Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon (L.A. List 5/7)

[@iamwhatiam6281]

the movie is a great piece of art! outstanding performance of joaquin phoenix, and great photography. so funny and tons of laughs

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I will watch the movie soon! Thanks for the input!

[@BrianCooper_78]

Agreed - this was my favorite PTA movie

[@estebanmejia3473]

I've been thinking in this book so much for the past few days because I love it so much and then you surprise us with this fantastic review. Thank you so much for inspiring us with your endless passion and love for literature!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

My pleasure, my friend! 😁😁😁

[@thelateauthor7155]

Somewhere in this book young Pynchon is writing Gravity's Rainbow 🤯

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Crazy, right?!

[@ctynan888]

I love this novel, possibly my favorite of his. The ending passage I find one of Pynchon's most touching, the concept of people trying to communicate with each other through the fog is such a hopeful image compared with the absolute nihilism of GR. Not that the book is hopeful perhaps but certainly more so than the thicker stuff from the P man

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You’re quite right. That ending got me too. Of course, just about Pynchon’s entire oeuvre is about the breakdown of communication/entropy, but this book is more human, more emotional leakage.

[@FlintSL]

Love the natural manner of your reviews. Keep them coming, buddy

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much! Really appreciate that.

[@BuckyHuxley]

I dropped this in the Gravity’s Rainbow review but I’ll include it here since it concerns Inherent Vice. I went to Amazon and had a look at Mattessich's Lines Of Flight and read the part of the Introduction available there. He was writing before Inherent (in her rent ?) Vice which almost brings to life the prolepsis he talks about that grows and develops in the latter parts of GR. The simultaneity of the writing of GR and the action of Inherent Vice where methods of investigation similar to those of Slothrop are being enacted by Doc. Location, Surveillance, Detection. . . and he, too, like the Russian agent T., anticipates the "City of the future. The City Dactylic" outlined in the print of the mechanical middle finger that rises before him (T.) in a vision, “where all souls are known and there is no place to hide.’ Skips like Pynchon can't skip anymore. Just saying the prolepsis becomes almost palpable in Inherent Vice a-and that friend of Sortilege's (Sortilege (divination) who is Never Wrong), who provides Doc with that amazing acid, named VEHI . . . a curious name, no? I wonder if he's also writing a novel . . . and btw, you can check out the record he puts on as Doc is tripping. Its on You Tube: The Ice Caps Are Melting by Tiny Tim. Its well worth it! Very Timely! Incidentally, in the movie Inherent Vice the Ouija Board gives a phone# which gives an address, that vacant lot that later is the site of The Golden Fang building . . . I looked that address up on Google Earth once and it was at Sunset and L. Ron Hubbard Way, the site of a Scientology megachurch!!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Boy, this is a comment packed to the gills with goodies! Thank you!

[@DUFMAN123]

Such a beautiful, tragic and hilarious novel. After reading a few of his books now I found this Pynchon the most approachable, the most readable in a conventional sense. I loved the recurring themes about the passage of time, memory, forgetfulness and regret. I also loved Doc's continual trepidation (similar in some ways to Thompson's Fear and Loathing in LV) about the "parenthesis of light" that is the psychedelic sixties being extinguished and taken into darkness, and to have the future instead be dominated by the "ancient forces of greed and fear".

[@LeafbyLeaf]

This is a beautiful précis of the novel!

[@DUFMAN123]

@@LeafbyLeaf Thank you sir!

[@rishabhaniket1952]

Just love the way you flinchingly uttered ‘boy toy’

[@LeafbyLeaf]

XD (I remember thinking: Did I just say that? Is that even OK to say?!)

[@funkym0nkee77]

That's bizarre, I literally finished this book yesterday. Loved it!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

The conspiracies are spreading!

[@Ce13stialBunny]

I always feel bad saying it’s by far my favorite Pynchon. And it’s mostly cause I just love this slobbish little loser drifting around and getting tangled in things beyond his ability. I love such stories, he’s literally me.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hahahaha!

[@harshalbhanarkar]

Nice review and I have this book in my shelf u motivated me to read this 👍❤️

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! Enjoy the ride!

