BOOK: Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon (6/10)

Why did I read it?

Somebody at work mentioned Thomas Pynchon to me so I decided to look up some of his work and admittedly it was the LA setting and colourful hippy front cover that attracted me to Inherent Vice out of all of Pynchon's bibliography. 

What's it all about?

Set in the late 60's LA private detective and full time stoner Doc Sportello investigates the alleged kidnapping of a property magnate and an old flame, the murder of the magnate's bodyguard and the suspicious death of a musician, all of which appear to be connected to a shady organisation called The Golden Fang and corruption within the LAPD.





  

The Good:

• Eclectic mix of characters
• Bigfoot and Doc's LAPD and PI love hate relationship
• Short and fast paced
• The 60's L.A. setting

The Bad:

• The story didn't get hold of me and I had no urgency in uncovering the mystery. When I did it seemed an anticlimax to say the least.
• The main story and the fragments of it brought by each the characters didn't seem totally cohesive in mye eyes, especially relating to Coy Harlingen.
• A few too many pages dedicated to 'trips'.

Favourite line:

'Hair and drug-use issues not withstanding, I've never thought of you as any less than professional' - Detective Bjornsen

What the world thinks:

Amazon - 4/5

goodreads - 3.64/5

Twitter -

Finished Inherent Vice today. Not sure if I loved it, or that I even got it, but it's definitely a wild trip.
— David Dougan (@DavidWDougan) November 11, 2013