IVIV1: The second day

[Paul Nightingale]

1.2 opens with the transition to day two (12). The action of the novel takes
place over a month or so, worthy of note because it underpins a lack of
urgency, ie 'I must turn the page to see what happens next' will
characterise a narrative that is plot-driven and occupies no more than a few
days. For the most part IV will signal the passing days, so to speak, in
passing. A typical example here, from "early-morning dreams" (and we might
cf. this opening paragraph to the opening on 1, ie Shasta's "Thinks he's
hallucinating") to the new paragraph, bottom of 12: "He stumbled up the hill
to Wavos and had breakfast with the hard-core surfers who were always
there."

So we know it's day two, without the text making a big deal. The text will
make a bigger deal on a couple of occasions later, which we can address at
the appropriate time. There are also a couple of places where such dating is
absent. This also might or might not be interesting.

Reference to Doc having breakfast also confirms the narrative importance of
community: in 1.1 we have already had Doc and family, and Doc and Denis.
Doc's conversation with Aunt Reet (7-8) might be said to move the action
forward in a very obvious way; elsewhere, interactions function differently.
This is one reason why IV lacks the plot-driven urgency of early-Marlowe.
Having just started reading the Easy Rawlins novels (and Devil in a Blue
Dress opens as a parody of Farewell My Lovely to signal revisionist intent
from the outset) I would say the writing of community relations is central
for Mosley.

Which brings us to the key feature of day two, the appearance of Tariq in
1.3: "What made him unusual was, was he was a black guy" (14). If 1.1
referenced the personal history of Doc and Shasta, Tariq's appearance gives
us another kind of history-writing, another way of asking how we know what
we know, going back to 1940s ethnic cleansing (14-17). Tariq follows Shasta
in mocking Doc's pretensions (from "Thanks, Dear Abby said about the same
thing" on 3, to "Secretary's off today?" on 12), but Doc is now located in a
community that doesn't just recycle breakfast but remembers.