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/lit/ - Literature

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14313630 No.14313630 [Reply] [Original]

This is my favorite book. Fight me.

>> No.14313925
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14313925

>>14313630
Heh. Nothing personal, kid.

>> No.14313967

>>14313630
The author is a reactionary American and killed himself.

>> No.14314055

>>14313967
La mort de l'auteur

>> No.14314176

>>14313967
>reactionary
This word has lost all meaning.

>> No.14314179

>>14313925
based anon

>> No.14314202

>>14313630
actually just finished it and am reading it again
can't believe I let so many of the memeing faggots on this site keep me from giving it a shot for so long.

>> No.14314210

>>14313967
if you are an American and have a brain then you are essentially a reactionary

>> No.14314553
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14314553

>>14313630
step up m8

>> No.14314574

>>14313630
i don't need to, you've already lost.

>> No.14314581

>>14313630
I don't fight retards

>> No.14314627

hey srs question tho:
did JOI (nonwraith) give Hal the mold to eat as a kid so it woud synthesize with the DMZ he gave him (as wraith)?/why was john wayne wearing a mask when they were digging up the head?/why did Orin not get killed and what did "do it to her" mean?

>> No.14314651

James Incandenza is one of the best characters ever conceived, fight me.

>> No.14314654

>>14314553
I'm on pg 400 and while its prose is technically better, the sprawl of IJ's story drawfs the sob stories of a bunch of bureauwagies, it's just fucking boring and yeah I get that's the point but the answer to extreme stimulation is not extreme boredom, just kys--o wait

>> No.14314672
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14314672

>>14314651
>Jim not that way Jim

>> No.14314898

>>14314654
>just boring
lol then stop
srsly, I wasn't bored a fucking minute so I rec you stop now before you hurt yourself

>> No.14315201

It’s an incredible book.

>> No.14315263

>>14314654
you remember in IJ theres a line about the things you can learn in rehab? read that one again.

>> No.14315685

>>14314627
mold and dmz have nothing to do with anything. Why not. It was a nightmare, and I do not remember that.

>> No.14315749

>>14314672
definitely my favorite chapter
i unironically started treating objects as though they have souls and respond to being respected because of it

>> No.14315764

>>14315685
Did you even read the book?
srsly tho Dax is described as being rendered from a mold that grows off a mold and the mold Hal eats is described as having overgrown fungus on it- this is already a running theory on the internet. Also how do you not fucking remember the “do it to her” part- srsly did you actually read the cunting book?

>> No.14315780

>>14313630
I like a lot of his influences like McLuhan, Wittgenstein, Delillo but I can’t enjoy his work. Some funny scenes though.

>> No.14315788

>>14315764
the dmz and mold have nothing to do with anything, just because they are connected does not mean they fucked Hal's map up. What happens to Hal and Gately during the missing year is fairly well and concretely spelled out, it takes no theories, you just need to find the pieces. And it is a fucking 1000 pages, I do not remember every single line and the context.

I love that you think and established internet theory lends credence.

>> No.14315823

>>14314627
I'm pretty much certain that the "do it to her" line is just a 1984 reference given the context in which Orin says it.

>> No.14315828
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14315828

>>14313630
You sound like this faggot OP

>> No.14315834

>>14315823
Oh, I remember that now. Yeah, it is just a reference and O freaking out.

>> No.14315841

>>14315788
You are a fucking waste. If it wasn’t the dmz what fucked hals map up? Also I love that you’re saying shit is fairly spelled out but can’t(won’t) explain it. There’s no bonus points for being a dense fuck so telling me how you can’t make connections between obvious motifs (like the only two fucking times mold/fungus is mentioned) and you don’t even fucking remember the shit you read and are now trying to cite isn’t impressive breh

>> No.14315845

>>14315834
How is the quote he says a ref?
Srsly asking; I get how the roaches and shit are refs but I don’t recall «do it to her» being said in 1984?

