Inherent Vice is Pynchon letting himself loose and just having a good time, which is exactly what you'll do when you read the story of Doc Sportello, would be PI, as he wanders around greater Los Angeles, usually stoned, on odd ball cases. Pynchon works in bad cops, even badder pimps, druggies, and ladies of the evening, but he makes it all feel appropriate with a levity few authors have mastered.Doc is an immediately likable character and Pynchon has done his homework as he works in minuscule period references throughout the narrative. Nearly every chapter Pynchon squeezes in a song from the time, including the lyrics which was a bit overdone by the end especially since I knew so few of them. But the dialogue is what you'll crave as Sportello takes every opening to snake in a joke.
More and more cases fall into Doc's lap as the stakes keep getting more dangerous. Somehow most of the pieces fall together in the end yet somewhat haphazardly, but you'll be grinning all the way to the slightly lackluster ending. If anything the story suffers from Pynchon trying to squeeze too much in with aimless additions such as visiting relatives. Comparisons to The Big Lebowski are quite apt, but Doc is his own beast and is a much better detective than The Dude ever could be. I give Inherent Vice 7.5 out of 10 Hats. If you're in the mood to see LA ala Dragnet style from the hippie's point of view this is definitely worth the trip. I'd also venture to say that this is Pynchon's most accessible read ever and not only because of the trim page count. Great vacation read material.
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