Anyone read(ing) Infinite Jest?

[bcredbottle]

I'm 300 pages in and hooked. Like I've actually taken time away from keyboard-related activities to read it.

[PunksDead]

gf bought it after seeing that John Green movie. Its an intimidatingly huge book good luck to you sir

[bcredbottle]

gf bought it after seeing that John Green movie. Its an intimidatingly huge book good luck to you sir

John Green movie?

[PunksDead]

gf bought it after seeing that John Green movie. Its an intimidatingly huge book good luck to you sir

John Green movie?

"The fault in our stars" the main character is reading a fake book in the movie that is supposed to be Infinite Jest

[vivalarevolución]

All I know is that Mr. Wallace could have made that book a little shorter.  It doesn't take 1000+ pages to tell a good story.  But I guess if you are David Foster Wallace and everybody already knows you are awesome and they will buy your **** regardless, you can get away with that kind of stuff.

[beehatch]

I enjoy Wallace quite a bit.

But I ain't got time for dat.

[bcredbottle]

All I know is that Mr. Wallace could have made that book a little shorter.  It doesn't take 1000+ pages to tell a good story.  But I guess if you are David Foster Wallace and everybody already knows you are awesome and they will buy your **** regardless, you can get away with that kind of stuff.

On what page did you start to feel that way? Even 300 pages in I still feel like it's very well edited.

[vivalarevolución]

I enjoy Wallace quite a bit.

But I ain't got time for dat.

Yea, that's exactly how I feel.  His short stories and nonfiction essays are amazing, though.  If you don't feel like reading Infinite Jest, at least do yourself a favor and read the shorter stuff.

On what page did you start to feel that way? Even 300 pages in I still feel like it's very well edited.

Within the first dozen pages.  Then I had to return the book to the library.

I hold the belief that a writer has a duty to write stories that are not overly burdensome for the reader, both in length and complexity.  Not all of us have the free time to read novels of that length.  But I know that Wallace was such an amazing writer and a few friends whose opinions I respect have wonderful opinions of Infinite Jest.  So I think that I'll take another stab at some point.

[VinnyCordeiro]

I hold the belief that a writer has a duty to write stories that are not overly burdensome for the reader, both in length and complexity.  Not all of us have the free time to read novels of that length.  But I know that Wallace was such an amazing writer and a few friends whose opinions I respect have wonderful opinions of Infinite Jest.  So I think that I'll take another stab at some point.

I respectfully disagree. People tends to forget that literature is a form of art. The artist have (or should have) no commitment with the reader, but with the story he/she wants to tell.

Of course we live in a world that thinks that a book that don't sell is a worthless book. Still, that's why some publishing houses have the strategy of selling best sellers to subsidize those more artistic books. I can't say about publishing in the US, but that's how it works here in Brazil. I myself am a soon-to-be-published writer, I had to learn all that stuff.

Of course you are free to dislike a book - for example: I hate Ulysses, by James Joice. I didn't read Infinite Jest yet, but from the critics I read, it could be smaller and could have way less footnotes. Still, it's funny to see literary critics praising a book that, objectively speaking, is science fiction (considered a "genre literature", in the US and in Brazil).

[vivalarevolución]

I hold the belief that a writer has a duty to write stories that are not overly burdensome for the reader, both in length and complexity.  Not all of us have the free time to read novels of that length.  But I know that Wallace was such an amazing writer and a few friends whose opinions I respect have wonderful opinions of Infinite Jest.  So I think that I'll take another stab at some point.

I respectfully disagree. People tends to forget that literature is a form of art. The artist have (or should have) no commitment with the reader, but with the story he/she wants to tell.

Of course we live in a world that thinks that a book that don't sell is a worthless book. Still, that's why some publishing houses have the strategy of selling best sellers to subsidize those more artistic books. I can't say about publishing in the US, but that's how it works here in Brazil. I myself am a soon-to-be-published writer, I had to learn all that stuff.

