"Infinite Jest," (1996), A Massive, Philosophical, Science-Fiction, Black-Comedy by David Foster Wallace

[DIShGo]

I just finished reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I am glad I read it. It is like nothing I have read before, including other works by him. It is challenging, but worth the effort.

The 1,079 page story takes place in the future, at a junior tennis academy and a nearby substance-abuse recovery facility. It is brash, brilliant, funny (most of the novel takes place in the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment), thought-provoking and tragic. Ninety-six pages are devoted to footnotes, located in the back of the book. These need to be read along with the text, as much of the story is told there. (A dear friend gave me book clips to mark my place in the footnotes, and they proved to be invaluable. I recommend them to anyone who reads a printed copy of this book!)

Has anyone else read this book? Did you love it? Hate it? Put it down after about 600 pages? I would love to hear your thoughts. I am sure there is much I missed. After I finished the novel, for example, I went back and read the first chapter again. There were several hints in that chapter about what happened to the main characters after the novel ended.

How do you think it compares to other works by David Foster Wallace?

[JSnake]

This is my favorite book of all time. I read through it every year like clockwork. The Eschaton match is my favorite part in the book.

[DIShGo]

The Eschaton match is my favorite part in the book.

It is interesting that you said that, because I thought about mentioning the Eschaton match as one of the most difficult parts to get through, for me! It was hilarious, but tricky to follow.

I am sure I will read that, and several other chapters, again at some point.

Have you seen the Decemberists' "Calamity Song" video that pays homage to the game?

[DonRocks]

Have you seen the Decemberists' "Calamity Song" video that pays homage to the game?

I've spent a good twenty minutes researching whether or not this singer is the same guy as the one in "Adam Ruins Everything" - he's not, correct?

[DIShGo]

I've spent a good twenty minutes researching whether or not this singer is the same guy as the one in "Adam Ruins Everything" - he's not, correct?

I have no idea! That's a funny clip.

[DIShGo]

I don't know if I can pinpoint my favorite part of this book. Overall, it is very funny, but the darker passages haunt me: Randy Lenz's evening walks, the misadventures of Poor Tony, Don Gately and his passed-out mom. My most vivid recollections are of the minor characters who shared their unbearably sad stories during meetings at the rehab facility.

David Foster Wallace mixed tragedy with humor effortlessly. The grown men interacting with their teddy bears is one of my favorite parts of the book, and a good example of this. This chapter is laugh-out-loud funny, sad, cringeworthy and touching, all at the same time.

[curiouskitkatt]

On 2/3/2015 at 2:08 PM, DIShGo said:

I just bought Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Has anyone read it? I might start a thread when I begin reading it. For now it is merely sitting on my bookshelf, waiting. I want to be sure I am able to give it my full attention before I start it.

Is this the book with the blue infinity symbol on the cover page? I don't have the book in front of me right now, but I did recently purchase it and have not dived into yet. 

[DIShGo]

My copy is blue, with clouds on the cover. DonRocks recently bought the 20th Anniversary Edition, which is white with red lettering. Both are about 2 inches thick. "Infinite Jest" is a time investment, but a worthwhile one.

[DonRocks]

9 hours ago, curiouskitkatt said:

Is this the book with the blue infinity symbol on the cover page? I don't have the book in front of me right now, but I did recently purchase it and have not dived into yet. 

You might be thinking of "The Power of the Infinity Symbol" or (less likely) "The Startup Way."

If you bought "Infinite Jest," you'd know it, because your biceps would be sore from carrying its 1,079 pages.

Click <--- That's my way of thumbing my nose at chronic pain.

[DonRocks]

In the blue edition (not the 20th-anniversary edition), is it a mistake at the bottom of page 67 to say, 

“A battalion of linesmen stand blandly alert ....”

Is it ever correct to use the object of a preposition as the subject of the verb? Doesn’t it need to be “stands,” as in, “A battalion ... stands ....?”

[DonRocks]

Has anyone else reached a stalling point in this book (e.g., pages 185-186 (blue edition), where Wallace is metaphorically comparing a broadcast studio to a medical-school-level detailed anatomy of the human brain), at which point you ask yourself, ‘How long is this fucking passage going to go on?!‘

Your choices are either to look up every tenth word (in which case you’re talking an hour per page), or not to understand it at all, except at the most superficial level.

It’s like Picasso vomiting on a canvas, titling it, « The Meaning of Life, » handing it to you, and saying, « Here. Figure it out. » It’s not funny and it’s not fair.

[DonRocks]

So, my claim to fame is that I started - and finished - both "War and Peace" and "Infinite Jest" during the same week.

What I'm saying is, I started them both in the same week.

And I finished them both in the same week, about four years later. 🤔

And what I'm reading now (The Children of the Dead) makes them both look easy. Ask DIShGo - she gave up on it; I'm still plodding along, lucky to finish 2-3 pages per day.