[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]

2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

File: 25 KB, 322x498, david foster wallace.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:09:44 2010 No.1143348 [Reply] [Original]

What the fuck?

I picked this up because I heard good things about it from /lit/. The prose in this thing is almost as bad as Joyce. How can anyone endure this for close to 1,000 pages?

I wanted a modern / postmodern epic, with a shit-ton of characters, crossing story arcs, and reflections on life, something that asks the big questions. What I got was

HAS ANYONE REALLY BEEN FAR AS EVEN AS DECIDED TO USE EVEN GO WANT TO DO LOOK MORE LIKE?

for hours and hours and hours......

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:12:44 2010 No.1143356 >>1143355 >implying lit likes joyce

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:12:44 2010 No.1143355 >Joyce >/lit/ likes Joyce >you don't like Joyce >you don't like what /lit/ likes how far have you gotten in it anyway?

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:13:44 2010 No.1143359 I got gifted this book two days ago. Waiting for my package, thanks a lot /lit/ Also, please visit the Infinite Jest Wiki for annotations, and the How To Read Infinite Jest page: http://infinitesummer.org/archives/215

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:13:44 2010 No.1143360 File: 18 KB, 324x500, daysbetweenstations.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >I wanted a modern / postmodern epic, with a shit-ton of characters, crossing story arcs, and reflections on life, something that asks the big questions. pic related

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:13:44 2010 No.1143364 File: 38 KB, 562x437, hahaohwow.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >implying Joyce has bad prose

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:13:44 2010 No.1143365 >>1143358 I second this. Great book

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:13:44 2010 No.1143358 >I wanted a modern / postmodern epic, with a shit-ton of characters, crossing story arcs, and reflections on life, something that asks the big questions. The Fountainhead. Not even trollin.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:14:44 2010 No.1143366 >>1143360 >Crossing story arcs Oh please god no; I hate this Tolkien crap Linear stories are far more entertaining

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:15:44 2010 No.1143370 File: 33 KB, 363x320, 1284223446581.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>1143364 Joyce is a horrible author and anyone who pretends to like him does so to be pretentious.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:16:44 2010 No.1143371 File: 162 KB, 600x600, yoba.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >The prose in this thing is almost as bad as Joyce.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:16:44 2010 No.1143375 >I wanted a modern / postmodern epic, with a shit-ton of characters, crossing story arcs, and reflections on life, something that asks the big questions. Have you even started this thing yet? That's basically what this book is.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:18:44 2010 No.1143382 >>1143355 OP here i picked it up earlier today at my local borders and got to about page 50

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:18:44 2010 No.1143380 >>1143370 Are you 16 and a fan of Chuck Palahniuk?

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:18:44 2010 No.1143378 >>1143348 Dammit OP, I was afraid of exactly that. I still kind of want to read it, but I think you just bumped it way down my list.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:19:44 2010 No.1143384 >>1143358 also OP my favorite book; was thinking that infinite jest would be similar dead wrong

>>	ITT: HERMOINE PICS Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:20:44 2010 No.1143388 File: 216 KB, 1273x1536, 1283522568468.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] THIS IS NOW A HERMOINE THREAD EVERYONE: DUMP YOUR EMMA FOLDERS

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:20:44 2010 No.1143391 File: 44 KB, 300x400, lyle_beaker.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >The prose in this thing is almost as bad as Joyce.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:21:44 2010 No.1143394 File: 92 KB, 255x255, 1284005712361.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>1143371 >>1143391 0/10

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:22:44 2010 No.1143397 Read Berlin Alexanderplatz, OP. Might also like Threepenny Novel.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:22:44 2010 No.1143401 >>1143394 oh you silly philistine

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:23:44 2010 No.1143402 >>1143391 >implying finnegan's wake or ulysses is anything but unreadable

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:23:44 2010 No.1143404 >>1143401 you silly hipster cunt

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:24:44 2010 No.1143405 >>1143402 i've read both and found them amazing. you mad?

