Back from the beach

[Kai Frederik Lorentzen]

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> From: torerye at hotmail.com
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Subject: Back from the beach
> Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:13:17 +0200
>


>> ...I love the prose this time around: fluid and effortless with occasional flashes
of brilliance, and much more consistent than AtD's motley of different styles. I
find Doc Sportello more likeable than any of AtD's characters, and I love the novel's
portrait of the LA scene around 1970 - a scene where, as Janos has pointed out,
Pynchon wrote most of GR. Together with Vineland, this is probably the closest
we'll get to an autobiography by Pynchon.<<


Agreed. Ev-ry single sentence. I really had a wonderful week ... Weird dreams, memories
... Best book I've read this year so far!


>> Despite its lightness, we ARE dealing with Pynchon, who as usual weaves a complex web
of allusions and historical references.<<


Like growing Chinese control over US-currency?


>
> I can't wait to hear what the rest of you think of the novel.
>


Perhaps the best one since GR ... Yet I'm still, well, GLOWING, having finished my read
just a couple of hours ago, so ... I see clear parallels to Vineland (take Sportello/
Bjornsen in comparison to Zoyd/Hector), and I'm grateful that that uncle-like humor,
which makes M&D and AtD sometimes such an unpleasant read made way for a more hard-boiled
form of black comedy ... Which brings me to the point: What I find really amazing is how
well the chandleresque metaphorphosis of style is working: In terms of dialogue, this is,
perhaps (see above), even the best book Pynchon has ever written! A-and it HAS rhythm ...
A little misogyn (but hey, it's the genre!), as usual strictly anti-German (but hey, we're
used to it and love you anyway, Tom, as you sed: "ev-ry weirdo on the planet"), and for my
taste it could be more political (in some regards it is: the Watts riots are refered to
several times, and, of course, 'land developing' is in itself political); you simply can't
have everything in this neo-noir genre ... It's definitely a great book!

And I don't need no movie. I prefer it to read Inherent Vice with all of you a second time.
My suggestion would be not to start before the day after (US/CAN) Labor Day. This would give
everybody who wants to participate in the group-read enough time to buy and read the book,
and we could start on tuesday, 9/8. Further suggestion: No hosts! Just some (any) time frame
for sections of, say, 30 plus x pages, so we'd have 12 sessions of Very Into Inherent Vice.
But perhaps --- I have 400 and something unread mails --- you have already found another
arrangement?

Anyway, I have to stop here for now, there's a growing orange Moon outside,
and there will be a party for me tonight: My INHERENT VICE Celebration Party!


Have fun while reading!
Kai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMVnEGcMsFs