Welcome to Litsy!

My favorite Pynchon by far: a hilarious, zany L.A. noir about a private investigator investigating a kidnapped real estate mogul at the behest of his ex-girlfriend. Though I am in awe of the writing and sheer breadth of knowledge that makes up Gravity‘s Rainbow, I honestly enjoyed more this light-hearted, cannabis-infused, and unapologetically SoCal romp; “Pynchon Lite” as fans likes to say.

Some potential May reads for the podcast

Still processing this one, it is my first completed Pynchon and I did enjoy reading it, I was at times confused.

Loving this so far

Trying to land on an April #botm selection.

#IfYouLikeThis #TheBigLebowski

I spent a lot time on this novel, though it turned out to be less than appealing to me. This is an unpopular opinion no doubt, as there are many who like this novel, and Pynchon, very much. Sometimes it felt like a chore to return to this story, but I finished it anyway. There are many characters to keep up with, which wouldn‘t be so bad if they were all relevant to the story. Overall rating: 3.88 stars

#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush Day 6

Hey—how are you @erinreads ... just wondering if you‘d like to join the fun. Simply post a favorite cover for seven consecutive days—no details necessary—and then tag a different Litten each day & invite them to join. Nothing to it! ♥️♥️

Perpetually funny, an hot mess of memorable characters and psychedelia.

Didn‘t know what the hell was going on for half this book but neither does the narrator and it‘s so much fun it‘s kind of hard to care. One big black eye on this otherwise radical sunburnt noir: even with psychedelic assistance Pynchon can‘t seem to imagine a woman who isn‘t either somebody‘s mom or a simpering sentient sex doll (or in the case of Petunia, both). Not so groovy, my dude. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A book name-dropping Country Joe & the Fish in the first paragraph is as close as I get to “You had me at hello.”

#MarchMadness #ThrillersSetByTheSea Ok, so I guess it‘s not a thriller but a toked up 70s noir . Still love both the book and the movie.We have an ex girlfriend with a story about the possible kidnapping of a billionaire land developer who she happens to be in love with.There are surfers, hustlers,dopers and a murderous loan shark.Doc Sportello is on the case.Is he unflappable cuz he‘s high or ???

This one just isn't for me. The writing is fascinatingly labyrinthine at times and frustratingly incomprehensible at others, and I have a bad feeling none of it will amount to much in the end. I'll stick with the movie which is equally confusing but at least has a groovy vibe and abundance of cool.

How my brain works:

"The Phantom Thread comes out soon."

"I should re-watch some PT Anderson films."

"I never read Inherent Vice..."

"I'm already reading two books, though."

???

*starts reading Inherent Vice*

Womp womp. Just didn't hold my attention.

I love a perfect quote about how people interact. #docsportello #inherentvice #kindness

$1 at the Dollar General! I've seen parts of the movie (with the awesome Joaquin Phoenix), but the book is always better! #readharder

I try to keep it positive on here, but since I'm guessing Pynchon isn't lurking on Litsy, I have to say that I bailed hard on this one. I got what he was doing: super complicated Chandler plot plus 60s hippie elements. But I couldn't stay interested - kept finding myself looking across to my stack of library books not unlike Mr Phoenix above.

Introvert enters hip microbrewery alone...finds bench...orders IPA...feels out of place...summons the power of Litsy...suddenly, can read and enjoy IPA with full confidence

I'm one of those people who's started Gravity's Rainbow 10 times and never finished it, but I'm really liking this book. It's basically Raymond Chandler in the 60's with a dash of Big Lebowski (which, now that I think of it, was Raymond Chandler in the 90's with a guy who wished it was the 60's). Very funny book.

#getindie to the rescue!! Feeling slightly better, I peeled myself out of bed and found Sheafe Street Books, a gem of a little used bookstore tucked away on a Portsmouth side street. Curved glass AND a shop cat? Come on.

What goes around may come around, but it never ends up exactly the same place, you ever notice? Like a record on a turntable, all it takes is one groove's difference and the universe can be on into a whole 'nother song.

This man is just a GENIUS...A marijuana-fueled trip of a detective novel that is just crazy enough to be hilarious but never tiresome, full of pop references...amazing...

Took me awhile to finish this one, but glad I did. A solid weird detective story very much in the vein of a lot of California based PI stories.

Feeling like crap because of a summer cold, so what better way to feel better than cracking open a new book! Hope to get a chapter in before I head to work.

Date night to Barnes and Noble! Very excited to pick this up.

This is generally classed as "Pynchon-lite" which suits me as Pynchon-heavy is normally too much for my poor brain. This one was a fun, accessible read.

Ugh. I've been trying to read this book for a year. I can't do it. I don't know why. I got about a 100 pages in and just lost interest. 😞 I'm gonna watch the movie instead.

A hazy, smoked out ode to hard-boiled crime fiction that ranks with the best of them. What sets this one apart is the inherently decent Doc Sportello, a man just trying to do good in the paranoid-ridden streets of Los Angeles in 1970.