Of course you are free to dislike a book - for example: I hate Ulysses, by James Joice. I didn't read Infinite Jest yet, but from the critics I read, it could be smaller and could have way less footnotes. Still, it's funny to see literary critics praising a book that, objectively speaking, is science fiction (considered a "genre literature", in the US and in Brazil).

Yea, I agree.  Writing is a craft.  But if you want to sell enough copies to make a living as a writer, so you don't have to do some other bull**** job, sometimes to you have ratchet down the art and focus on what might sell while also maintaining your personal creativity and skill.

[scubaste]

It is one of my favorite books, and I'd be okay with it being twice as long. I've gone through all of DFW's writings and honestly get a little bit sad knowing I'll never get to read anything new from him. I know I'm not the first person to have the sentiment that he is the type of writer that you read to simply glimpse into someone else's mind, not so much for a story/plot.

edit:
Also, I really enjoy hearing him read his own works. There are quite of few of his writings that he narrates the audiobook.

[bcredbottle]

I enjoy Wallace quite a bit.

But I ain't got time for dat.

Yea, that's exactly how I feel.  His short stories and nonfiction essays are amazing, though.  If you don't feel like reading Infinite Jest, at least do yourself a favor and read the shorter stuff.

On what page did you start to feel that way? Even 300 pages in I still feel like it's very well edited.

Within the first dozen pages.  Then I had to return the book to the library.

I hold the belief that a writer has a duty to write stories that are not overly burdensome for the reader, both in length and complexity.  Not all of us have the free time to read novels of that length.  But I know that Wallace was such an amazing writer and a few friends whose opinions I respect have wonderful opinions of Infinite Jest.  So I think that I'll take another stab at some point.

I understand the sentiment but I think Infinite Jest is the exception. Even at 1,000 pages there isn't a single sentence that isn't carefully crafted. His ability to mirror the subject's speaking/writing style in his grammar, syntax, word choices, etc. is otherworldly. The only other writer that I can think of having a similar skill is Faulkner or maybe Hemingway in For Whom the Bell Tolls.¹ But in that respect, I actually think DFW did it better than them. It's a 1,000+ page book but it's also about a dozen different books with a dozen totally distinct writing styles that somehow all play into each other.

But you won't know until you give the book a shot.

P.S. I read Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again and I thought that DFW was just a really good essayist until I started reading Infinite Jest and realized that more broadly he's the greatest US writing talent of at least the past 30 years.

¹ Interesting to note that Hemingway's use of archaisms and Romance-language grammar structures is also found in the Infinite Jest in which the characters are French Canadian (e.g. Marathe).

[vivalarevolución]

Send me your copy when you are done.  I'll pay a rental fee.

Just kidding.

But kinda not really.

[bcredbottle]

Send me your copy when you are done.  I'll pay a rental fee.

Just kidding.

But kinda not really.

I'll just give it to you if you remind me in a couple weeks months when I'm done reading it. Just pay shipping plz.

[bcredbottle]

It is one of my favorite books, and I'd be okay with it being twice as long. I've gone through all of DFW's writings and honestly get a little bit sad knowing I'll never get to read anything new from him. I know I'm not the first person to have the sentiment that he is the type of writer that you read to simply glimpse into someone else's mind, not so much for a story/plot.

edit:
Also, I really enjoy hearing him read his own works. There are quite of few of his writings that he narrates the audiobook.

<3

It's funny b/c they made This is Water into like a daily affirmations book and it's ****ing awful. But the speech is obv legendary.

When I read his nonfiction the mental voice in my head was DFW.

[livingspeedbump]

I read it once a year, have for the past 5 or 6 years. It definitely takes more than one read to appreciate, even enjoy in some cases.

David Foster Wallace's essays are really, really top notch too. Highly recommend checking out a few of those, especially to those that haven't ever read anything by him before.

Oh, and his This is Water speech is incredible.

 

[bcredbottle]

I read it once a year, have for the past 5 or 6 years. It definitely takes more than one read to appreciate, even enjoy in some cases.

David Foster Wallace's essays are really, really top notch too. Highly recommend checking out a few of those, especially to those that haven't ever read anything by him before.

Oh, and his This is Water speech is incredible.

