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/lit/ - Literature

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File: 28 KB, 300x464, Infinite_jest_cover.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1033893 No.1033893 [Reply] [Original]

This is sitting on a shelf, waiting to be read.

But it's large, and intimidating.

What do, /lit/?

>> No.1033894

Read it

>> No.1033904

Books are supposed to be read. Infinite Jest doesn't have a very aesthetically appealing cover, so you can't use it as decoration.

>> No.1033907

do a barrel roll

>> No.1033905

Every day now, this shit-tier white elephant for scum who want to murder art is promoted with a new thread. Back the fuck off with this shit, please.

>> No.1033911

>>1033907

newfag

>> No.1033915

just read it. It's not as scary as people make it out to be, and it's very enjoyable to read.

>> No.1033927

It seems like people either love this book or hate it.

>> No.1033940

>>1033905
U MAD, BRO

>> No.1033953

I think I am going to get this book today.

>> No.1033978

Im at about the 700 page mark.

At first the book seemed so incredibly dense, but it seems to have lost that extreme depth with time.

Dive in and pay attention.

And don't skip any of the footnotes, a lot of them are humorous and hide how important they are.

>> No.1033986

>>1033978
So is the book very good or just meh?

>> No.1034011

>>1033986

Its incredible to me.

Have you every seen the movie snatch? Knowing that the characters and their problems and all the conflicts are intertwined without ever really knowing how?

Wallace does a perfect job of creating new attachments and connections where I least expected them.

Its entertaining and accesible. To answer your question, I think its quite good.

>> No.1034297

>>1033978
You kind of have to give it time to let the tone sink in. Somewhere around the 600, 700 page mark it I got completely buried in it and couldn't put it down. There are a lot of little clues to how the narrative fits together, and after putting it together for a while you fall off some kind of cliff and really want to piece the entire thing together at once.

Very enjoyable read.

>> No.1034316

>>1034297

Happened to me at page 584. Hooked.

>> No.1034331

i want to get this but the fact that a lot of people say it doesn't get good till around the 700 page mark keeps turning me off it.

>> No.1034341

fave book it's great
I need to reread it though

>> No.1034344

>>1034331
It's always good, from front to back. The point at which you can kind of step back, and start to get a strong idea of what DFW is trying to say, is pretty far in the novel. The first 500 pages are as great as the last 500 are, I'd say.

>>1034316
What I really enjoyed about the story was that it's fractured, but DFW isn't shy about leaving hints here or there telling you what's really going on. Sometimes you pick up on it very early, and see other clues laying around. Other times you don't really notice it until it's painfully obvious that seemingly unrelated character A is meeting seemingly unrelated character B for something important. It's really like he's trying to show you how smart of a reader you can be.

>> No.1034347

>>1034331
that's bullshit
if anything it's pretty funny from the beginning

>> No.1034352

>>1034331

If you're only reading books for pleasure, you might as well just go watch reality TV instead.

>> No.1034353

>>1034344
He said something about that once
about how reading is an active thing unlike television or movies which are passive
and like how reading reaffirms your intellectual abilities
u can sort of see how that relates to infinite jest

>> No.1034358

>>1034353
It certainly made the book more enjoyable, that's for sure. I wanted to sit down and pick apart the characters, try to figure out what certain elements of the book mean, to understand why any character does this or that. There were more than a handful of moments, when I'd just finished reading a pretty heavy passage, and go outside and just smoke and think about the book for 10-20 minutes. And it was enjoyable, even when I wasn't reading anything.

>> No.1034386

>>1034358
well not only that but also how television isn't especially challenging or fulfilling
thats sort of a superficial connection to make i guess but still...

>> No.1034395

I discussed this book yesterday in a long ass thread so I don't feel like doing it but do read it, it's not difficult, just long.

>> No.1034399

Also I would like to ask what people made of the Eschaton game, that chapter was the most boring thing I've ever read in my life it probably took me a week because I couldn't bare more than a few pages at once.

>> No.1034402

>>1034386
Most television isn't very challenging. And even the shows that are supposed to be challenging aren't very well written. I'm looking at you, terrible ending to LOST. Even something that I really admire for being well written, like the X-files, spiraled out of control after 5 seasons into something completely dismal.

>> No.1034410

>>1034399
My only problem was that it became hard to follow all of the tennis players at once. I could kind of get an image of one or two of them, when they do something unique, but when they're all going at some similar activity or just eating lunch I get lost and forget. For most of the game, just sitting there picturing what it would look like, was amusing enough for me to enjoy it. Much earlier in the book, with the really stoned Roy Tony parts, I had a bit of trouble but not too much. The hardest parts for me, honestly, was reading chapter after chapter of Gately just sitting in bed, trying to avoid using painkillers and deal with his gunshot wound. It was interesting, and pretty important to the story, but it was just too much writing and not enough of anything actually happening to be super interesting.

