/lit/ - Literature

Very carefully.

>>3985735

It was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, so presumably it's okay (no Pulitzer for fiction was given out that year, strangely)

>>3985721
It reads more like a bunch of semi connected short stories in the same setting rather than a proper novel so it should be okay. Some parts of it shine brilliantly while others can get pretty tedious.

I've read aroune 300 pages but had to stop because of work commitments.

There is a story, since the editors identified certain characters they felt had their own story (description of a child, description of a man in an office = same person)

>>3985735

Is this a good place to start with DFW?

>>3985828
Start with essays

No, fuck that. Brute force your way through Infinite Jest. Baptism by fire. By the first 100 pages you should know whether or not you're going to get along cozy with DFW

>>3985721
you will learn a lot about the tax code. the word titty-pinching will be used a lot. I was glad I read it but at the same time found it boring. it's a book about boredom, partly

>>3985828
Don't start with essays. Read Broom of the System. The heart and soul of DFW is fiction, and if you're just jumping through his lame, run-of-the-mill nonfiction, you're not really going anywhere. Broom gives you a good dose of DFW without being too long and it shows you how naive he was early on in his career.

unfinished stories have worked before

>>3985771
I'm sure it was a pity nomination.

>>3986293
Also "shoe squeezing" is used a lot, or "toe squeezing", I forget

>>3985721
It's a perfectly acceptable story with a few jarring scenes from some subplot that was never fully tied into the novel proper, for obvious reasons.

>>3986710
wow you're really clutching at straws aren't you

>>3986736
It was his first novel published after his suicide, so yeah, I'm sure pity gave the Pulitzer committee some motivation.

>>3986778
The nomination committee recommended Pale King. The Pulitzer committee refused to award the prize.

>>3986788
way to split hairs.

>>3986778
>I'm sure

give it up why do you even care

>>3986736
>>3986788
>>3986819
>hey don't be mean to my davey-wavey hmph.

>>3986849
I haven't even read a single word DFW has written. Just relaying facts, sarge.

>>3986849
are you literally a child? the way you are arguing makes me suspect that you are under the age of 8.

i haven't even read the thread, let alone the book. i just cant believe how immature you're being

>>3986854
>>3986862
>haven't even

hivemind

we'd be great parents

>>3986862
I suggested that pity played a part in The Pale King's nomination, to which some anon said "wow you're really clutching at straws" and another said "the pulitzer committee didn't nominate him the nomination committee did"
So I'm pretty sure I'm not the one instigating the childish arguments.

Also, the people arguing against me, yourself included, admit to having not read DFW or The Pale King. So I'd thank you for not telling me I'm being immature when the people who are disagreeing with me not only do not know, but freely admit to not knowing what they're talking about.

>>3986898
nobody disagreed with you, though

>>3985721
I found the experience similar to reading Toole's 'A Confederacy of Dunces.' At times it is abundantly clear that the text is unfinished and/or not polished. The novel just starts to get great near the end, as though DFW was just getting comfortable in the setting. I absolutely loved the part about the mysterious child which hangs out w/ Claude Sylvanshine and that part about the guy who discovered a secret series of numbers which makes it possible to concentrate forever. The scene where that really sexy female IRS employee discusses her only relationship with a coworker really had a strong effect on me.

The book is amazing, offers a good look into the IRS, life as an accountant, trying to find purpose in life, etc. Thing that stuck in my mind was some tangential story about this kid that decided to touch his lips to every part of his body, began doing stretches and shit all the while touching his lips to his chest, feet, stomach. His story ended with him looking forward to the time when he would have to attempt his back, face, scalp, etc.

>>3985771
it really says something about how arrogant the judges were to think this or the other books nominated were not worthy of the prize

>>3987165
Confed. of Dunces is a completed work, the author even sent it out to many publishers