/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.20197425]

100 pages in and nothing has happened, convince me to keep going

[Anonymous No.20197429]

If you don't like it by now, you've already been filtered. If you want constant action, this is not the book for you by any stretch.

[Anonymous No.20197442]

>>20197429
>not liking a boring book = being filtered

sorry I don’t find the schizo ramblings of an over-educated autist to be the most thrilling thing in the world

[Anonymous No.20197450]

Nobody's going to convince you to do anything with that entitled, faggot, attitude. We don't need you to keep reading, and it's enough for me to know another retard's been filtered.

[Anonymous No.20197452]

>>20197442
Apologize for being a plebeian, not not liking high-brow literature. Oh, wait - you were being sarcastic? Truly bitchmade.

[Anonymous No.20197453]

>>20197450
now i’m going to finish out of spite :)

[Anonymous No.20197454]

>>20197453
No, you won't, because you're pathetic and probably spineless. Go back to Sanderson, faggot.

[Anonymous No.20197458]

>>20197442
Finding the book to be boring is being filtered. They're called "filters" for a reason, they're meant to catch people who don't belong.

[Anonymous No.20197460]

>>20197453
Let me know what you think of it when you finish it in 2025

[Anonymous No.20197471]

>>20197454
>>20197458
>>20197460
absolutely seething, chill nerds. it’s just a book

[Anonymous No.20197651]

>he fell for the memes

[Anonymous No.20197664]

>>20197429
>Find book boring = filtered

The abosolute state of lit

[Anonymous No.20197667]

>muh boring

[Anonymous No.20197668]

>>20197664
retard

[Anonymous No.20197700]

>>20197668
Great point

[Anonymous No.20197723]

>>20197425
It takes until like page 250 for you to have enough context to know what's going on, and by that point the earlier stuff starts to make sense and be good too.

That said, it's a book that's more about the world than about a page-turner story, so if that's what you want just give up now.

[Anonymous No.20197727]

I read IJ when I was 26 and it was a page turner for me. I tried to read Brief Interviews recently as a 32 y/o and I couldn't get past the first few stories. It was just like, I don't care what this dude thinks anymore. Is there a certain age range you have to hit to enjoy DFW? Maybe recent events have something to do with it. His stuff seems trivial nowadays. He's not the only one.

[Anonymous No.20197731]

>>20197425
I've heard its gets goods 125% in.

[Anonymous No.20197800]

bloated gen x garbage boring af

[Anonymous No.20197813]

to be fair, DFW is not a novelist in the classic sense. hes a writer, but not a true trained novelist in the same way someone like virginia woolf is (using her as an example because I dont even like her).
Hes really not prestigious and you probably just thought the book was boring cause it is unless you specifically relate to it.

[Anonymous No.20197824]

>>20197442
>schizo ramblings of an over-educated autist to be the most thrilling thing in the world
sounds like my diary desu

[Anonymous No.20197996]

>fantods
>annular
>kertwang
>plangent

Jokes aside I'm like 650 pages in, there's some awesome stuff in IJ but much of it is a fucking chore. Plus there's this weird inhuman quality to it that I can't quite put my finger on. DFW's nonfiction stuff was way better since it forced him to focus on what was actually happening in front of him.

[Anonymous No.20198124]

>>20197996
it has evoked zero emotion in me

[Anonymous No.20198149]

>>20197727
>Is there a certain age range you have to hit to enjoy DFW?
late teens to early/mid 20s when you're figuring the world out and trying to come up with new unique ideas on the human condition or whatever. also a belief that you're a little smarter than everyone else, which both grants an air of superiority but also guilt

[Anonymous No.20198264]

>>20197442
>i didnt get filtered, i just dont understand it!

[Anonymous No.20198266]

>>20197429
"nothing happens" is not only about action, you faggot

[Anonymous No.20198375]

>>20197664
>abosolute

[Anonymous No.20198454]

>>20197425
I won't. Read Ulysses instead.

[Anonymous No.20198464]

>>20197727
I was impressed with Brief Interviews when I read it in college, yet I never read anything else by him. Except a few pages of The Pale King which is collecting dust somewhere behind me.

