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The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

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Re: The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

#21

Post by character0 »

andrewfromx wrote: post #2

show of hands, how many HN readers have tried to read Infinite Jest and never made it all the way thru?

I never would have made it through IJ without my book club. That was our inaugural book and now we're around 15 books deep. One thing that was particularly effective for us was to meet every week, but reading shorter sections. For a book like IJ where it's easy to miss things, this is really useful. Weekly meetings are tough, but it's with a great group of friends and missing a meeting only puts me about 3-5 hours of reading behind.

Re: The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

#22

Post by fullshark »

briga wrote: post #7

I wonder how the critical reception to The Pale King will evolve over time. In my opinion it's been a bit over-esteemed by fans of DFWs work. It really does feel incomplete, and not just in a Brothers Karamazov sort of way. It lacks a center of gravity, and I never really felt a strong connection with any of the characters. By the end of Infinite Jest the book had become something greater than the sum of its parts, a…

I liked the Pale King but found it lacking. There's only really one idea there that i can recall: There's nobility in doing the boring / essential work required of you. That's a far cry from Infinite Jest which is overflowing with ideas about society and how an individual deals with it.

Re: The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

#23

Post by dwtdfw »

savanaly wrote: post #15
kneel wrote: post #5

Has anyone made an easier to read online version of Infinite Jest? With pop up footnotes so you don't have to flip pages?

It's not so bad in dead tree form if you use two bookmarks (one for the main text, one for the endnotes).

I prefer it in kindle form, i.e., lighting it on fire.

Re: The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

#24

Post by jraines »

tannhauser23 wrote: post #17
jraines wrote: post #9

If anyone is daunted by Infinite Jest but undaunted by the fad of hating DFW, definitely start with his books of essays & journalism. IMO they're a lot more rewarding and enjoyable than his novels. I think E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction is essential reading. (PDF link: https://jsomers.net/DFW_TV.pdf )

Wait, what fad of hating him?

Well, before my latest attempt to quit Twitter, it seemed like a widespread opinion among kool kids from both the left & right that liking DFW was middlebrow posing. Just my definitely skewed impression.

Re: The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

#25

Post by laxatives »

johnhattan wrote: post #6
andrewfromx wrote: post #2

show of hands, how many HN readers have tried to read Infinite Jest and never made it all the way thru?

I made it about 125 pages. I wanted to like it, but the endless digressions and footnotes wore me out.

FWIW, I didn't like it for the first 300-400 pages either. But it very quickly became one of my favorite books. Its worth sticking it out to the end.

Re: The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

#26

Post by arkaic »

I found Infinite Jest extraordinarily compelling, hilarious, and endlessly entertaining. I wouldn't go as far to say that it was "hard to put down". The book will fatigue you at points, as there is such a density of ideas within a single page that you need to just step back for the day and take it all in. But I was inevitably drawn back every time to sit down and open Infinite Jest again and again. Maybe it was the prose, or the endearing and terrible characters that DFW make all come to life, or the sprawling mystery plot. I love the way DFW makes these small, minute observations of life that always seem to make me go "yeaaaah I can relate too!" So many unforgettable moments in that book, including the section about marijuana, and the chapter of the kids playing tennis analogized with war.

Re: The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

#27

Post by RUTHLESS_RUFUS »

tannhauser23 wrote: post #17
jraines wrote: post #9

If anyone is daunted by Infinite Jest but undaunted by the fad of hating DFW, definitely start with his books of essays & journalism. IMO they're a lot more rewarding and enjoyable than his novels. I think E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction is essential reading. (PDF link: https://jsomers.net/DFW_TV.pdf )

Wait, what fad of hating him?

Apparently it's too soon for criticism? I'm not sure what fads have to do with it, other than fads being convenient to minimize or dismiss; this piece of elegant sandpaper is for example six years old:

http://exiledonline.com/david-foster-wallace-portrait-of-an-...

Re: The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

#28

Post by basseq »

andrewfromx wrote: post #2

show of hands, how many HN readers have tried to read Infinite Jest and never made it all the way thru?

It took me two or three "false starts" before I worked up enough inertia to make it all the way through. You need to get about 200 pages in before it "clicks". It's also a very different kind of reading. You read to absorb, not to comprehend.

In a completely-unrelated comparison, there's a line from John Scalzi's Old Man's War that rings true when reading Infinite Jest: "The secret, I found, was to stop fighting it or attempt to organize the information the way I was used to getting it, in discrete chunks of verbal speech. Just accept you're drinking from the fire hose and open wide."

Re: The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

#29

Post by cyberpunk »

rockostrich wrote: post #20
hbosch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might like a Kindle.

I wouldn't recommend reading it on Kindle unless they made it easier. 2 bookmarks and a physical copy is the way to go.

On my oasis I can just tap on a footnote reference and it'll take me to it, then tap back to bring me to the main text once I've read it... Am I missing something, did this process use to be harder (I think my first was a paper white which I vaguely remember as having the same feature)?

I find that easier than flipping through a massive book, at least...

Re: The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)

#30

Post by bri3d »

tannhauser23 wrote: post #17
jraines wrote: post #9

If anyone is daunted by Infinite Jest but undaunted by the fad of hating DFW, definitely start with his books of essays & journalism. IMO they're a lot more rewarding and enjoyable than his novels. I think E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction is essential reading. (PDF link: https://jsomers.net/DFW_TV.pdf )

Wait, what fad of hating him?

Like any other subculture / virtue signal which gains in popularity, there's a strong group for DFW and a strong backlash against from both sides. One side rejects the signal due to its popularity ("only dilettante freshman losers love DFW, REAL enthusiasts love REAL lit") and the other rejects the signal due to its accessibility ("these hipsters think they're cool just because they've read something, anyone could buy the book and do that!").

We see it in programming, too - "only newbie idiots love Ruby, Rust 4ever" plus "this damn hipster Rust brigade is ruining programming, Java is still just fine!"

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