History Literature / InherentVice

[[KudzuPlot It gets even more confusing from there.]][[note]]The plot summary on Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} is currently accompanied by the warning “This section may be confusing or unclear to readers.” This is less a fault of the summary itself than it is of the material being summarised.[[/note]] Despite this, ''Inherent Vice'' is one of Pynchon’s less confusing novels—after ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49'' and ''Literature/{{Vineland}}'', it may be his most accessible work for newcomers.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Virtually every character has a bizarre name, as a Pynchon staple. Examples include (“Doc”) Sportello, Christian F. (“Bigfoot”) Bjornsen, Mickey Wolfmann and Riggs Warbling.

* KudzuPlot: [[spoiler: A Pynchon staple; there are numerous characters who have contrasting motives and it's difficult to piece together who did what when, which is ultimately one of the driving forces behind the novel. The amount of pot most of the characters smoke probably doesn't help.]]

* MindScrew: [[spoiler:Because it’s a Pynchon novel. It doesn't help that everyone's stoned out of their mind, because it's the sixties, so you get a lot of {{Unreliable Expositor}} and {{Unreliable Narrator}} because people's memories of events are suspect, and you're dealing with a plot as complex as that of ''Literature/TheBigSleep'', so piecing together what happened is no mean feat. Despite this, it’s a DownplayedTrope by Pynchon's standards; it's one of his ''least'' mind screwy novels, and it’s commonly recommended as newcomers’ second step after ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49''.]]

* LighterAndSofter: It’s one of his least violent or cynical novels.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Another Pynchon staple; there are dozens if not hundreds.

** At one point, Doc wonders if a building he's wandered to is BiggerOnTheInside. This may be a shout-out to [[Characters/DoctorWhoTheTARDIS the TARDIS]] from ''Series/DoctorWho''.

* BadBadActing: Bigfoot is an aspiring actor who takes any role he can get. He’s apparently terrible. One of his few roles is stiffly delivering a sales pitch as the least convincing hippy ever.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Virtually every character has a bizarre name, as a Pynchon staple. Examples include (“Doc”) Sportello, Christian F. (“Bigfoot”) Bjornsen, Mickey Wolfmann and Riggs Warbling, though many could just as easily qualify as UnfortunateNames.

* UnfortunateNames: Lots, unless you consider them to be an AwesomeMcCoolName. Examples include Rudy Blatnoyd, Puck Beaverton, Buddy Tubeside, and Denis (pronounced like “penis”).

[[KudzuPlot It gets even more confusing from there.]][[note]]The plot summary on Wikipedia is currently accompanied by the warning “This section may be confusing or unclear to readers.” This is less a fault of the summary itself than it is of the material being summarised.[[/note]] Despite this, ''Inherent Vice'' is one of Pynchon’s less confusing novels—after ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49'' and ''Literature/{{Vineland}}'', it may be his most accessible work for newcomers.

* KudzuPlot: A Pynchon staple; there are numerous characters who have contrasting motives and it's difficult to piece together who did what when, which is ultimately one of the driving forces behind the novel. The amount of pot most of the characters smoke probably doesn't help.

* MindScrew: [[spoiler:Because it’s a Pynchon novel. It doesn't help that everyone's stoned out of their mind, because it's the sixties, so you get a lot of {{Unreliable Expositor}} and {{Unreliable Narrator}} because people's memories of events are suspect, and you're dealing with a plot as complex as that of ''Literature/TheBigSleep'', so piecing together what happened is no mean feat. Despite this, it's a DownplayedTrope by Pynchon's standards; it's one of his ''least'' mind screwy novels, and it’s commonly recommended as newcomers’ second step after ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49''.]]

%%* GenreBusting
%%* GenreRoulette
%%* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Jade, who is probably one of the most helpful characters to Doc throughout the book.

* MindScrew: Because it’s a Pynchon novel. It doesn't help that everyone's stoned out of their mind, because it's the sixties, so you get a lot of {{Unreliable Expositor}} and {{Unreliable Narrator}} because people's memories of events are suspect, and you're dealing with a plot as complex as that of ''Literature/TheBigSleep'', so piecing together what happened is no mean feat. Despite this, it's a DownplayedTrope by Pynchon's standards; it's one of his ''least'' mind screwy novels, and it’s commonly recommended as newcomers' second step after ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49''.

%%* {{NiceGirl}}: Jade.
%%* NoEnding

* GainaxEnding: Although the main characters end up getting [[EarnYourHappyEnding surprisingly happy endings]], very few of the culprits of the mayhem are brought to justice, and the novel ends on a wistful note signifying the decline of the counterculture. Many of the layers of the KudzuPlot are left unresolved, and readers are ultimately left to piece together what it all means.

[[KudzuPlot It gets even more confusing from there.]][[note]]The plot summary on Wikipedia is currently accompanied by the warning “This section may be confusing or unclear to readers.” This is less a fault of the summary itself than it is of the material being summarised.[[/note]] Despite this, ''Inherent Vice'' is one of Pynchon’s less confusing novels—after ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49'' and ''Literature/Vineland'', it may be his most accessible work for newcomers.