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:25:44 2010 No.1143408 File: 1.39 MB, 291x211, 1283846997811.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>1143380 No Pahalniuk is pretty bad, too.

Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:25:44 2010 No.1143409

>>1143382
>There’s no wrong way to read Infinite Jest: front-to-back, upside-down, cut in half, or skipping around. But here are a few tips for the Infinite Jester.

>3
>Persevere to page 200: There are several popular way stations on the road to abandoning Infinite Jest. The most heavily trafficked by far is “The Wardine Section”. Where the opening pages of IJ are among the best written in the book, page 37 (and many pages thereafter) are in a tortured, faux-Ebonics type dialect. “Wardine say her momma ain’t treat her right.” “Wardine be cry.” Potentially offensive (if one wants to be offended), and generally hard to get through. Hang in there, ignore the regional parlance, and focus on what the characters are doing. Like most things in the book, you’ll need to know this later. Likewise for the other rough patches to be found in the first fifth of the novel.

>4
>Trust the author: Around page 50, you’re going to feel a sinking sense of dread, as it dawns on you how much stuff you’ll be asked to keep track of: lots of characters coming and going, subplots upon subplots, page long sentences, and more. You have to believe that what seems at first like a bunch of disconnected vignettes (like The Wardine Section) will in fact come together; that the connections among what seem like radically disparate plot lines really do make themselves apparent in time. But at first, it requires something of a focus on the local plot lines, and a leap of faith in the fact that the global picture will eventually resolve.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:26:44 2010 No.1143413 >>1143402 >Finnegan's Wake >'s It's Finnegans Wake

Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:28:44 2010 No.1143417
File: 7 KB, 314x375, 1284002869355.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>1143413

Who gives a fuck? Joyce is an incoherent blowhard who is idolized by people who want to believe they understand something deep when in reality it's a bunch of gibberish, end of story.

Captcha: better lessan

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:28:44 2010 No.1143418 >>1143409 I liked the Wardine part

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:28:44 2010 No.1143419 http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrueArtIsIncomprehensible

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:29:44 2010 No.1143421 >>1143417 that's not true at all. he's just not for the lazy reader. also, you have to know a thing or two about religion and world history, which you probably dont.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:29:44 2010 No.1143427 File: 11 KB, 315x246, 1284862985646.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] The Fountainhead >>> Infinite Jest >>>>>>> a pile of shit >>>>>>>>>> Finnegans Wake

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:30:44 2010 No.1143430 >>1143421 I admit that history and / or religion is not my strong suit, but I don't get why that has anything to do with understanding Joyce? Is that what the book is about?

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:31:44 2010 No.1143433 >I wanted a modern / postmodern epic, with a shit-ton of characters, crossing story arcs, and reflections on life, something that asks the big questions. Just read everything by Kurt Vonnegut and pretend that it's one book.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:33:44 2010 No.1143438 >>1143430 dude seriously, FW is about birth and rebirth and a shitton of everything in between.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:34:44 2010 No.1143441 2deep4u

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:36:44 2010 No.1143448 >>1143433 OP here. Have read Vonnegut, was reading around for something contemporary and new.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:37:44 2010 No.1143450 >>1143427 a pile of shit >>> Infinite Jest >>>>>>> Finnegan s Wake >>>>>>>>>> The Fountainhead

Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:40:44 2010 No.1143456

>>1143382
So its been hours and hours? I'm reading it right now, I'm around page 100. I don't think the grammar has been bad (except in that ebonics part, but I enjoyed that). Its the vocabulary and exposition that's annoying me slightly. I'm liking the footnotes, the filmography of James was interesting. I thinking you give up too easily. Also you like the fountainhead, it could be we just have different tastes, as I think that book is straw-man garbage

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:41:44 2010 No.1143458 >>1143417 >>1143421 Actually you're both wrong. Many of his short stories, such as The Dead, are perfectly comprehensible even without special knowledge of history or religion.

Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:43:12 2010 No.1143463 [DELETED]

I'm confused OP. At present I'm a little over 100 pages from finishing Infinite Jest. The reason I was drawn to it is that I like Post-Modern /lit/. Gravity's Rainbow is my favorite novel. I don't think Palahniuk is terrible when he's at his best. I liked House of Leaves and Ulysses. Infinite Jest can legitimately associate with these books at a party. Stick with it. The first 300 pages are confusing, the middle 300 were nailbiting good, and the last 250 or so have been gratifying.

But I have questions. I'll put things in spoilers.

Roy Tony and Darlene: I remember that section early in the book [spoiler[written in Ebonics[/spoiler], but what does that have to do with the story. I recall Roy Tony lifting Erdedy at an NA meeting or something, but is that the only significance?

How many of you saw the Joelle is Madam Psychosis twist? I was pretty stumped when I read that section and usually I feel like I see the story as Wallace plans it out.

Are all of the {spoiler] paranormal happenings, ie: Gately's dreams being related to Himself's films, the broomsticks, the moving dorm furniture, the wraith a manifestation of their subconscious or real strange shit afoul.

I would ask more, but I'm at the word limit

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:46:44 2010 No.1143468 >>1143417 Why don't you stop thinking you get "cool and edgy" points for not being a hipster. You don't.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:49:44 2010 No.1143472 >>1143458 hey retard we weren't talking about his short stories

Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:52:44 2010 No.1143479

>>1143463

OP here.

The only time I'll give up on a book is if it's truly awful and it shows no signs of getting better anytime soon. Infinite Jest is nowhere near that point, and I'm only 50-ish pages in, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt (considering the length of the book).

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:55:44 2010 No.1143486 >>1143479 50 pages in? fuck you for even having an opinion right now.

Anonymous Mon Sep 20 21:56:44 2010 No.1143492

>>1143479

Keep reading. It gets very good for a stretch of about 400 pages in the middle and more and more gratifying as you near the end. You'll be confused sometimes, and the footnotes can get frustrating (don't skip any of them), but it all ties back into itself near the end. I'm a little over 100 pages from the end. It's a very good book, an instant favorite. It's also quite candid after you realize that DFW will never write another novel because he hung himself.

;_;

Anonymous Mon Sep 20 22:24:44 2010 No.1143568

>>1143492
>It's also quite candid after you realize that DFW will never write another novel because he hung himself.

yeah, i'm reading it for the second time now (first was about 6 months before he died), about 150 or so pages in, and Kate Gompert's description of depression is just fucking heartbreaking knowing how it turned out for DFW

Gravity's Rainbow Gravity's Rainbow Mon Sep 20 22:29:44 2010 No.1143580
File: 81 KB, 333x500, gravitys-rainbow-penguin.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>I wanted a modern / postmodern epic, with a shit-ton of characters, crossing story arcs, and reflections on life, something that asks the big questions.
Gravity's Rainbow

Advanced search
Text to find
Subject [?]Search by post subject. Leave empty for any.
Username [?]Search for user name. Leave empty for any user name.
Tripcode [?]Search for tripcode. Leave empty for any.
Email [?]Search by email. Leave empty for any.
Filename [?]Search by image filename. Leave empty for any.
From Date [?]Enter what date to start searching from. Format is YYYY-MM-DD
To Date [?]Enter what date to start searching until. Format is YYYY-MM-DD
Image hash
Search in	All Posts OPs Only
Deleted posts	Show all posts Show only deleted posts Only show non-deleted posts
Internal posts	Show all posts Show only internal posts Show only archived posts
Order	New posts first Old posts first
Capcode	All Posts Only by Users Only by Mods Only by Admins Only by Developers
Results	Posts Threads
Action	[ Simple ]