/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.4592270]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqmIAbHXr0Y

[Anonymous No.4592308]

>>4592270
hilarious

[Anonymous No.4592326]

>>4592270
Okay, so he's not an eloquent speaker.

[Anonymous No.4592333]

I almost feel like he's trying to make himself seem more awkward than he is. just doesn't seem naturally. I laughed hard though.

[Anonymous No.4592339]

>>4592270

[Anonymous No.4592341]

>>4592270
DAVIDO! you b-b-baka~~~~

[Anonymous No.4592343]

>>4592270
Really funny.

[Anonymous No.4592344]

>>4592333
He's trying to 'struggle'.

[Anonymous No.4592345]

>dem meds

[Anonymous No.4592360]

What you see here are symptoms of a highly compulsive and repressive character.

Poor guy.

[« 零 » !Ry9.Zir1EM No.4592377]

>"Am I awkwardly intellectual//intellectually awkward/an intellectual struggler in the 'postexistentialist' sense yet?"

– DAVID FORSTER WALLACE.

[Anonymous No.4592379]

>>4592360
It's just something that happens when you try to speak freely, without relying on pre-established patterns.If you actually listened to the interview itself you would notice that he's struggling to express things the way he wants to. That is to say, he's reflecting on his thoughts as he's speaking, instead of saying the first thing that comes to his mind and sticking to it.

[Anonymous No.4592392]

I feel badly for the poor fella.

[Anonymous No.4592394]

>>4592377
>intellectual struggler

[Anonymous No.4592400]

>>4592379
Trust me, faggot. I know what I'm talking about.

[Anonymous No.4592414]

>>4592379
>he's reflecting on his thoughts as he's speaking, instead of saying the first thing that comes to his mind and sticking to it

that is the sign of a great intellectual

Another one who does this clearly is Jonathan Franzen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vZKSgzMFfQ

[Anonymous No.4592430]

>watch video
>haha funny, who made this?
>Megan Boyle

So either OP is subscribed to Megan Boyle's youtube channel, or OP is Megan Boyle

[Anonymous No.4592433]

>>4592379

there's a way to do that without coming across as eccentrically as that though

[Anonymous No.4592437]

>>4592430

OP is tao lin, megan's bf

[Anonymous No.4592446]

>>4592437
ex-bf

[Anonymous No.4592445]

>>4592437
how cute, he posted a video to get his girl friend more views on youtube :3

[Anonymous No.4592483]

OH GOD WHAT A TORTURED GENIUS

Rethinking what he's saying just for us uneducated plebs to understand.

[Anonymous No.4592488]

the first step to being anything is pretending you are it

[Anonymous No.4592502]

>>4592488
Fake it till you make it.

[Anonymous No.4592509]

>>4592502
Shake it till you bake it.

[Anonymous No.4592523]

so many talented writers fall by the wayside and fade into obscurity.

this insufferable idiot gets big because he topped himself.

>henryk_gorecki_symphony_no.3.FLAC

[Anonymous No.4592532]

I get the feeling DFW could easily kill every person in the room with him in the most horrific way if he snapped. It just feels like there is so much built up pressure and stress

[Anonymous No.4592537]

>>4592414
>that is the sign of a great intellectual
Not really. Some great intellectuals can speak well. He just obviously can't.

[Anonymous No.4592541]

>>4592379
this. He's trying to answer in the best way possible.

[Anonymous No.4592543]

>>4592414
>Jonathan Franzen

kilyrslf
srsly

[Anonymous No.4592552]

>>4592433
Just try to imagine yourself in a position where you know that the thing you are trying to explain was difficult for you to understand at some point, and that explaining it in short while still getting the point across, and without leaving out anything vitally important is practically undoable. Tell me how you would manage not to come across as eccentric.

Of course you could just try to talk with them about things they understand, learn to anticipate what they expect of you and adjust your mode of thought to match those expectations, but I don't see how that would be any better. The only true way of overcoming this problem is learning to bridge the gap in understanding through rethoric, but figuring out how to do that, especially fluently and in a way that seems natural is not easy and takes time.

[Anonymous No.4592575]

>>4592541
Watch his face muscles.
Watch the sweat on his face caused by sympathetic arousal caused by subconscious fear of doing something wrong caused by his dictatorial parents.

Do you even know that DFW was beaten by his parents at table when he didn't behave himself?

[Anonymous No.4592579]

I'm not a fan of DFW, but I think there is an aspect of this neurosis that can be related to his mathematical prose. That his prose is more given to the extreme of virtuosity rather than poetic flow tells me he treats his writings more like fully-formed thoughts, which the idea of is hardly spontaneous as seen in this excerpt.

