Infinite jest

[Anonymous No.12336366]

Why is everyone so excited about this book on this board? Looks like a super long and boring book to me

[Anonymous No.12336376]

Its a comedy book so its easy to joke about.

[Anonymous No.12336377]

Because it's super long and boring, so they can flaunt themselves for having read this.

[Anonymous No.12336390]

>>12336366
It’s alright but massively overhyped on this board because it’s written by a white man who killed himself and /lit/ loves to idolise/empathise with the struggling artist trope. Pale King is objectively better

[Anonymous No.12337167]

>>12336390
Do not fail to note the irony that this was basically a 1300 page screed that amounted to a high school guidance councilor tier "drugs are bad" message. This is explicitly not limited to illegal/hedonistic drug use but extends to prescription psychiatric medications. DFW then, practicing what he preached apparently, stopped taking his anti-depression medication and killed himself.

[Anonymous No.12337370]

So is it worth reading it or is it just a waste of time?

[Anonymous No.12337379]

>>12336377
>it's super long and boring, so they can flaunt themselves

I read 60% of it in one sitting then lit it on fire. Wish I would have finished it just so I can say I read it.

[Anonymous No.12337403]

I liked it
>>12337167
kinda disagree that the message just boils down to "drugs are bad" - i think there's more at play with comparing modern entertainment with drug dependency, and the different ways people seek out help (or don't)
>>12336390
do you think Pale King's unfinished state diminishes its quality or makes it hard to follow? i'll probably read it at some point but i don't know anything about it
>>12337370
it's at least worth it to try. people say it doesn't pick up until the second half, but the very beginning is quite good imo, even if you don't like the rest or end up dropping it.

[Anonymous No.12337424]

>>12337167
Clearly just read negative reviews instead of the actual book

[Anonymous No.12337437]

I would read this, but it isn't translated on my language yet

[Anonymous No.12337445]

>>12337437
Why not read it in English

[Anonymous No.12337449]

>>12337403
I can’t say as to whether TPK would’ve been a better book if it was completed, but as it is its very successful. Less whacky than IJ, but still very funny and moving. Of course, if you think the IRS is a dull subject matter for a book, you are going to HATE it, no matter who the writer is. I can see why a lot of people would be turned off, especially given how many Americans despise having to pay tax

[Anonymous No.12337458]

>>12336366
Don't waste your time;
I barely managed to finish it, then I gave it as a gift to a friend and he also said it's shit.

[Anonymous No.12337483]

>>12337458
>I barely managed to finish it
Then why should I have any reason to trust your opinion?

[Anonymous No.12337493]

>>12337167
I don't think the message is
> drugs are bad
so much as
> you are bad for liking them

Which was maybe not a helpful point of view for the dude personally, but none of my highschool guidance counsellors finished the talks by saying that if you were going to try and live as a hedonist you might as well just shoot up.

[Anonymous No.12337498]

>>12337370
It's basically one pseud's show with a thesaurus. It does get better insofar that at some point it stops being solely trite and pointless "but mom, you don't understand, it's supposed to be bad!" exposition, but I couldn't in all honesty recommend it to anyone not specifically interested in /lit/ memes.

[Anonymous No.12337560]

>>12337445
I'm still learning it and I'm not advanced enought

[Anonymous No.12337564]

>>12337483
>Then why should I have any reason to trust your opinion?
If you have no reason to trust them you also have no reason to doubt them. Because they read it and you didn't therefore, they has more room to talk.

[Anonymous No.12337569]

>>12337560
What is your native language?

[Anonymous No.12337601]

>>12337569
ebonics

[Anonymous No.12337625]

So it's just a meme book then?

[Anonymous No.12337631]

>>12337625

It's a meme for a reason. Meme doesn't necessarily mean bad or false.

[Anonymous No.12337639]

>>12337449
Actual Tax accountant here...I’ve read and loved both. TPK has a few particularly moving, sad sections which outclass anything else DFW has written, unfortunately the story is incomplete, and to be quite frank some parts were dull/needed cutting out. Substance wise, I love it more than IJ, and it changed how I view my career and time spent in a tax office post graduation.

[Anonymous No.12337657]

>>12337569
Urdu

[Anonymous No.12337663]

>>12337449
Actual Tax accountant here...I’ve read and loved both. TPK has a few particularly moving, sad sections which outclass anything else DFW has written, unfortunately the story is incomplete, and to be quite frank some parts were dull/needed cutting out. Substance wise, I love it more than IJ, and it changed how I view my career and time spent in a tax office post graduation.

With that said, IJ is the better book, complete, fun, and has had a larger impact on me. Read it, grind past the first few hundred pages and you won’t put it down. It is one of the few books where after years have passed I still remember most if it, quite vividly.

[Anonymous No.12337670]

>>12337657
>Paki
I’m so sorry, Allah be with you

[Anonymous No.12337675]

after reading about 100 pages I can't see how this book isn't a huge meme. half of it feels like the type of shit you'd just throw down on paper if someone was forcing you to write a book at gunpoint and didn't care how bad it was.
it seems like there are some parts to be found but I'm not sure it's worth slogging through all the shit to get to

[Anonymous No.12337678]

>>12337564
Where did I say I hadn’t read it? All I said was I’m not gonna value the opinion of someone who hated something because they found it difficult. Seeing as he gave no other reason for disliking it, I have to assume he disapproved of it for a fairly shallow reason

[Anonymous No.12337685]

>>12337663
TPK just felt like much more of a personal project than IJ to me. however I will say that the eschaton scene was perhaps one of the greatest moments in any book I’ve ever read

[Anonymous No.12337686]

>>12336377
this. it's a pretentious book written by a pretentious author so plebs can read it and be all pretentious about it

[Anonymous No.12337688]

>12337663
>tax accountant's favorite book
Need you more proof that it's irredeemable garbage for philistine dullards?

[Anonymous No.12337715]

>>12337686
Is it just me or is “pretentious” the most pretentious critique of a book? It tells me nothing of value about the content or why I should disregard it. It pretends to say something when really it reveals more about the critic than the work itself, and your limited capacity to talk about why you like or dislike certain things.

[Anonymous No.12337733]

>>12337686
>calls people pretentious
>uses the word pleb

[Anonymous No.12337773]

>>12337715
>>12337733
Assblasted[1] pseuds[2].

1) Internet slang term characterizing someone as substantially upset.
2) Pseudo-intellectuals.

[Anonymous No.12337822]

>>12337773
Another criticism totally lacking in substance. Why do you even bother posting?

[Anonymous No.12337893]

>>12337569
Polish