[[KudzuPlot It gets even more confusing from there.]][[note]]The plot summary on Wikipedia is currently accompanied by the warning “This section may be confusing or unclear to readers.” This is less a fault of the summary itself than it is of the material being summarised.[[/note]] Despite this, ''Inherent Vice'' is one of Pynchon’s less confusing novels—after ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49'', it may be his most accessible work for newcomers.

* ContinuityNod: To ''Literature/{{Vineland}}''. Gordita Beach, where Doc resides, is where Zoyd and Frenesi resides, and Sledge Poteet was mentioned by Tariq Khalil.

[[KudzuPlot It gets even more confusing from there.]][[note]]The plot summary on Wikipedia is currently accompanied by the warning "This section may be confusing or unclear to readers." This is less a fault of the summary itself than it is of the material being summarised.[[/note]] Despite this, ''Inherent Vice'' is one of Pynchon's less confusing novels - after ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49'', it may be his most accessible work for newcomers. Like most of Pynchon's novels, it also has [[https://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page its own wiki]], which may help.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Virtually every character has a bizarre name, as a Pynchon staple. Examples include “Doc” Sportello, “Bigfoot” Bjornsen, Mickey Wolfmann and Riggs Warbling, though many could just as easily qualify as UnfortunateNames.

%%* DirtyCop
%%* DirtyOldMan

* LighterAndSofter: It's one of his least violent or cynical novels.

* MindScrew: Because it's a Pynchon novel. It doesn't help that everyone's stoned out of their mind, because it's the sixties, so you get a lot of {{Unreliable Expositor}} and {{Unreliable Narrator}} because people's memories of events are suspect, and you're dealing with a plot as complex as that of ''Literature/TheBigSleep'', so piecing together what happened is no mean feat. Despite this, it's a DownplayedTrope by Pynchon's standards; it's one of his ''least'' mind screwy novels, and it's commonly recommended as newcomers' second step after ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49''.

* ProperlyParanoid: Denis and Doc himself at various points in the book. Given the number of conspiracies at work here, they're of course justified in being so.

[[KudzuPlot It gets even more confusing from there.]][[note]]The plot summary on Wikipedia is currently accompanied by the warning "This section may be confusing or unclear to readers." This is less a fault of the summary itself than it is of the material being summarised.[[/note]] Despite this, ''Inherent Vice'' is one of Pynchon's less confusing novel - after ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49'', it may be his most accessible work for newcomers. Like most of Pynchon's novels, it also has [[https://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page its own wiki]], which may help.

** It is also, in some ways, one to ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', as it has as its protagonist a NoRespectGuy who's stoned most of the time, but nonetheless a fairly competent investigator, yet nonetheless ultimately ends up being something of a PinballProtagonist. They're also, of course, both set in L.A., and they're both strongly influenced by noir detective novels, especially ''Literature/TheBigSleep''.

* GainaxEnding: Although the main characters end up getting [[EarnYourHappyEnding surprisingly happy endings]], very few of the culprits of the mayhem are brought to justice, and the novel ends on a wistful note signifying the decline of the counterculture. Many of the layers of the KudzuPlot are left unresolved, and

%%* MindScrew

[[KudzuPlot It gets even more confusing from there.]]

A [[Film/InherentVice film adaptation]] by Creator/PaulThomasAnderson was released in 2014.

%%* DeconstructiveParody

%%* EndOfAnAge

%%* GainaxEnding

%%* KudzuPlot
%%* LighterAndSofter
%%* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

%%* MushroomSamba: Notably with the vision quest Doc goes on.

%%* ProperlyParanoid: Denis and Doc himself at various points in the book.
%%* ShoutOut
* SpiritualSuccessor: Can be seen as an unrelated prequel to ''Vineland''.

* UnfortunateNames: Lots, unless you consider them to be an AwesomeMcCoolname. Examples include Rudy Blatnoyd, Puck Beaverton, Buddy Tubeside, and Denis (pronounced like “penis”).

* ContinuityNod: To ''Literature/{{Vineland}}''. Gordita Beach, where Doc resides, makes it first appearance in and Sledge Poteet was mentioned by Tariq Khalil.

* ContinuityNod:
** Gordita Beach, where Doc resides, makes it first appearance in ''Literature/{{Vineland}}''.
** Sledge Poteet, also from ''Vineland'', was mentioned by Tariq Khalil.

* ContinuityNod: Gordita Beach, where Doc resides, makes it first appearance in ''Literature/{{Vineland}}''.

* DeconstructiveParody
* DirtyCop
* DirtyOldMan
* EndOfAnAge

* GainaxEnding
* GenreBusting
* GenreRoulette
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Jade, who is probably one of the most helpful characters to Doc throughout the book.
* KudzuPlot
* LighterAndSofter
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* MindScrew
* MushroomSamba: Notably with the vision quest Doc goes on.
* {{NiceGirl}}: Jade.
* NoEnding

* ProperlyParanoid: Denis and Doc himself at various points in the book.
* ShoutOut

* TattooedCrook
* TitleDrop