[Anonymous No.20198482]

>>20197425

Prose, you failure... Enjoy...the...prose...

[Anonymous No.20198515]

>>20197442
I write a lot like the dude in Infinite Jest when I over-edit my tangents and arrange them amongst other tangents, instead of editing them out and aiming for brevity

I've had people read my tangent sperg vomit and go "THIS IS AWESOME AND YOU NEED TO READ INFINITE JEST"

nah infinite jest sucks to read

[Anonymous No.20198522]

>>20198515
post some

[Anonymous No.20198875]

>>20198124
Yeah that's what's so weird about it. There are parts that reflect reality in really interesting ways, but on an emotional level it's completely inert. The characters don't feel like real people, they're just these wacky caricatures that are mildly amusing sometimes but never relatable. The imagery is good in its way, but it never feels properly immersive. Overall it feels like it's trying way too hard to be smart/interesting at the expense of everything else. Still gonna finish it but I'm not reading any more of DFW's fiction after this.

[Anonymous No.20198979]

>>20198875
At least read Incarnations of Burned Children, it's only 2 pages long

[Anonymous No.20199075]

>>20197996
Isn't annular a pretty common word?

[Anonymous No.20199085]

>>20198875
https://genius.com/David-foster-wallace-incarnations-of-burned-children-annotated

[Anonymous No.20199283]

>>20198464
The Pale King is worth a read, especially the 100+-page novella in the middle.

[Anonymous No.20199775]

>>20198464
Yeah see
>college
I think this is kind of the upper limit for enjoying DFW. His essays are great but the long form creative stuff feels almost like reading a very precocious /lit/ author. It appears to be very difficult for all contemporary authors to break this ceiling of banality that colors modernity and they frequently employ irony/sarcasm/tongue-in-cheekness (DFW being a prime culprit even if he harps on emotional realism). That's why Houellebecq is so liked on here: because he kind of does break through but to me it's just despair porn. Maybe that's all there is to really glean from the situation. I certainly hope not.

[Anonymous No.20200000]

>>20199775
lol.

[Anonymous No.20200020]

>>20200000
Wasted

[Anonymous No.20200021]

>>20197425
The joke is on you

[Anonymous No.20200037]

>>20198875
you're retarded.

[Anonymous No.20200065]

>>20200020
I had actually started out with an effort post but length was quickly getting ridiculous, that anon just spouted way to much non-sense to deal with in one post so I just gave the tl;dr version.

[Anonymous No.20200136]

>>20200000
Kys

[Anonymous No.20200189]

>>20199775
I'm going to read Submission soon. I liked the first chapter where he talks about knowing Huysmans through his work and feeling like a kindred spirit.

[Anonymous No.20200499]

>>20200065
>that anon spouted way to much non-sense
It's just my view of things, I'm not trying to argue a point.

[Anonymous No.20200545]

>>20200189
Go ahead. I don't want to sour you on him because I myself really enjoyed reading Houellebecq and I think he's one of the most honest authors out there but I'm burnt out on him. Life's not all sunshine and rainbows but it's also not all burnt corpses of emotion. Idk I haven't read his newer stuff, maybe he lightens up with age but that sure as shit didn't appear to be his trajectory with the first several novels.

[Anonymous No.20200570]

>>20200499
I get that and was not suggesting you were. But maybe we should explore this abit and see where it goes, can you give me an example of irony or sarcasm in IJ other than dialog?

[Anonymous No.20200641]

>>20200570
Sure.
First off, stylistically, everything he writes is so completely supersaturated with irony and this postmodern devil-may-care attitude towards form that his point becomes diffracted into a realm of quirkiness and unreality as >>20198875 put so well. It makes for fun reading (for a limited time) but leaves you feeling hollow. Maybe that's the point, idk I'm not a fan of meta-lit like that.

You want actual content? Okay. Look at the Militant Grammarians. Les Assassins en Fauteuils Roulants. Mario. Even "Bimmy's" chapters seem like a caricature of what should be his most tragic and poignant character. There's plenty more to draw from as well but it's been years since I read it and I'm not going to beat a dead horse. And why would you exempt dialog from this critique? It's an important aspect of any story.

