IV Chapter 17 Thoughts

[Mark Kohut]

As I did during my hosting, and as others have done and pointed out----when Doc moves the case(s) forward, when he thinks of ramifications and possibilities, he is NOT stoned.........it is clearly in the text.

In Chap 16, he does some good 'thinking" yet also fires up when under 'stress' in one key scene.....but all that does is......reduce his stress!...he fells better.......

--- On Thu, 12/10/09, Carvill, John <john.carvill at sap.com> wrote:

> From: Carvill, John <john.carvill at sap.com>
> Subject: RE: IV Chapter 17 Thoughts
> To: "Joseph Tracy" <brook7 at sover.net>, "pynchon -l" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Date: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 8:52 AM
> << 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?
> 
> 
>