[ 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

View post   
File: 499 KB, 1653x2560, 81KBldResmL.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14742820 No.14742820 [Reply] [Original]

50 pages in. This shit sucks. Dropped.

>> No.14742850
File: 43 KB, 500x500, 03b.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14742850

>> No.14742866

I'm reading Gravity's Rainbow. It's another bait. I don't know why /lit/ finds baroque novels the best novels.

>> No.14742958

>>14742820
Joking right? IJ is a profound work. Even if you don't like it you have to respect it. One of the greatest pieces of literature ever constructed.

>> No.14743093

>>14742958
desu I think his essays are way better

>> No.14743100

>>14742958
How can anyone think this?

>> No.14743231

bump

>> No.14743241

>>14742958
I really love DFW, so I like that the fact that someone genuinely thinks this, when most of the time on /lit/, whenever I'm writing about DFW or (rarely) talking to other people about him, I'm trying to cautiously praise him without being too overenthusiastic, since a fair number of academia and writers believe he is pure trash, so I don't want to alienate myself from any people who are of that perfectly reasonable opinion (in their point of view) from believing I'm a totally naive teenage DFW fan who has no idea what great literature is and therefore disregard everything I say, and also I think I'm genuinely anxious to fit in with the literati. I would never say "profound" or "one of the greatest pieces of literature" about it, because I don't feel confident in the validity of my own taste yet to proclaim it, even though that is basically what I really think, which I am very aware shows an ironic lack of sincerity for a DFW fan (but I'm sincerely divulging my inability to be properly sincere here which shows a meta-ness that IS characteristic of DFW fans, so I think I get a pass).

>> No.14743287

>>14743241
You don’t need to be so defensive. You know it, I know it, that guy knows it: IJ is the single greatest work of fiction ever produced. We don’t need to pander to the filtered any longer

>> No.14743312

>>14742820
Cool thanks for letting me know

>> No.14743739

>>14742866
This, maximalism is overrepresented on this site.

>> No.14743755

I've read Pale King and a bunch of Wallace's short stories before and loved them, but I'm up to page 150 in IJ right now and I have to agree, it's not a good start.

>> No.14743821

>>14742820
FILTER'D
I
L
T
E
R
'
D

>> No.14743842

did anyone else prefer broom of the system to ij? I like that book more in almost every way.

>> No.14744517

>>14742820
i heard sam hyde say that if i read this i'll just end up sitting around smoking a lot of pot
is that true?

>> No.14744617

>>14744517
Where does Sam Hyde mention this book?

>> No.14744623

>>14744617
one of his car monologues

>> No.14744624

>>14744623
do you remember which one?

>> No.14744642

OUCH!
wtf OP you dropped it on my foot

>> No.14744644

>>14744624
No, since they're all basically the same. I remember he was defending his own reading of self help books during the rant

>> No.14744653

>>14744644
ah, I'll probably never find it then. I'm assuming he didn't like it, considering dfw was afraid of irony and Sam Hyde is basically a ball of satire.

>> No.14744670

>>14743755
It gets good around 350. Seriously, I thought the same thing as you.

>> No.14744695

>>14744670
The pages are so big though. That's like 500 pages of a normal book and that feels unreasonable.

>> No.14744755
File: 45 KB, 309x475, broom of the system cover.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14744755

>>14742820
>muh Infinite Jest
>muh short stories
>muh essays
>muh lobster
>muh unfinished novel because suicide
The true patrician pill is realizing that The Broom of the System is DFW's masterpiece.

>> No.14744975

>>14742850
This might be bait, but I'm curious to know what people really thought of this book. Anyone care to tell me if IJ is worth a read?

>> No.14744981

>>14742820
Congratulations on not liking a book.

>> No.14744998

>>14742820
Is IJ worth reading even if I'm not a 'murican? I hear it's pretty deeply steeped in the 'murican zeitgeist of its age.

>> No.14745060

>>14744975
No it's boring and druggie gross

>> No.14745110

My theory is that whenever a book is structurally sound, but the plot seems to be too convoluted. The critics and average readers will pretend like they understand it, and praise it. I have not read this book, yet somehow I feel that's the case here. If it was intentional the author rip in peace, should be lauded for his successful attempt at tricking the pseuds.

>> No.14745273

>>14745110
The plot honestly isn't that convoluted on a surface level it's just that there's a lot of shit that you miss. Like it's pretty easy to keep track of the main things, and you rarely feel lost, but then you'll read something in an IJ thread and be like "wait, THAT happened?"

>> No.14745278

>>14745060
>druggie gross
Really? Why do you say that?

>> No.14745290

>you have to play for 50 hours before it gets good!

>> No.14745321

>>14745273
This shit right here. Subtle things just lost in the mass, or by the time you get to a reveal you’ve forgotten what made it meaningful. I’ve heard there are companion readers that outline main points and set up timelines and what all.

>> No.14745343

>>14743842
Broom of the system was a proto IJ, it's incredible that it's DFW's first novel.
I would suggest anyone that wants to read IJ some day, first read broom of the system.

>> No.14745367

>>14745110
> The critics and average readers will pretend like they understand it
I will give you the point that there is a lot of stuff happening, but the plot is not that complicated. As >>14745321 mentioned, the main problem is that unless you are actively taking notes about every single detail, you are going to lost some of the meaning behind it.

That said, I loved this book.

>> No.14745385

>>14745367
Could you give some advice on what to look out for as a first time reader?

>> No.14745475
File: 200 KB, 1188x898, fa-plot-arc.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14745475

>>14745385
Yeah, before reading IJ you can:
- Read brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Broom of the system by DFW
- Read about the life of DFW, like even the movie can give you an idea about the tone of the book even if he was portrayed more like that awkward interview he once had.
- Take a lot of notes. Have a notebook were you can write exclusively about the characters, their motives and their importance in the story.

Of course, this it's only to make it easier to understand some of the themes, you could also just jump in to the book, it will be just harder to get it and if you are not used to read books this long, maybe you will be either frustrated or bored.