters and situations but I never really cared about any of them. The book lacked coherence. My second and last attempt at reading Pynchon.
pricygoldnikes's review against another edition
3.0
I feel that this book would be better to someone who understood all the references to the era. Plus the book seems to be written in the drug-induced haze of the protagonist, which I don't know if that was intentional or not, since I haven't read any of Pynchon's other novels. Not a bad book overall, but a lot of the time you're wondering what the hell is even happening.
feltfrog's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Complicated
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Complicated
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
pwest10's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
4.25
Reading this book at times rewound my entire existence, to a time in which I was four years old. I would pick up a book from my parents bookshelves, and I would feel mass confusion about the fact that there wasn't a picture to be found in their book.
I would go through page after page of small hieroglyphs, in wonder of how anyone could make heads or tails of anything they see. Slowly but surely however, I would recognize a word in that ocean of symbology. Of. And. The.
Over time, words would start forming like a white cap on a windy day. Eventually, I wasn't stuck in the middle of the ocean, I was in a world created entirely between my ears. Words created a world in which will never see the light of day, not be seen the same way by anyone else.
This is a lot of words to say, there is a lot to unpack in this, and I honestly felt that I only scratched the surface of it. Which isn't a bad thing by any means in this case. The timing in which events happened felt very deliberate, although there were times it felt like things were breaking up bigger parts of the story awkwardly.
In a broad sense, the story follows a PI who is visited by an ex, about the kidnapping of a billionaire. This leads to a series of uncovering events, which I think I followed all the way through. By the end of it I am pretty sure I understood what happened, but following everything certainly did a number on my mind.
I'm happy that I own this book forever. I will certainly be more in depth and attentive in my next read through, and having the headstart of some knowledge of the book I believe will help me in the next read to understand a bit more.
I would go through page after page of small hieroglyphs, in wonder of how anyone could make heads or tails of anything they see. Slowly but surely however, I would recognize a word in that ocean of symbology. Of. And. The.
Over time, words would start forming like a white cap on a windy day. Eventually, I wasn't stuck in the middle of the ocean, I was in a world created entirely between my ears. Words created a world in which will never see the light of day, not be seen the same way by anyone else.
This is a lot of words to say, there is a lot to unpack in this, and I honestly felt that I only scratched the surface of it. Which isn't a bad thing by any means in this case. The timing in which events happened felt very deliberate, although there were times it felt like things were breaking up bigger parts of the story awkwardly.
In a broad sense, the story follows a PI who is visited by an ex, about the kidnapping of a billionaire. This leads to a series of uncovering events, which I think I followed all the way through. By the end of it I am pretty sure I understood what happened, but following everything certainly did a number on my mind.
I'm happy that I own this book forever. I will certainly be more in depth and attentive in my next read through, and having the headstart of some knowledge of the book I believe will help me in the next read to understand a bit more.
tomipri's review against another edition
4.0
I had read Inherent Vice when it first came out and thought it was just OK. I think I was just disappointed that it wasn't the usual big, fat, sprawling Pynchon novel, especially since it came out after the underrated Against the Day.
Reading it a second time, in advance of the film, was much more satisfying. It is the most accessible Pynchon book, so it's no coincidence that this is the first of his working being made into a movie. The plot is a mostly straight forward detective tale but peppered with oddball characters and very Pynchonesque humor. Set in Southern California in 1970, it feels almost like a companion piece to 1990's Vineland, also set in California and taking place in the 1960's and 1980's.
Reading it a second time, in advance of the film, was much more satisfying. It is the most accessible Pynchon book, so it's no coincidence that this is the first of his working being made into a movie. The plot is a mostly straight forward detective tale but peppered with oddball characters and very Pynchonesque humor. Set in Southern California in 1970, it feels almost like a companion piece to 1990's Vineland, also set in California and taking place in the 1960's and 1980's.
traitorjoe's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Complicated
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0