[@cloudsombrero]

Great video I absolutely adore this novel I read it right out of high school and spent the next few years wanting to be doc and eventually had my own interesting rambling drug fueled adventure through the end of the 10s. Can't wait to see what else you're going to do. Subbed!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! I ended up ordering the BluRay of the movie, which will be here today. It's too bad this novel gets overshadowed by Pynchon's bigger books. It is really a treat. You should thinking about writing some of your adventures! Next up on the L.A. List is Bret Easton Ellis's Less Than Zero. Thanks so much for the sub!

[@cloudsombrero]

@@LeafbyLeaf hell yeh sweet

[@Bookspine5]

'The Crying of Lot 49' should be adapted into a film.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Agreed!

[@BrandonsBookshelf]

This was wonderful! I actually just today finished Crying of Lot 49 as my first intro to Pynchon and I honestly don't know what to think, so have been searching around for help ha.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! Yeah, experiencing Pynchon can be disorienting. Try out his short story “Entropy” for a smaller, more contained tasting.

[@feanor7080]

I DNFd this back in college but really enjoyed the film. Think I'll dive back in and give it another go after enjoying Denis Johnson's 'Angels' which somehow reminded me a lot of this.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I haven't read Angels or watched the Inherent Vice film, so I've got some homework to do myself!

[@jamesgwarrior1981]

One of my favorites. Although. I’m biased. It’s the only Pynchon that makes sense to me. I friggin love the movie. And my ocd tells me I need one more bias to have 3. I do every thing in increments of Three.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I am one of those who always counts stairs and utters the word "OFF" went leaving a room and switching off the light. SO, to an extent, I understand. :)

[@jamesgwarrior1981]

@@LeafbyLeaf That’s good for us and way better than yelling “victory for the forces of democratic freedom!” During climactic intimate settings.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

😆😆😆

[@timkjazz]

Excellent entertaining book and the movie is also a real blast, Katherine Waterston is unbelievably gorgeous as Shasta Fay & Joaquin Phoenix is a hoot as Doc.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I’m planning to watch it tonight!

[@marinellamaccagni6951]

Yes, this book Is Mine!!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

!!!

[@georgeliverpudlio1258]

You've read City of Quartz by Mike Davis. Fantastic. 👍👍👍

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Grazie!

[@gilbertpillbrow6978]

Great review. I love this book

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! 🙏

[@gotlostinthepages]

City of Quartz is amazing! You should read Ghettoside by Jill Leovy

[@LeafbyLeaf]

A book recommendation from one of my favorite philosophers! Thank you so much, sir!

[@chris-hj2qd]

Hey, Leaf by leaf, have you read Pynchon's Against The Day? I just finished it, and would love to hear your thoughts on the book.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I have and I loved it! I'm sure a video will materialize at some point. For what it's worth--there will be one more Pynchon video this year. :)

[@Ryan-bm5du]

@@LeafbyLeaf Preparing my most formal Zoot suit in anticipation for this future mystery video.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

😂

[@BuckyHuxley]

I eagerly await the. Video of Against The Day!!! What a novel!! I love your reviews and love of language and literature!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

ThAnks so much! I’m looking forward to revisiting AtD.

[@Micha-sd9rp]

Movie was great

[@LeafbyLeaf]

It’s on my list!

[@brockginther7149]

Chris, please, collect Pynchon's Punchlines!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hmmmmm, that could be a fun video!

[@MilesWilliams88]

I'm only about 100 pages into this book so far, but to be honest I find it mediocre at best. I want to get into Pynchon. Most of the "where to start" videos I've watched recommended Inherent Vice as a good starting point. I'm on the verge of not finishing it though. Maybe the last 250 pages are great? I own Against The Day also. Do you think that's a better novel?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hey there! For what it’s worth, I think the best starting point for Pynchon is Lot. 49 or his short story “Entropy.” Inherent Vice is a different tone from the other books. His absolute best are Gravity’s Rainbow, Against the Day, and Mason and Dixon.

[@MilesWilliams88]

@@LeafbyLeaf Right on. Appreciate the response. I might try to just jump into Against The Day. I love long novels, and from what I've heard about it, it seems like it will be right up my alley. Cheers🤙

[@LeafbyLeaf]

If you love long novels, history, and math-AtR has a lot of treats.

