Thomas Pynchon is perhaps my favorite novelist. After getting a copy of V for my birthday years ago, then multiple readings of The Crying of Lot 49, and of course, the incredible Gravity’s Rainbow (with reference book), Pynchon’s books have been, for me, the perfect combination of literary virtuosity, historic reinvention and absurdest humor. Researching his numerous historic and cultural references, and inside jokes, is as interesting as are his novels.
Thus, I am totally excited by the release of his new novel, Inherent Vice (http://www.thomaspynchon.com/inherent-vice.html). Now, I need to admit that though I have a copy of his previous book, Against the Day, I have not yet read it. At over a thousand pages, I just don’t feel like I’ve had the bandwidth over the past couple of years to give it the reading I’d like to. I also feel a bit guilty at having started, but not finished David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, another major commitment novel I promised to read before moving on to yet another Pynchon story. From the early reviews and comments, Inherent Vice may be return to the length and style of Vineland. That is, about 400 pages and a more readily accessible plot. Kind of a cop out, I’ll admit, but I think it may just be more realistically doable for me right now.