>> No.14315852

>>14315828
This is so goddamn funny.

>> No.14315864

>>14315828
>big books?? Reeeeeeeeee!

jfc not even smart enough to have your own opinion?

>> No.14315865

>>14313630
why would i fight a dweeb cuck like you?

>> No.14315866

>>14315828
man i can't believe he didnt kill himself
though, i should probably read more books because i think infinite jest is bretty gud

>> No.14315871

>>14315788
>established internet theory is wrong in principle
>he said on 4chan

>> No.14315872

good for you

>> No.14315896

>>14315828
so why is IJ such a meme?

>> No.14315897

>>14315841
I can explain, but I won't. He explains how to find the clues in the first chapter, the first clue is digging up the head, the rest are given in the same fashion, mundane details, off topic aside, interesting stuff happens. Let me describe the room and it's contents for you, by the way I dug up my dead fathers head, now I am going to freak everyone out. You only need to find two of the clues to have a decent idea of what happens, but once you learn to spot them, they are easy to find, and a great deal about the book falls into place.

>>14315845
I took the other anon's word that it came from 1984, I do remember some dystopian novel where the character screams that out or something very close when he gets tortured, but I can not quite place it.

>>14315871
Never said it was wrong in principle, just that it being established on the net does not make it so.

>> No.14315898

>>14315845
"Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don't care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!"

Don't remember the page number but that's the direct quote from 1984. Compare the "Do it to Julia" to "do it to her" for maximum metaphorical understanding.

>> No.14315915

>>14315897
I don’t even know what you’re trying to say my retarded dawg?
the first chapter is riddled with clues (it’s mentions briefly a war plane flying overhead that signifies the resultant canada/America conflict after the end of the narrative (at least, if you infer a clue and not just meaningless rambling in a book the author said he rewrote repreatedlt and that every sentence was intentional))
Tbh don’t try to explain because you’re leading me to believe you only have a reductionist ‘this is just a silly book’ type interpretation which is just kinda boring for a fucking 1000 pager, dude

>> No.14315919

>>14315898
Begs the question: who’s Orin’s Julia?
the moms

>> No.14315926

>>14315866
I can't believe you think it really happened.

>> No.14315937

>>14315926
could you be a bigger faggot
the point of my post wasnt that i believed every word in a greentext, it was to communicate that i too am a basic shit who hasnt read much beyond IJ as of yet

>> No.14316001

>>14315915
I never said everything else did not matter, you inferred that with no real evidence. These are the clues as to what happens to Hal and Gately in the missing year, as I already stated, once you find them, they can not really be denied and they pull much of the book together. Hell, they are not even clues, he just spells it out, you just need to find the pieces.

But you keep on inferring clues, you seem good at it.

>> No.14316282

>>14315919
its the "rubenesque" journalist he met, remember?

>> No.14317554

Currently at page 100 or so but im not a native speaker so its really hard to get through. Like the ideas and writing style so far but whats up with the repetitive fart jokes? I swear i read at least 5 in only 100 pages.

>> No.14317630

>>14315896
The reason its a meme because it actually straddles the line between good literature and bad literature so closely that it's almost impossible to really articulate WHY its not very good without simply having read lots of books. Weirdly enough I think once you've read even 100 novels, you won't like IJ but at the same time everyone who loves IJ has only read <10 novels.
So theres this really weird dichotomy where everyone well read dislikes something but everyone really poorly read thinks its incredibly profound. This is the entire basis of the meme. Very few books achieve such status, it's like the pinnacle of dishonest literature.

>> No.14317656
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14317656

>>14313630
It's my favorite book too, OP.

>> No.14317659

>>14317630
>t. never read Infinite Jest
I bet you made it 100 pages in and then gave up.

