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/lit/ - Literature

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23227649 No.23227649 [Reply] [Original]

>Wallace once wrote Jonathan Franzen he was glad everyone focused on his debt in Broom of the System to Pynchon, because it meant they didn’t see how much he had taken from DeLillo.

What did he take from DeLillo?

>> No.23227656

>>23227649
Here’s what Wallace thought about Franzen:
https://vocaroo.com/1noVfvSMsifj
https://vocaroo.com/1hB8tfOjo5DZ

>> No.23227659
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23227659

>>23227656
And this too
https://vocaroo.com/1mHDTX5NL3j6

>> No.23227881

flat dialogue, sense of humor

>> No.23228024

>>23227649
A lot. Delillo’s style is constrained and well controlled whereas Wallace is all over the place, so people dont see it

>> No.23228868

>>23228024
Examples?

>> No.23229356

A guy who traces infinity signs on his lovers' legs appears in Americana. The phrase "Dairy Products USA" is also used which is close to (but not the same as) one of the named years of subsidized time.

End Zone also has the obvious sport/nuclear war connection with Eschaton. Then there's a scene where students complain about the quality of the milk like in IJ. It also uses the phrase "flannel plains" which appears in The Pale King.

DFW seems to pick up little things like that and repurpose them for his own usage. Thematically I don't see much similarity.

>> No.23229821

>>23229356
Thanks. Interesting points.

>Thematically I don't see much similarity.
Yeah, that was more what I was interested in 2bh.

>> No.23229850

>>23229356
>Dairy Products USA
All but one year of subsidized time comes from major advertising campaigns from the 80s/early 90s, its not some DeLilloism. These ad campaigns were massive to the point they became a part of the culture of the time and they may have well subsidized the year. This is one of the few contexts the book fails to carry with it, only those who were alive and aware in those times can really get it but, not that this is something you need to get to understand IJ.