[Anonymous No.4592585]

>>4592579
>his prose is more given to the extreme of virtuosity rather than poetic flow tells me he treats his writings more like fully-formed thoughts

I dont think you thought that one through

[Anonymous No.4592590]

>>4592575
he was scolded by his mother when he didn't use the proper word or his sentences weren't grammatically sound.

It all makes sense

[Anonymous No.4592597]

>>4592585
How?

[Anonymous No.4592605]

>>4592552

i'm talking more about his facial expressions and tone. I get what you're saying completely, but disregarding the content of what he's saying and merely focusing on the physical straining he's doing I think he could improve his manner.

[Anonymous No.4592600]

>>4592523

>People going crazy over Kurt Kobain and Nirvana
>Listen to teen spirit
>mfw

[Anonymous No.4592603]

I get the sense that writers of literature have a harder time explaining what their works stand for than other disciplines because they want multiple interpretations to stay open. If the writer says one thing, then critics will read the work with predisposed notions of what the work is supposed to be doing. You rarely see this with anything else though.

[Anonymous No.4592609]

This is a 3 minute video that parsed out the parts of an almost hour and 30 minute interview where dfw was sort of just stuttering over things, implying that he felt he hadn't sufficiently explained them. He was also obviously very self-critical and self-conscious, so it makes perfect sense that he would stutter and say these things, independent of the content of the interview. In other words, the people in this thread that are judging him by this video aren't very bright, to put it nicely.

[Anonymous No.4592613]

>>4592605
Eeeeh... yeah, I see what you mean. Point taken.

[Anonymous No.4592617]

>>4592603
The narratives are conveyed only with words--mostly. The connections authors make with their own works in relating to their audience--attempting to be conveyed mostly through words, as in this interview although his demeanor says otherwise--allows critics to draw quicker conclusions.

[Anonymous No.4592622]

>>4592600
lol wat

[Anonymous No.4592628]

>>4592483
>projecting

[Anonymous No.4592631]

>>4592590

I think he thought it was his mother, and it probably was partially her fault.

Check out http://www.theawl.com/2011/04/inside-david-foster-wallaces-private-self-help-library

The author concludes that it's basically just DFW's brain's fault, not his mother's.

[Anonymous No.4592636]

>>4592600
>listening to teen spirit

some of nirvana wasn't that bad.... but teen spirit?

[Anonymous No.4592640]

>>4592617
That's my point. I think writers of literature are more self-conscious than writers in other disciplines about the associations people will make with print because of something that was spoken in the spur of the moment. There are great philosophers and political commentators who haven't been worried about this because they knew their arguments inside and out. In literature, you don't have to be as coherent with your prose--you don't have to worry about criticism as much in that way.

[Anonymous No.4592646]

>>4592617

he maintains that a lot of the shit he wants to get across can't be just openly said. it's gotta be put in a big ass book to get the entire vibe across. that explains why he's uncomfortable summarizing his book in a sentence (or why dylan was uncomfortable being labeled as anything)

[Anonymous No.4592644]

>>4592631
Intelligent sure, but DFW might be the difference between the addictive genius and a passionate one.

[Anonymous No.4592651]

Is DFW the great intellectual of our time?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_sQrxAorDo

[Anonymous No.4592652]

>>4592609
I don't think that many people really see this video as some sort of proof that DFW has no discernable talent. The video is just damn funny. I like the guy myself and have seen the full interview, and still had quite a chuckle. I can also relate to his troubles with finding the perfect words to verbally express thoughts. Sometimes I end up being even more of stuttering fuck than he is in this.

[Anonymous No.4592673]

>>4592640
>>4592640
As the media has evolved, as we've seen how the idea of a 'public intellectual' developed, scandal has seen some. But in the end, the ideas which philosophers and political commentators make that last, do so because they are worthy principles (Whether purely or as a result of an agenda). Their words can outlast them, as ideas.

The novelist has an object (As in the novel, poem, etc.) he has claim to as a creator. His relation to its, and his own legacy is diluted even in terms of ideas because they are projected through the narrative, let alone linguistic (prosaic) qualities lasting they stand alone.

[Anonymous No.4592674]

>>4592651
It's called lyric and rethoric. You use different phrases because they fit the rythmic structure and melody of a sentance, or to give you an extra bit of time to think about how you're going to continue it.

[Anonymous No.4592676]

>>4592646
I agree.

[Anonymous No.4592677]

“David Foster Wallace was so needy, so conservative, so in need of fans – that I find the halo of sentimentality surrounding him embarrassing.” In several more tweets, he continued, “DFW is the best example of a contemporary male writer lusting for a kind of awful greatness that he simply wasn’t able to achieve. A fraud.”

Was he projecting, /lit/?