[Anonymous No.20200739]

>>20200641
Dialog is exempt because the characters need to speak with their own voice, not the authors and in a novel which has the problems of irony/sarcasm being one of its themes the author can not really demonstrate why it is bad without having characters engage in that activity. And with that question you demonstrate a serious weakness in comprehension and context.
>Militant Grammarians. Les Assassins en Fauteuils Roulants. Mario. Even "Bimmy's" chapters
How are those ironic or sarcastic?

You should be able to give at least one concrete example if everything is completely supersaturated with it, not asking you to beat a dead horse, just give an example.

[Anonymous No.20200745]

>>20197425
You're not actually supposed to read it.
Just put it on your shelf and tell people you read it.

[Anonymous No.20200821]

>>20200745
but anon, i rent my books from the library. and when i can't rent no more, i just download them to my laptop :^)

[Anonymous No.20200948]

>>20200745
this desu

[Anonymous No.20201360]

>>20200739
Are all Wallace fans this retarded?

[Anonymous No.20201420]

>>20197442
is there such a thing as being over-educated?

[Anonymous No.20201424]

>>20201420
DFW

[Anonymous No.20201434]

>>20200948
Brief Interviews was entertaining.

[Anonymous No.20201518]

>>20197425
I read the whole thing, it doesn't get any better. Cringey to me, don't connect with it at all. Not worth the read

[Anonymous No.20201637]

I can see people not loving Infinite Jest, but "nothing happening" is the most retarded thing people ever say about books/movies/whatever.

[Anonymous No.20201640]

>>20198875
>The characters don't feel like real people, they're just these wacky caricatures that are mildly amusing sometimes but never relatable.
Really? For me it is the total opposite. The scene where MP tries to kill herself, the radio engineer alone on the roof, Hal in the cinema; just some scenes that come to mind that felt incredibly alive to me.

[Anonymous No.20201714]

>>20197452

such a reddit reply

[Anonymous No.20201987]

>>20200739
I said the style was supersaturated not necessarily the content although I think it becomes that way too.
>How are those ironic or sarcastic?
Not all sarcastic or ironic per se but definitely within the realm of quirky/tongue in cheek. The cat murderer. The Boston junkies. The hideously deformed. The corporate year names. It's all way over the top to the point of absurdity. Are you seriously accusing me of a lack of comprehension? Are you seriously asking how those are meant to be ironic? Or are you arguing in bad faith? Your first point about the dialog is the only defense you can make for all this cheekiness but again I'm not really into meta-lit like that. Say what you mean, mean what you say.

So we have all this irony and quirk in the dialogue, the style, and the content but where's the counterpoint? Hal breaking down maybe. Gately falling in love with Madame Psychosis. But for me this wasn't enough. It feels a lot like that meme "I said something retarded but I was only joking" and coming off as actually retarded. Wallace gets lost in the sauce and falls victim to the very thing that you assert he is trying to interrogate. He's fighting fire with fire but it doesn't work. This is what I meant by contemporary authors not being able to break through the ceiling of banality.

Keep in mind this is just how it felt to me. Maybe it touched you. It is a wildly popular book but I know (even ITT) that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

[Anonymous No.20202499]

>>20201637
also a way to say that they didn't get the prose

[Anonymous No.20203151]

>>20199283
Agreed. While TPK isn’t quite a finished product (though that appears to be his intention, a buildup with no release, which I felt to be a comment on contemporary work culture), it’s got some incredible vignettes throughout; I downed it in about a week.

Which leads me to something on DFW: much of his work is chock full of “needless” exposition and tangents. The shit that matters is when that writing grabs you and you’re emotionally and intellectually engaged. Even while he does it in short bursts amongst entertaining drivel, it grabs me more so than any other writer I’ve encountered.

[Anonymous No.20203504]

>>20203151
That's an interesting observation about DFW's style, and I think it's a part of how he understood realism, with the most meaningful and captivating parts of his writing showing up amid a lot of mundane stuff just like the meaningful parts in life inevitably happen in the context of a ton of mundane background events. I suspect part of what he wanted to do was train readers in a certain form of patience.

