IV Chapter 17 Thoughts

[Carvill, John]

<< It seems to me that people handle cannabis differently. >>

True.

<< There is a fair amount of evidence that P was a heavy smoker at this  
time, but he managed to write one of the  greatest and most  
dauntingly layered novels of the century. >>

Right. But I would guess that he spent the majority of actual writing time completely straight. If he could write all or even much of GR whilst smoking weed, then I'm afraid to say, ladies and gentlemen, that Mr Pynchon was getting ripped off, just like that pimp in IV!

<< For him to imagine a  
detective who functions competently and creatively while smoking a  
good deal of weed seems reasonable. >>

Yeah, but I just wonder whether it's a mistake to see Doc as being stoned all the time. I don't think the text really supports that view. I am willing to accept that I may be wrong. But just as IV *seems* like a simple book, until yu start trying to unravel it, it maybe only *seems* that Doc spends his days stoned.

Plus, if he is stoned all the time, does that make him an 'unreliable narrator' in the usual sense? Of course, strictly speaking Doc is not any kind of narrator, is he?