IV "autobiographical"?

[Tore Rye Andersen]

John:

> I think the perfect metaphor for Doc's character is that gun he
> carries: yes he's a 'Private Investigator', and even carries a gun,
> but it's hidden beneath his floppy bell-bottomed jeans. It's like the
> opposite of Marowe, isn't it? Marlowe the surface tough guy, with the
> soft poetic centre. Doc's a dippy hippy on the outside, but has at
> least enough inner toughness that he does, if he has to, get that gun
> out from under his bell bottoms.

Heh, what a fitting image! Whether softboiled or hardboiled, Doc wears
his shell on the inside and his yolk on the outside.
 
BTW, that final act of violence and toughness came as a big surprise to 
me, and it reminded me very much of the similar scene in Altman's 'The
Long Goodbye,' where the sleepy Elliot Gould suddenly pulls out a gun
out of nowhere - like, where did THAT come from? - and guns down his
former friend. In your long review of IV you already pointed out the
many similarities between Pynchon's novel and Altman's film, and this
instance of surprising violence almost reads like an intended homage
to Altman and Gould.
 
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