[Anonymous No.20203667]

>>20201987
I asked for an example of sarcasm or irony which is not dialog and you have yet to provide one, explaining what makes his style supersaturated in irony and sarcasm would be an example.
>Are you seriously accusing me of a lack of comprehension?
Yes. Not understanding why dialog would be exempt is a fairly large red flag here and I explained why rather plainly.
>Are you seriously asking how those are meant to be ironic?
Yes. I find it ironic that you ask me that right after you said they are not 'sacastic or ironic per se."
>meta-lit
How is it meta?
>counterpoint
Mario is the counterpoint, his physical deformities exempt him from the societal forces which define every single person in the novel and are why he is free to be sincere in a world where no one says what they mean.
>Keep in mind this is just how it felt to me.
That is a given, I am just attempting to engage you in discussion, as I said, let's explore this. But it is very difficult to explore these ideas without actual examples which are explained. X is ironic because...
>>20203504
>>20203151
The tangents are vitally important to theme and structure.

[Anonymous No.20203729]

>>20197425
I really like IJ when I read it a few years ago.
Is it worth it to go back and read it in chronological order?

[Anonymous No.20203760]

>>20203729
For a second read, reading it without the endnotes would provide a larger payoff than chronological. Chronological is troublesome since it destroys important contexts for the sake of plot which is primarily structural in IJ and that structure is lost once you rearrange chronologically.

[Anonymous No.20203776]

>>20201987
Maybe it’s because I inherently assume that most people speak in a type of hidden code that subtly reveals what they mean, but it sounds to me like what you wanted from his book were solutions to this bizarre social phenomenon whereas Infinite Jest was more about shining light on the matter, as solutions to it were beyond his own grasp.

I have a major drinking problem, and I was not able to accept or reconcile the issue until I read IJ. I still can’t handle my liquor, but at least now I understand WHY I let myself drink so fucking much and become a walking disaster; it’s because of the impossible struggle with sincerity. When I’m shitfaced, I’m nothing if not sincere. And, ironically, the consequences of it are almost always disastrous.

[Anonymous No.20203794]

THE BOOK IS SUPPOSED TO BE BORING.
NOTHING IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN IN THE BOOK.
THE BOOK IS SUPPOSED TO CONSTANTLY REMIND YOU THAT YOU ARE READING A BOOK.

THAT IS THE POINT.
MONKEY BRAIN ADDICTED FAGGOTS ARE SO WRAPPED UP IN THEIR OWN LITTLE WORLD THEY DONT GET THE MAIN THEME OF THE BOOK EVEN WHEN ITS SPOON FED TO YOU.

NOT EVERYTHING IS FUN.
NOT EVERYTHING SPARKS JOY.
MEANING IS PARTIALLY DERIVED FROM SUFFERING THROUGH THE UNENJOYABLE ASPECTS OF THE HUMAN CONDITION.


I WANT NU LIT TO LEAVE.

[Anonymous No.20203805]

>>20203794
Well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.

[Anonymous No.20203819]

>>20203776
He does offer solutions, it is to be like Mario. But he also points out the problem with that solution, to be like Marion is to remove yourself from society so he also strongly suggests a more realistic one, raise our children to not care about such things. He handles this better in TPK since apparently most readers can not see past Mario's deformities, He breaks up Mario into Stecyk, Drinian and the boy who desires to touch his lips to every part of his body, people who are sincere both with others and themselves/their goals, are seen as weird by the bulk of people. They make people uncomfortable for very complex reasons which they do not want to admit.

[Anonymous No.20203846]

>>20203819
Yeah, that’s a fair point. I guess what I meant was that the solutions being offered don’t really help anyone who doesn’t want to become a social outcast. Sure, raising kids to value sincerity would be a good solution, but that does little for us who are here, now, and who don’t want to be socially ostracized.