>> No.14317740

IJ will forever be both over and underrated.too much discussion of DFW and his work revolves around his rabid cult like fan base and equally obnoxious detractors.IJ has its flaws but all in all it is an ambitious work that includes many memorable passages and ideas.i would encourage those who have not read it to do so before reading critiques

>> No.14317745

>>14317659
how many novels have you read pal? Be honest.

>> No.14317771

>>14313925
reddit

>> No.14318016

I'm a sort of emulative being, forced to instantly parrot prose styles and thoughts of whomever I'm reading at the time, and one thing I noticed before becoming ultimately frustrated and quitting this work was the insistence of Wallace to formulate what I saw as the most perfectly bad prose he could create. As a sucker for the mellifluous, it was jarring, every page, absorbing over time that purposely tortured syntax; taxing my mind to such an extent that it felt I was going against a sort of Nimrod, tasked with scrambling the world's language. I at first thought it was an example of his amateurism, his inability to fashion sentences with beauty, but eventually it hit me. I was also severely depressed while reading the work, despite it often being filled with very clever and witty things, the overall impression that the author himself had on me was one of deep sorrow, dejection, a cynical humor that extended into a depth of hopelessness, a sort of wail. I could not contend with this sort of assault on my faculties. My weakness was not resolve, not ability to comprehend, not even patience, but the fact that I believed nothing good would come of the work in my life, as I'm simply unable to truly separate myself and objectively perceive a work, let it wash over me and examine, but rather I must engage in an extremely personal mental conversation with the author himself, mimic him, wear his thoughts and his language. What could I expect but the restive descent into horror, the same horror, I suspect, that took the man's life. A curse of madness I need not blight myself with.

>> No.14318116

>>14315896
It’s a meme because fags who won’t read it or read it but didn’t get/like it are really really mad that some people are enjoying something they are unable to

>> No.14318161

>>14317745
Currently I'm at 156 since the start of high school.

And I just turned 18.

>> No.14318163

>>14317630
>everyone who likes IJ Hs only read <10 novels
gonna need a citation on this ridiculous statement because desu this just sounds like a cope

>> No.14318313

>>14318016
Hi, Hal

>> No.14318332

>>14318313
what makes you say that?

>> No.14318348

>>14318332
because Hal is a character who touts his mastery of words and utilizes this to excel at communication but at the cost of being removed from others, leaving him alone and "rotten" inside. the book swicthes between the eloquent, dynamic and layered language of the upscale tennis students and the coarse unrefined vernacular of drug addicts. this intertwines with the recurrent (and very honestly felt) suffering by both parties. one of the ideas (at least that I picked up on) was that the eloquence/dynamism ultimately is a distancing mechanism and results in suffering and isolation. reading your post brought all of this to my mind

>> No.14318412

>>14318348
very interesting, and insightful. thank you for the explanation. though, i will say one thing. it is not the language that serves to distance some, i shouldn't think, but the unwillingness to compromise, the deep desire to hear the song of another that resonates with one's own, instead of straining to hear through the clash of difference. we are barred by the language, yes, but also, given the right context, we are fulfilled with an illimitable depth. the language itself is just an instrument, and i think too often, it becomes synonymous in the mind with thought itself, rather than a conduit with which to express it.

>> No.14318431

Nah its a solid read

>> No.14318444

>>14313630
Gravity's Rainbow is better

>> No.14318487
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14318487

>>14318444
here's dfw's ghost still posting in an effort to ride on pynchon's coattails

>> No.14320096

pleb. get a real book.

>> No.14320439

How can one book after so many years of discussion provoke such shit flinging still?

>> No.14320536

>>14318487
I don't get WHY people say these two books are so similar. The prose is distinctly styled in both but the styles couldn't be more different. The plots are nothing alike. The themes go in wildly different directions. The pacing is completely different. Other than being "long" and "verbose" and "postmodern" what do these books exactly share which makes them so often compared?

>> No.14320603

>>14320536
those are it. the real reason why is that they haven't read the damn books. all of a genre looks the same outside the pages, anon.