[@lazycalc2533]

Hello! Huge fan, you’ve put me on to A Naked Singularity and Novel Explosives (currently reading). I’ve noticed your paperbacks are pristine and was wondering how you keep them in such nice shape? I’ve found I can’t take them in my backpack to school or hold near the bottom edges because the ends will fray out🙃

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hey! Great to hear from you! I’m neurotic about the condition of my books. I never open them wide enough to crease the spine and I pad them well when traveling. When it’s a book I regularly reread I’ll have a “reading copy” and a “display copy” (typically hardcover, that way I don’t have to worry too much. My Penguin Deluxe Pynchon, for example, is starting to deteriorate from wear-but I’ve got a backup!

[@tobsi2256]

Hey Chris! You should look up 'Brake Book Spine' on youtube and try that out. It's a method deliberately used to brake spines in a preserving way, so one can open books fully. It's about increasing the elasticity of the spine and spreading the clue. However, it needs to be done very carefully. Have a great day!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

This fills me with anxiety and terror! (But I’ll have a look.)

[@rickharsch8797]

Well done, surfer dude

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Far out. Groovy.

[@Lunaluss]

I feel like this is the kind of context that I need to read (or reread this novel). I've read 100 pages and stopped because the language felt too alien and I couldn't connect with the characters.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Sometimes books just don't hit us quite right. Maybe try again one day. You never know.

[@Lunaluss]

@@LeafbyLeaf I certainly will. Thank you

[@vivekpote5665]

What do you think of the paul thomas anderson movie?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I'll let you know tomorrow, as I plan to watch it for the first time tonight on Prime!

[@croinkix]

@@LeafbyLeaf what did you think of it?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Well, I couldn’t connect with it when I first tried to watch it a couple weeks back. But I’m going to give it another go during Christmas break.

[@MaximTendu]

the L.A. List is getting more psychedelic. I wonder if Pynchon called his detective "Sportello" on account of its meaning in Italian ("car Door/small Door"). I wonder what Huxley would have made of it- or Jim Morrison, for that matter. Thanks for the report 😎

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Haha! One thing is certain with Pynchon--nothing is certain; but there's a reason for everything. ;P

[@BuckyHuxley]

@@LeafbyLeaf That's interesting, that "small door." A short, small door into the vast Golden Fang conspiracy (Capitalism itself?) This is Slothrop backwards: porhtols but if you switch the "th" around its :"porthols" and back in the day if you free associated on the name Tyrone you were likely to say "Power" after the actor. Porthols of Power . . another Kute Korrespondence. and Slothrop does slither through some portholes as I recall . . .

[@infinitemia]

have u ever smoked weed be honest

[@LeafbyLeaf]

(My parents watch this channel! 😁)

[@infinitemia]

@@LeafbyLeaf 🤐🤞

[@cloudsombrero]

Everyone's smoked weed at this point

[@kieselguhrkid3940]

Finally getting some 🍌 stuff

[@LeafbyLeaf]

There will be bananas aplenty next month! ;)

[@kieselguhrkid3940]

@@LeafbyLeaf I know, I already watched it :)

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Eh?!

[@kieselguhrkid3940]

@@LeafbyLeaf I just used my TARDIS

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Lol!!!

[@michaljambor7772]

Well, the film was completely forgettable, so...

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Oof, that's the first swipe I've heard towards the film. Still haven't watched it yet. Waiting for that will-o'-the-wisp called "free time" (outside of reading time).

[@michaljambor7772]

@@LeafbyLeaf As the occasionally great Mark Kermode (of BBC) said in closing of his review: "there are people who lost patience with it and found it intolerable" :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmWapoaNocuKf8k

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I actually started it the other night and turned it off after about 30 mins. I just couldn’t connect with it. But I’ll give it another go at some point.

[@BuckyHuxley]

@@LeafbyLeaf Having read the book rather carefully I waited eagerly for the movie. I was terribly disappointed. As is to be expected, it leaves out a LOT. But you wonder why did Anderson leave THAT out? like the acid trip where he sees Shasta. He replaces it with Doc looking through binoculars through a window next to a stuffed parrot (think of Vineland and the parrots, trained by South American shamans, who instruct the kids in shamanism and they link up in there dreams and fly to South America . . ). I have to say I liked the movie a little better the more I've seen it----but it's nothing compared to the book. Also, I wondered if the fellow who drifts by the window behind Coy and Doc when they are at that party whispering to each other might be Pynchon? Sure looks like him from the recent pictures that have come out . . .