[Anonymous No.20203929]

>>20203846
This is part of why TPK handles it better, you need to focus on that long term goal and not the present. There are no instant easy fixes. Being a social outcast does not mean that you are alone, just means you are not a part of the societal norms which being a part of does not seem to really benefit you. People like Stecyk do exist and are not terribly uncommon, they just seem weird and make people uncomfortable for not fitting into the societal norms and forcing self reflection, it is difficult to lie to oneself in the presence of such people because their existence is proof of what people do not want to admit. Is the relative comfort and safety of your present worth risking? Maybe, maybe not, Even if that risk is too great for you that does not mean you can not work towards the better, having those long term goals and being sincere in achieving them even if you can never attain them yourself is probably more important in the long run.

[Anonymous No.20203972]

>>20197442
>reading books because you constantly need to be "thrilled"
you were filtered the moment you started reading

[Anonymous No.20204568]

>>20197996

I think that's ultimately what stopped me finishing it. All of the characters seemed like they were from a cartoon, rather than being based on actual people. As though the author had spent most of his life filtering reality through fiction rather than experiencing it first-hand.

[Anonymous No.20204788]

>>20200545
But his books have bright spots and "pleasure" for his protagonist.

[Anonymous No.20204866]

>>20203794
>you must like the 1,500 page nerd ramblings where nothing happens because that's just the point

[Anonymous No.20206242]

>>20197425
The book filters people who take themselves too seriously. It's an infinite jest, it's in the title.

[Anonymous No.20206300]

>>20197425
>>20203794
okay i didn't even read the book and the first few pages start off with a guy that talks in pure animal and scares the admissions guy
that's not boring

[Anonymous No.20206394]

>>20203794
>it's supposed to suck!

[Anonymous No.20206427]

>>20197425
Why should I bother? Why would it concern me if you kept reading? I don’t know you, there is nothing for me to gain

[Anonymous No.20206815]

>>20197425
Don't do it anon. The more people this book filters the more right DFW was.

[Anonymous No.20207224]

>>20197425
You just have to LET IT HAPPEN. Keep reading, enjoy the prose. Skip sections if you have to. I did that and am re-reading currently.

[Anonymous No.20207255]

>>20197425
>100 pages and nothing has happened
Thats what literature is

[Anonymous No.20208249]

>>20206815
Meh, 99% of people who read just get fixated on the plot. DFW was right.
>>20207255
DFW wrote some fairly high action shit. picrel.

[Anonymous No.20208551]

>VERBOSITY IS... LE GOOD

[Anonymous No.20208589]

>>20203929
The Pale King is overall so much better than Infinite Jest and I say that as something that enjoyed IJ. Fucking meds, if only they had worked a few years more.

[Anonymous No.20208783]

>>20197458
This.

[Anonymous No.20208802]

>>20208783
do you genuinely enjoy the book for what it is, or did you force yourself into enjoying it because other people said it was good? Sometimes I end up doing the latter, and I realize that spending time on a book, even if it is "critically acclaimed", means nothing if I don't enjoy it personally.

[Anonymous No.20208896]

>>20208589
The Pale King may have ended up worse had he finished it, never know. From the introduction and other bits written by his editor on the topic we know the novel was essentially complete, he had a few section which required polishing and then time for editing. It may have changed a great deal in editing, but it may not have. He had a few sections he wanted to include but never figured out a way to work them in without damaging the structure and they were not important enough to fuck up or rework the structure for and those may have gotten sorted out and included, or not. From what I have read about DFWs writing process and what he learned since IJ and it's lengthy editing which required a complete rework of structure, he most likely had things fairly well sorted out and not much would have changed.

[Anonymous No.20208968]

I'm only about 200 pages in, but why does he massively overuse the phrase "of a certain"? Usually when talking about a group/society. It feels really grating, like he couldn't think of a better phrase, so just kept using the same one over and over again.

[Anonymous No.20208989]

>>20208802
Get out of my head, bro. "Am I a phony? A pseud?" Have I ever had an original thought in my life? Good Old Neon is my favorite DFW for a reason.

[Anonymous No.20209301]

>>20198515
Does your back hurt from patting it so much?

[Anonymous No.20209309]

why does DFW use so many acronyms

[Anonymous No.20209395]

>>20197425
The Sharts in our Farts

[Anonymous No.20209413]

>>20197425
You actually fell for the meme?

