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/lit/ - Literature

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12502459 No.12502459 [Reply] [Original]

Is this worth reading or is it just depressingly unfinished? I don’t want to fall into something that makes me sad for being unresolved (I understand non-resolution is somewhat a DFW theme but that literally is the case in this instance)

>> No.12502466

it's a good read bro, some of dfw's best writing is in it.It's not a plot focused book.

>> No.12502512

There isn’t really a resolution to be sought after, it’s more a story about a certain philosophical viewpoint which DFW held. Anyways, pretty early on in the book is one of the best chapters of a book I’ve read and one of the few that nearly brought me to tears. Then, later on in the book is a chapter about a girl which tops it.

If he hadn’t offed himself I think TPK might’ve been his masterpiece, the quality of writing is improved over IJ.

>> No.12503438

Devo worth the read. The only depressing thought is how great it would've been finished. His notes at the end show this, and bring clarity to some of the characters.

>> No.12503506

Seems like there's been a lot of discussion on TPK the past few days. I picked up a copy recently at goodwill and I'm not planning to read it just yet, but a /lit/ group read might be something worth organizing if there's enough interest.

>> No.12503751

>>12503506
I'm interested if others are.

>> No.12503797

>>12503751
Found someone's 6 week group reading schedule from a few years back. I know there are a few different editions out, but I imagine going by sections it won't be a ridiculous amount of weekly reading.
If there's interest a /lit/ group read could probably start partway through/end of February. Give anyone interested enough time to pick up the book at their leisure without having to pay for express shipping.

>> No.12503855

>>12503506
>picked up a copy recently at goodwill
man why is everyone else able to find readable shit at goodwill. mine is full of classics like "the power of juicing" and other bs

>> No.12503858

>>12503506
I’m down. Just bought the book after getting it recommended to me not too long ago.

>> No.12503911

>>12503855
It's a matter of luck and the area you live. I hit up 5 different thrift stores around town every week or two and generally I find maybe 2-4 readable books a week. Sometimes I get lucky with a big haul, but thrifting has to almost be a hobby to find decent books.

>> No.12504001

>>12503506
>>12503751
>>12503797
>>12503858
I’m hardly /lit/ at all and it’s taken me like a year of reading off and on to finish Broom of the System but I’d be about this, is this like just keeping contact over the internet on a regular basis?

>> No.12504009

>>12502459
It's really good. It's obviously unfinished and is a bit rough in some places but it's definitely worth reading. David was really onto something with this one.

>> No.12504023

>>12504001
I figure if a few more people show interest in this thread either tonight or this weekend I'll put together a schedule and post threads leading up to a start date. Discussion can happen on /lit/ in threads as we go through it.

>> No.12504058

Best time to start would probably be Feb 17. Gives people a good 2 weeks to pick up the book if they don't have it, and it's not so far out that everyone will have forgotten. We'd finish right as March comes to a close.

>> No.12504064

is it possible to “finish a novel” if you arent the author?

>> No.12504140

>>12503506
I got TPK for myself this Christmas and am planning on reading it next week after exams end. I would possibly like to be part of this reading group even if you start before I can, I will certainly catch up.

>> No.12504180

>>12504140
I'm probably going to start a thread tonight with info so people can get their hands on a copy before we start. I'm thinking 6 weeks starting February 17.
I just want to wait until I'm home from work to put it all together so I can have a halfways decent thread image and not have to deal with phoneposting.

>> No.12504188

It would be late march before I could undertake a big book for fun again.

>> No.12504206

I'm gonna read this book before all of you fags and post long summaries and analysis every day

>> No.12504231

>>12504188
Even if you only have time for 20 pages a day, you should be able to keep up. Most editions look to be 500-some pages and it'll be over 6 weeks.
>>12504206
By all means do! It'll promote more awareness of the book, and hopefully that means more people will get in on the group discussion.

>> No.12504233

>>12503506
Do it anon. I'll pick up my old copy and join in

>> No.12505609

So is there a specific plan anyone here has for reading this together?

>> No.12505666

>>12505609
If nobody else does anything in the next couple hours I'll have a thread up for it tonight. Seems like theres at least a few interested snobs and I think it would be fun to get something like that rolling.

>> No.12505691
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12505691

>>12505666
A few interested anons*
And that's why I'm waiting to put anything together until I'm home from work. Phoneposting is an awful experience.

