/lit/ - Literature

There is really no way to measure influence but one can point out certain similarities and why not, tribute.
There is a faustian bargain both in TR and in AtD. The Mephistophelian figure in each book has a personal interest in the history of art and both are killed by a business partner.
There is also a web of agents that are addicted to the substance they use to exchange information. In some case one spy spends most of his time with his head inside the oven, using and abusing the gas. Similar to the political subplot and personal history of the Incadenza family.
In fact, Inherent Vice and Against the Day are titled after dialogue scenes from TR and JR respectively.
>As we walked along the President's Garden, I asked John Barth, "Doesn't Pynchon's book and all its attention bother you, as if this were the first time an American novelist had considered this particular geography or ventured to write an entire novel within its idiom?" "No, Tris, not at all," he replied. "In fact, just recently Pynchon was kind enough to send me an inscribed copy. He wrote: 'To John Barth: Been there, done that.'"