 

Agree 100% across the board, except I haven't finished Infinite Jest but I guess I will have to revisit it even after I finish. I know that it will pay serious dividends upon re-reading.

[vivalarevolución]

Fine, you've convinced me, I'll give it another shot.

[bcredbottle]

Fine, you've convinced me, I'll give it another shot.

Oh well I'm glad that once lsb says it's good then you say you wanna read it. That's OK. Totally cool. Not hurt. cool.


cool

[vivalarevolución]

Fine, you've convinced me, I'll give it another shot.

Oh well I'm glad that once lsb says it's good then you say you wanna read it. That's OK. Totally cool. Not hurt. cool.


cool

It was a group effort in the convincing!

[jacobolus]

I understand the sentiment but I think Infinite Jest is the exception. Even at 1,000 pages there isn't a single sentence that isn't carefully crafted.

The individual sentences are very carefully crafted. The whole book is a rambling mess, like what you’d get if you took a Simpsons episode plot and tried to extend it to a trilogy of three-hour films. But that’s kind of its whole point – what plot it has is a collection of intertwined shaggy dog stories – so YMMV. Sometimes you might need some extra rambling mess in your life.

Personally I found some particular passages hilarious, and several hundred of the pages fairly boring. Some sections managed both at the same time.

I like DFW’s other work better, especially his nonfiction essays.

[vivalarevolución]

If I remember correctly when I flipped through the book, I noticed what seemed like dozen of pages without a paragraph break.  What I wonder is how that sort of writing affects the reader experience.

[bcredbottle]

If I remember correctly when I flipped through the book, I noticed what seemed like dozen of pages without a paragraph break.  What I wonder is how that sort of writing affects the reader experience.

It varies widely. There are some chapters that are one long, Joyce/Faulkner/Garcia Marquez esque stream of consciousness with few paragraph breaks, but they're rare and only done when it adds to the subject-matter<sup>1

1</sup> SPOILER

More

For example, Poor Tony Krause's withdrawal/seizure or Dr. James Incandenza's father's drunken rant

I understand the sentiment but I think Infinite Jest is the exception. Even at 1,000 pages there isn't a single sentence that isn't carefully crafted.

The individual sentences are very carefully crafted. The whole book is a rambling mess, like what you’d get if you took a Simpsons episode plot and tried to extend it to a trilogy of three-hour films. But that’s kind of its whole point – what plot it has is a collection of intertwined shaggy dog stories – so YMMV. Sometimes you might need some extra rambling mess in your life.

Personally I found some particular passages hilarious, and several hundred of the pages fairly boring. Some sections managed both at the same time.

I like DFW’s other work better, especially his nonfiction essays.

Man, that's really good. I had never heard of a shaggy dog story. I'm reading the hilarious chapter describing the Eschaton game and it totally fits your description.

[geekhack360]

No, I haven't read it.

[livingspeedbump]

Fine, you've convinced me, I'll give it another shot.

It's definitely a tough read. And you are a jackass if you read it once and think its the greatest thing ever  Its just not possible to digest in one read, imo.(It's also hilarious to see people reading it in public, where then is a quasi rant in the intro about how it is not a book to read out haha). Reading is much like music for me though, I rarely like anything the first time around, and when I do its usually just a fleeting romance. When I have to work to like something, those are the pieces that really stick with me forever.

Consider the Lobster, a collection of his essays, is a fantastic place to start with him though, and can easily make its full impact in one read through.

[bcredbottle]

Fine, you've convinced me, I'll give it another shot.

It's definitely a tough read. And you are a jackass if you read it once and think its the greatest thing ever  Its just not possible to digest in one read, imo.(It's also hilarious to see people reading it in public, where then is a quasi rant in the intro about how it is not a book to read out haha). Reading is much like music for me though, I rarely like anything the first time around, and when I do its usually just a fleeting romance. When I have to work to like something, those are the pieces that really stick with me forever.

Consider the Lobster, a collection of his essays, is a fantastic place to start with him though, and can easily make its full impact in one read through.

well f u 2