Re: IVIV: Chapter five—Welcome Relief

[Robin Landseadel]

On Sep 12, 2009, at 1:29 AM, Rich Clavey wrote:

> Something that confused me about this section...Sloane offers  
> tequila in the form of margueritas...they arrive via Luz on page 61,  
> Sloane pours Riggs a drink and offers Doc one...which he  
> refuses...saying he's got to be back at the office... Then at the  
> top of page 63 he thinks he may be hallucinating from the tequila.  
> What's going on here? Did he have a drink or not?
> rich
>
> --- On Fri, 9/11/09, Robin Landseadel <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>  
> wrote:
>
>> From: Robin Landseadel <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
>> Subject: IVIV: Chapter five—Welcome Relief
>> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>> Date: Friday, September 11, 2009, 11:59 AM
>>     "Thank you, Mrs.
>> Wolfmann, tequila's just fine-and what a
>>     welcome relief not to be offered any
>> 'pot'! I'll never understand
>>     what these hippies see in the stuff! Do
>> you mind if I smoke a
>>     normal cigarette, by the way?"

Reasonable question:

	Sloane poured Riggs a drink and angled the pitcher inquiringly in
	Doc's direction.

	"Thanks, got to be back in the office. Maybe you can tell us where
	to send this refund, and what form you'd like it in?"

It never actually states that Doc did or did not take a drink.

	Who knows what lurid acts might have followed had Luz not
	reappeared and flashed him, unless he was hallucinating from
	tequila, a warning look.

Of course, Doc thinking he might be hallucinating or having a flashback 
—it's like Philip Marlowe's crumbling powers of observation due to too  
much time in all of those Bay City "clinics" by the time Terry Lennox  
shows up on his doorstep. Doc may not be a burn-out [yet], but Doc's  
grip on reality requires fairly constant monitoring.