IV Independent Crime Review

[Otto]

Sunday, September 27, 2009
Let's Talk about Thomas Pynchon!!
by Nathan Cain

When is a detective novel, not a detective novel? When Thomas Pynchon
writes it. Inherent Vice, described in the run-up to its release as a
hard boiled detective novel, is a lousy detective novel, but a pretty
good Thomas Pynchon novel.
(...)
Inherent Vice, though, is a more mellow Pynchon. He seems to be having
fun. There are more dope jokes in this book than all the Cheech and
Chong films combined, and they're considerably funnier than anything
Cheech and Chong ever did. Pynchon's main problem is that, even when
he lightens up, he can't stop being Pynchon, which means that there's
not really any way to accurately describe the plot, because it's
basically a loose conglomeration of episodes, some more amusing than
others, as Pynchon muses on the death of the 60's, and "What it all
means."
(...)
http://indiecrime.blogspot.com/2009/09/lets-talk-about-thomas-pynchon.html