[Anonymous No.20209840]

>>20197425
It's easier to put down once you realize he wrote the thing at 26.
>it was a meme all along.

[Anonymous No.20210218]

>>20209840
He was 34 when it was published, if memory serves he started it around 28 and it took 5 years to finish. Broom of the System came out when he was 25, written while he was in college and it shows.

[Anonymous No.20210228]

>>20200948
Are you the sweaty anon?

[Anonymous No.20210246]

>>20200948
>>20210228
Oh shit, sweaty anon is back!

[Anonymous No.20210263]

>>20197452
>>20197458
>>20197824
>>20198264
>>20198515
>>20203972
>Look at me, I find shit yummy! MMM it's the tastiest! What, You don't like eating shit too? Haha, looks like you got filtered!!!
When did you realize that /lit/ was just an excuse for coffeeshop baristas with 100K of unpaid college debt and a superiority complex to brag to each other exactly how little their time is worth?

[Anonymous No.20210573]

>>20204568
I know what you mean about the characters, but the thing that I love about most of them is that despite how cartoonish and absurd they are they all have very human problems, which makes them relatable and sympathetic.

[Anonymous No.20210586]

>>20198515
painfully cringe humblebrag
never post anything on this board again, thanks anon

[Anonymous No.20211037]

>>20197425
If you need other's confirmations to do anything, you deserve to do whatever damage you more. So obey and keep reading.

[Anonymous No.20211138]

>>20210586
he makes a good point
footnotes are optional

[Anonymous No.20211557]

>>20197425
The mold story wasn't intriguing to you? I say stick through to 260-270 pages, it's a great book and the 270 page mark is where enough pieces of the puzzle are revealed for you to get engrossed.

Keep in mind, the value of this book is not the plot, it's the characters and the themes/ideas expressed.

[Anonymous No.20211621]

Before you embark on your journey into the mind of a genius, you have to understand a few things that are very important. When we talk about David Foster Wallace, we’re talking about a man whose I.Q. could not be measured. Past 200, I.Q. tests get imprecise. We don’t know whether we’re dealing with a man with an I.Q. of 200 or 300 or what. We can’t measure it. When it comes to Wallace-tier geniuses, the standard tests simply don’t apply. You see, Wallace could have entered any field he wanted. He was a real-life Will Hunting. He could’ve been a doctor or a lawyer, or both, if he wanted. He could’ve been a pioneer in physics. He could’ve been a codebreaker for the NSA. But no. He decided to be a writer. He decided to devote his life to aesthetic beauty and to illuminating for us the way to live. That was the beauty and the tragedy of his life. In one way, it’s a blessing to have been born in Wallace’s time, to be able to hear his voice in interviews, to hear him delivering his famous commencement speech, which is already transforming people both intellectually and spiritually. On the other hand, I will surely die before we know even half of the secrets buried within the labyrinth of Infinite Jest. That I consider a curse.


I don’t say this to intimidate you, but to encourage you. You must understand that, on your first time through, you will not understand everything Wallace is trying to communicate to you. Don’t worry. He knew things about life that we won’t discover for decades. Your job is merely to get on the road. In the decades to come, we may, if we’re lucky, discover scientific applications for the new ways of thinking Wallace gave us. We may have to throw out science altogether. We simply don’t know. For now, we have to be content with our vanguard roles. We are the ones who will break the ground and loosen the soil for Wallace’s future interpreters. This is not only our pleasure, but our duty. And for that, as Wallace famously said, “I wish you way more than luck.”

[Anonymous No.20211681]

>>20209840
>IT WUZ ALL A MEME

[Anonymous No.20211978]

>>20197425
TRANNY BOOK

READ SOMETHING BETTER

[Anonymous No.20211998]

>>20197727
Read Oblivion

[Anonymous No.20212009]

>>20198875
>never relatable
it helps if you're an addict

[Anonymous No.20212206]

>>20211621

[Anonymous No.20212472]

>>20211621
lol i toally agree he sounds like the guy who saw a documentary on giraffes last night and then proceeds to tell about the facts he learned about giraffes and then youre like "oh yeah i saw that last night too" and he's like what i never watch tv i didnt see that

[Anonymous No.20212505]

>>20208249
What on Earth is this? This has to be a joke.

