I finished Inherent Vice, and it was quite enjoyable. I didn't worry too much about the plot, but now I'm curious. The story was very complex (or complicated), with a lot of characters, and I have no idea if it all makes sense or not. And, if it does make sense, is it worth the effort of figuring it out?

So, I'm going to read it again, and we'll see what happens.

Also, it made me think about missing-person mystery stories in general. I've been watching John Ford's The Searchers, which is (among other things) a missing-person story. Ethan Edwards and Martin Pawley (the "searchers" of the title) travel all over the western United States, and into Mexico and Canada, over many years, tracking a missing girl.

Because that's the thing about missing-person stories. Murder mysteries are centered around a dead body. Everything radiates out from there. (Obviously, cases with multiple murders are more complex, but the same general point still applies.) Missing-person stories don't have a center, so they often cover a lot of ground.

Farewell My Lovely
The Mother Hunt
The Big Lebowski
The Moving Target
B is for Burglar
Inherent Vice

I think Jan Sleet should solve a missing-person case.

On another front, I'm glad I did the vampire story when I did, since vampires have now become such a fad. I believe there are two different vampire shows on TV these days, plus all the novels and the movies and so on.

Of course, the fact that I'm rather sick of the whole idea does not extend to the fact that Johnny Depp is going to star in a big-screen remake of Dark Shadows (whoo hoo!), and it doesn't extend to Let the Right One In, which is still a great movie.

Oh, and I should mention that the method of evading the truth that is used in The Golden Mystery (specifically here) is an old Quaker trick. I always thought it was a rather silly distinction myself, but obviously it's important to some people.

Also, I just found this article (I found it in the hard copy magazine, and had some trouble finding it online because they changed the title). I agree with the premise, of course, since I've been doing more or less the same thing for nearly twenty years now (only not on Twitter, and with fiction rather than jokes, but the idea is the same).