>> No.12505694

>>12505666
Like I said I’m pretty clueless in perspective but I’d definitely be about it

>> No.12505766

>>12505691
lol for real I’ve been on my phone all day and fucked up basically all my posts

>> No.12506417

>>12506414

>> No.12506704

>>12503506

yeah who deleted the first thread from a few days ago?

does anyone have the link to thread from a few months or maybe a few years ago in which an anon was saying he was writing a phd thesis on the pale king, the main thesis being was that it wasn't actually an unfinished novel but was actually very finished, and constituted a very cohesive suicide note? He went through each chapter and explained why each of them were individually significant in this regard, even quoting certain sentences.

I've been wanting to read over it for ages.

>> No.12507330

>>12506704
It was weird to be talking in that thread and have it suddenly disappear. At least there's still interest.
Sounds like an interesting read, hopefully it turns up sooner or later.

>> No.12507371

>>12507330

It was so good and so comprehensive, like I was pretty convinced by it at the time. I've always been very annoyed with myself for not saving it or screenshotting it or something.

Hopefully someone has access to it.

The deletion of the prior thread was also rather bizarre.

>> No.12507426

>>12504206
dumb fag.
Why are you acting like this is a new book?
A summary would hardly explain shit.
It's basically just a big whiny auto-biography about why life is painful and pointless.
Spoiled.

>> No.12507434

>>12506704
That was me.
It is finished.
In a sense.
It's not satisfying in the end but that was sort of his ultimate spiteful point.

>> No.12507511

>>12507434
You should keep an eye on >>12506414 in the coming weeks.

I bet with that much time invested in TPK you'd have some interesting insights as we read through.

>> No.12507535

>>12507511
I do, and I will.
But it's all kind of exhausting to relay all the information at this point.
People underestimate David's deliberation and the subtle complexities of his works.
Even the incongruous "Wardine be cry" has an explanation (if you know how to read/analyze properly).

>> No.12507593

>>12506704
>>12507330
>>12507371
Definitely interested in this. I'd love to see the full analysis.

>> No.12507618

>>12507593
search the archive for my name and you'll find it a couple pages back, was maybe may 2018. I was on adderall and said too much, some of it I would rephrase.
I wasn't the OP but the thread image is identical to this thread's.

If you have specific questions I can answer those.

>> No.12507629

>>12507618
Also, the last chapter of the paperback edition with additional 4 chapters basically spelled out the point of the novel-as-suicide-note, but I guess the editors cut it out because it was too on-the-nose and kinda depressing.

>> No.12507635

Can someone rewrite DFW into the Divine Comedy pls?

>> No.12507638

>>12507618
sorry, maybe it was May 2017... or June?

>> No.12508537

>>12507535
If you're still here can you give me your explanation of Wardine be cry

>> No.12508591

>>12506704
>>12507434
Its funny to read this because I have had this exact thought without even reading it just knowing who he is and reading his other work. It seems obvious.

>> No.12508600

>>12508537
Too tired to elaborate but basically it's the language that's used to contrast with the "central whiteness of the text'.
-is meant to juxtapose the racial differences of the very typically white Mildred Bonk/Bruce Green love affair in the next chapter.
-Clennette the narrator of the Wardine chapter disappears after this section, only later on appearing as a very minor background character at Ennet House as a maid (Cleannette). Essentially, Half-way houses are for white people to get clean, for blacks to clean up.
Roy Tony the victimizer only re-appears at NA meeting where he is forced to hug people.
This all ties in to Himself's rant about worrying about becoming an "extra" in life, and his "realism"-boner for every actors' conversations be heard (leading to incomprehensibility in that period's work).

>> No.12508617

>>12508600
Who /proudextra/ here?

>> No.12508956

>>12504023
I'm interested. Ausfag here, found a copy at an op-shop a coupe of years ago.
>>12503855
I find a lot of good stuff, but it's about increasing the quantity of comb bristles. Like, for instance: I have a circuit of op-shops between work and home. I pilfer a different one each day on my way home, and even find browsing the spines a relaxing way to defrag.

>> No.12509774

>>12508600
I dont know why everyone acts like Hal is a DFW stand-in, I guess because first person and tennis? It really seemed like JOI was more of a self-insert, but with film instead of literature.