[Anonymous No.20213356]

>>20204568
>As though the author had spent most of his life filtering reality through fiction rather than experiencing it first-hand
This is a huge part of what his essay 'E Unibus Pluram' is about.

[Anonymous No.20213363]

>>20208249
>one square acre
DFW knew too much math to make a mistake like that.

[Anonymous No.20213382]

>>20213363
People like to talk about how great he was at math and shit but from what I can tell that's just humanities people scared of numbers being amazed. Supposedly his book on math is total bullshit; anyone read it?

[Anonymous No.20213393]

>>20211621
Cheers, anon. That's one of the best copypastas I've seen in a while.

[Anonymous No.20213903]

>>20212505
§25 of The Pale King.
>>20213363
A acre can be square, just as it can be rectangular or pentagonal. More importantly you are confusing author and character, which is especially ironic in this case as the main character/narrator just happens to be one David Wallace of Philo Illinois, SS no. 975-04-2012, age 40.
>>20213393

[Anonymous No.20214038]

>>20212009
This. He understood what it meant to struggle with substance abuse really, really well.

[Anonymous No.20214175]

>>20213382
nah, my first degree was in maths. There are certain jokes he made in IJ that make me think he actually has a decent understanding of maths, and I'm not just talking about where Pemulis explains MVT. I think he must've taken a course on topology or functional analysis because he's no HUMbug simpleton.

>>20213903
The shape of the acre isn't what made it bad maths. You can have a rectangle and still measure it in square centimetres. The problem is that "square acre" is redundant because an acre is already a unit of area. But you're right about character v author, it's likely intentional

[Anonymous No.20214524]

>>20214175
I know what he meant by it being bad, ie redundant, my point is that it is not necessarily redundant as you can read it to say that 'square' refers to shape, not defining it as area. If it was "one nonagon acre" no one would complain. But in this case it is clearly figurative and you must define what he means by 'hidden mirror' before you can tackle that 'one square acre.' He is being purposefully vague here and pushing the reader to consider that line, there are dozens of ways to interpret that line in context and we do not actually get the required context until quite a bit later in the book, but he does give us a couple clues/foreshadows, clocks and ghosts will be involved when he gives the context for the hidden mirror. Fucking stemfags.

[Anonymous No.20214985]

>>20204866
>>20203794
>>20200745
>>20198875
I've been clicking on /lit/ for 10 years, then turning 360 and walking away. Is this finally the thread where /lit/ admits that Infinite Jest is a boring, pretentious, unreadable piece of '90's gen-X bullshit?! Because that's exactly what it is.

[Anonymous No.20215224]

>>20214175
>>20214524
Pretty sure 'square acre' refers to a four-dimensional hyperplane in some higher-dimensional space. Ghosts can't use our 2D mirrors because they exist in higher dimensions.

[Anonymous No.20215260]

>>20215224
Nah, it refers to something personal and individual, the mirror is symbolic. Read the chapter about Lane Dean Jr's visit.

[Anonymous No.20216498]

>>20203794
>it's supossed to be shit

[Anonymous No.20216526]

>>20197425
I used to smoke alot of weed in high school. It took me nearly a year to realise that I didn't enjoy it anymore and by that point it was way too late (really wouldnt recommend that drug is insidiously strong). I read it fairly quicky off of the strength of the Ken Erdedy chapter. Someone else said it but it probably helps to be an addict at some point. I was addicted to League of Legends too so I could relate to the entertainment thing

[Anonymous No.20216535]

>>20197442
based

[Anonymous No.20216550]

>David Foster Wallace
Not real Literature.

[Anonymous No.20216613]

>>20197425

Congrats, you managed to meme me into a second attempt to complete Infinite Jest.

[Anonymous No.20217568]

>>20214985
Hello, I hope to God that you're a pure monotheist among other things.

[Anonymous No.20217754]

>>20208249
I enjoyed reading this.

[Anonymous No.20218301]

>>20217754
You probably would enjoy reading The Pale King.