[Anonymous No.4592692]

>>4592677
yes, but i see them as two different extremes

dfw played innocent and victim of himself. BEE acknowledges similar things about himself in an extremely ironic, black humor kind of way. i cant find the right word to describe it but if you listen to him in interviews it usually comes up. he admits to his own desire or need of glamour, narcissism, status and such. its pretty clear since it is a major theme in all his writing too

>OldQueenAttendingJohnCasancas'EcstasyParties.jpg

loel

[Anonymous No.4592693]

>>4592677
I think DFW did well, considering what tends to happen involving the cult of celebrity. We'll leave his private persona aside.

[Anonymous No.4592697]

>>4592270
"i'll just be sweating here in my chair"

moe

[Anonymous No.4592696]

>>4592677
DFW talked shit about BEE's whole literary movement in E Unibus Pluram and I think BEE's been nursing a grudge this whole time.
Which isn't to say his dislike of DFW is illegitimate, it just might have its initial roots there.
also there are two threads on the front page can we merge one of them to avoid irritating people

[Anonymous No.4592710]

>>4592673
>His relation to its, and his own legacy is diluted even in terms of ideas because they are projected through the narrative, let alone linguistic (prosaic) qualities lasting they stand alone.

That's fine, but some of my favorite philosophers and political commentators (even if I don't agree with them) spoke their minds on recording. They're just people, and they even had pauses and caught themselves throughout numerous interviews. But they knew what they were saying. I've yet to see this entire interview with DFW, and even if it makes him seem less-than-knowledgeable because of it, it won't detract from his work as a writer since that's a separate thing. I'm just bemused that writers of literature aren't as confident as people putting forth what could be considered more controversial opinions about things.

[Anonymous No.4592732]

And apparently this man fucked all of his best friends wives and girlfriends.

[Anonymous No.4592744]

>>4592710
I think we've reached the same basic point, I was just writing about how we've reached it differently.

I'm ambiguous around Wallace, but the cult of his celebrity allows me a lens to view the 'contemporary literary legend' as disseminated by the new media, an even an historical (dead) case. Once in awhile I pop in these threads.

[Anonymous No.4592746]

What the fuck is it with people saying he's trying to present himself as a stuttering intellectual fuck on purpose? He had suffered anxiety for most of his adult life (which is why he took to wearing a bandana, so the sweat wouldn't drip down his face). As someone who also has to deal with anxiety I can say that this is no lie. It's trying to form coherent, interesting, w/e thoughts while simultaneously there's an observer in your own head who's pointing his camera at you and judging and recording everything you do whilst also seeing everyone else and how they might be judging you and also observing them and generating impressions of them. All of this takes up mental resources which would, by normal people, I'm guessing, be used to hold a conversation and think about what they're saying.

He was also on zoloft during this time and he worried that it made his thinking foggy so he was never sure if he was making sense to other people.

[Anonymous No.4592759]

>>4592746
It's true, but all the same Wallace is a very intelligent, and also a widely-learned author. He must have a vernacular of people as wide as his linguistic one. Even when failing, performance is grace.

We're mostly shitposting and confirming ourselves anyways. The OP is just a shitpost of a video.

[Anonymous No.4592784]

>Tao Lin

Speaking of awkward interviewees..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNzpyoHsMms&t=3m10s

[Anonymous No.4592792]

>>4592759
Not everyone is a performer though. In fact, writers become writers because it's how they can best express themselves

[Anonymous No.4592796]

>>4592792
shame turns you into spiderman?

[Anonymous No.4592809]

>>4592784
if I was an octopus and I would look at myself and everyone would know exactly what I meant but if I say a word you'd all have different ideas in your head.

-tao lin

[Anonymous No.4592816]

>>4592792
I can't agree with that first statement. Partaking in the act of performance is something even those involved in sincerity or a lack of artifice can incidentally fall into. I was relating Wallace's performance to imitation, which is more reasonable considering Infinite Jest involved constructing an alternative (future) culture, and sensing his imagined shift within individuals.

[Anonymous No.4592826]

dfw makes great may may faces if i do so say myself

[Anonymous No.4592833]

>>4592809
Tao Lin? Are you high again?

[Anonymous No.4592842]

>>4592809
Was The Vegan Muffin based on The Depressed Person?

[Anonymous No.4592844]

>>4592826
Can't play the video at the moment, could someone please screencap all the may may faces he pulls?

[Anonymous No.4592915]

>>4592816
U Wot?

[Anonymous No.4592961]

>>4592784
>...I think it's DMT...
>...It's a theory of evolution...

This guy could honestly learn to speak from McKenna. It's honestly funny how the meek novelist is inspired in some way by the extraordinary psychonaut because McKenna is one of the best public speakers ever recorded.