Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

Now for a book not on any list... Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon. When this book came out a few years ago I wanted to read it and added it to my long mental list of books that I'd want to someday read. When I saw that Paul Thomas Anderson (one of my favorite directors) was directing a movie adaptation, I knew that I'd have to actually read it before the movie came out. Now that I think about it I should have probably read another Pynchon novel beforehand so that I could have a better sense of the author (he has two books on the 101-200 best of list).

The plot of Inherent Vice is pretty complicated and isn't really the point of the book. The main character is Doc Sportello, a private detective that is asked by an old girlfriend to check up on her current boyfriend because she thinks her boyfriend's wife and the wife's boyfriend are planning on killing him or something. And then of course the guy disappears and a possible conspiracy unfolds. But thinking about it now, in the end I'm not even sure if it is clear whether or not there was a conspiracy or not. I'd say the book is a lot like The Big Sleep filtered through Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

On a side note... I've noticed in quite a few books set in Los Angeles that authors like to detail the routes their characters take through the city. This book is no exception (it even mentions a very specific shortcut between La Cienega and La Brea that I've recently discovered). Once again I'm reminded of the SNL sketch "The Californians".

I enjoyed the book and Doc's misadventure is entertaining (especially once I realized that the plot specifics weren't really that important). Now I'm looking forward to the film version. I'll give the book an A-.

Book # 7 - The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings Book 2 of 3) by J.R.R. Tolkien

Since I loved The Fellowship of the Ring, it goes without saying that I also greatly enjoyed The Two Towers. The book is split into two halves. In the first half we follow the quest of Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas as they try to rescue Merry and Pippen and eventually meet up with the riders of Rohan, defend Helm's Deep and go to Saruman's tower. In the second half we follow Frodo and Sam (and Gollum) as they continue onwards to Mordor, meet Faramir and encounter the giant spider Shelob. This book just gets better every time I read it... so many details to always pick up. A+

Horror Book # 12 & Sci-Fi Book # 31- Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was another book I read (actually reread) while I was on vacation last month. The story involves a lawyer that meets an ugly strange and rude man named Mr. Hyde that is somehow involved with the life of one of his good friends Dr. Jekyll. The lawyer becomes curious and tries to figure out how the two people are connected. And as everyone already knows it turns out that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are actually the same person. In an effort to separate the good and evil parts of his self, Dr. Jekyll creates a potion that transforms him between the two... but unfortunately his body becomes accustomed to the potion and he ends up staying Mr. Hyde longer and longer and is unable to return to his normal self.

The story is entertaining and I'd imagine the big reveal was more shocking when the book was first published. I found it interesting that Dr. Jekyll thought his intentions were actually good and that he at first didn't feel like he was responsible for Hyde's actions. However the more Jekyll allowed his dark side to come out the more he began to enjoy it and seemed to become addicted to it. Something to think about. I'll give this one an A, it is a classic.

Horror Book # 11 - The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

While on vacation I needed to find a book to read on the way back and saw a cheap copy of The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty for sale. Since Halloween was coming up I figured now would be a good time to read it. The story is well known... The daughter of a movie star gets possessed by a demon and then there is an exorcism.

With a book that has such a well known movie it is hard not to continually compare it to the film. The film is faithful to the book but really minimized the roles of all of the supporting characters... so much so that they are hard to remember in hindsight. In the book the roles of the Regan's nanny, the police detective and Father Dyer are all expanded and give the whole story more depth. Now that I think about it, most of those characters are pretty pointless in the movie.

I enjoyed the book. There weren't really any surprises since it the film stuck pretty closely to it, but I liked getting an expanded version of the story with a bit more depth. And of course it was scary. I'll give it an A.