IVIV reception: book review: "This easy and breezy read"

[Doug Millison]

Published: September 6, 2009

A new Thomas Pynchon novel? Only a scant two years after the  
publication of his megalithic (and stylistically megalomaniacal) 1,000- 
plus-page opus, "Against the Day"? And -- perhaps most confounding of  
all -- the novel's easy to read?

It's true, folks. One of American literature's most reclusive and  
challenging authors has emerged once again with "Inherent Vice," a  
short and trippy detective story about pot-smoking private  
investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello and his attempts to solve a  
confounding murder mystery set against the backdrop of the late 1960s  
L.A. surf scene. If you had to file this novel under a specific genre,  
it would be "stoner noir."

At first glance, the relatively straightforward subject matter would  
seem unbecoming of an author like Pynchon. After all, detective  
stories (despite the murkiness of the mystery that starts them off)  
are mostly linear narratives -- complete with beginnings, middles and  
ends and populated by characters who may or may not be on the side of  
our investigative hero.

It all starts (and doesn't it always?) with an old flame's plea for  
help. In this case, it's Sportello's ex-girlfriend, whose subsequent  
disappearance leads to a plot that quickly snowballs into a grand  
scheme involving drugs, money, murder, sex and double-crossings. But  
since this is Thomas Pynchon at the reins, we also get an Aryan  
Brotherhood biker gang, a madcap dentist, a mysterious ship named the  
Golden Fang, outbursts of song, wacky names and pot. Lots of pot.

One of the many joys of "Inherent Vice" is seeing where and how madcap  
Pynchonian bric-a-brac surfaces within this conventional genre.  
Curiously enough, Pynchon's universal theme -- the hidden machinations  
of larger social and political forces on the lives of everyday  
individuals--seems right at home in the detective story. In this case,  
those everyday individuals happen to be people who want to, like, just  
get high and have a good time, man.

This easy and breezy read is a wonderful introduction for readers  
who've been frightened away by the author's more massive works  
("Gravity's Rainbow," "Mason & Dixon") and his wild writing style. The  
key to enjoying the ridiculous narrative of "Inherent Vice" --and any  
Pynchon novel--is to simply suspend your disbelief. Let the inventive  
writing style carry you along. And never take things too seriously.  
After all, this is California in the late 1960s.

Pardon the surfing pun, but if you decide to catch this wave and ride  
it until it crashes on shore, you're in for an entertaining and, yes,  
wild trip.


Zak M. Salih is a freelance writer who lives in Washington.