Tonight I finally caught up with Inherent Vice, Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as Larry ‘Doc’ Sportello who’s put on to a case of possible kidnapping by his “ex-old lady” Shasta, played by Katherine Waterston. There’s no point attempting to tell much more you of the plot of Inherent Vice: it’s rather convoluted and self-digesting. At least this means there’s very little chance of stumbling into inadvertent spoilers.

The existence, or impending existence, of a new novel by Thomas Pynchon was announced today. I have all his previous books (seven written over a period of about fifty years, a pace that I definitely approve of), though he’s a hard author to get close to: I’ve only finished three and started four up till now. The unfinished one is, of course, Gravity’s Rainbow (GR) and somewhat perversely, I have two copies of the thing.