>> No.1034412
File: 66 KB, 640x480, the-wire-2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1034412

>>1034402
pic related

>> No.1034428

>>1034402
QI. The best panel game show in the history of panel gameshows.

>> No.1034451

>>1034352
isn't that the point of reading, for pleasure? why do you read?

>> No.1034458

>>1034399
oh god
i did find it amusing though

>> No.1034516

>>1034399

Eschaton is one of my favorite parts of the novel, alongside Gately whooping Nuck ass.

The mental gymnastics necessary to follow Wallace's writing (Eschaton being a prime example) are what I love about the book. The intelligence in the text is not pretentious, but humble, allowing for its screwball humor to keep everything in balance.

>> No.1034572

Bad book, dated book, not pantheon-level.

>> No.1034592

On page 450ish right now, it's really good so far, up there with some of the most enjoyable reading experiences I have had. There are a few slow parts but it is definitely worth it.

>> No.1034743

Slog through the first 200 pages no matter how much you want to give up. It gets much better once you hit the explanation of subsidized time. Although if you're paying attention you can nail down the order of the important years. It's worth the read.

Old but infinite summer has a decent amount of commentary and links to better commentary.

>> No.1034770

>>1034516

Howling fantod here, just entering the thread.

Anyway I found it hard to buy the fact that Enfield student body seems to consist of 100% "quirky genius 10-year-olds". How could those kids even PLAY a game as complicated as Eschaton was made out to be?

Anyway I've read IJ four times, ask me anything.

>> No.1034777

You could try something like A supposedly fun thing (Originally shipping out http://www.harpers.org/media/pdf/dfw/HarpersMagazine-1996-01-0007859.pdf)) to see if you like his style.

>> No.1034785

>>1034770

Well the kids are hopped up on drugs...

>> No.1034828

>>1034770
Everyone I've known who played high level individual sports was pretty smart. Not program Eschaton smart, but they could definitely figure it out.

>> No.1034876

>>1034828
>>1034785
>>1034770
The impression I got from it was that it's more or less like some AD&D ruleset that gets much more complicated. Whenever you play, you can get along with only a basic understanding of the rules and your DM helps you out a lot. I got the same thing out of the game. I forget the little kid's name who was running the computer/hot dog cart, but he was pretty much their DM. Everyone tries to pin down the exact mathematically best strategy but that seemed like a pretty hard job that each player struggled with. I suppose it's not really coincidence that they used a computer to do the number crunching; all you need to know is how to input things properly and the computer does the rest.

Felt kinda' bad about Pemulis getting the boot and his drug adventures finally getting the best of him. But it's in there for a reason, I guess.

>> No.1034907

>>1034876

where the fuck did the DMZ go? who took the shoe out of the ceiling panel!? AAAAARGHHHGHGH he could've at least answered that. fuck.

and why did the mold in Hal's stomach start effecting him after like 15 years of nothing? or was that a red herring?

>> No.1034989

This is a book for people who have outgrown genre literature by virtue of their instinct that it isn't enough, but are not yet ready for the challenge of real literature. In fact, it's a mutant strain of pop lit with accidental powers.

>> No.1034993

>>1034989
That's a great post I feel so terrible for having liked this book now because of your incisive criticism and wit

>> No.1035010

>>1034993

You see? That's how fans of this book (and it does have fans, not readers) think. Not good enough.

>> No.1035326

>>1035010


examples of real literature then, please

>> No.1035333

>>1035010
Is there a personal awakening in your life that has made you so disposed to hate this book, or has it just been the threads about it here?

I mean, I'm curious. I've seen you tackle these threads with some serious, consistent hatred.

>> No.1035352

>>1035333
>>1035326
Giving him attention just makes him feel more validated. Just let him have his anti-DFW tirades and his feelings of superiority and maybe he'll go away and troll the Stephen King threads.

>>1034410
>The hardest parts for me, honestly, was reading chapter after chapter of Gately just sitting in bed, trying to avoid using painkillers and deal with his gunshot wound. It was interesting, and pretty important to the story, but it was just too much writing and not enough of anything actually happening to be super interesting.

"pretty important to the story" -- That's like, the entire story. That was probably my favorite part, the writing in that section was brilliant. I loved the perfectly executed malapropisms (I couldn't give one Ore-ida) and the awkward grammar mistakes (would of) based off who was speaking. It's the one part of the book where the writing itself gives just as many clues to what's what as the content. I also think that sequence is just beautiful, the best dream sequence I've ever read for sure.