[ 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: 15 KB, 200x297, The_Pale_King.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5163441 No.5163441 [Reply] [Original]

Thoughts on The Pale King?

>> No.5163444

>>5163441

There's a reason why he killed himself rather than finish it

>> No.5163445

>>5163444
I always considered his suicide the end to the novel

>> No.5163447

>>5163444
The Jews?

>> No.5163481

My favourite novel.

DFW's basic approach to novels was:

1. Identify a problem AND/OR contemporary idelogy in society (& in himself)
2. Explore this idea by offering a scnario in which it is taken to its logical extreme
3. Hint at a solution


Evidence for the above:

Broom of the System = problem of self/solipsism; extreme being Lenore's entrapment in her own head (the city shaped like a head in which she lives), having others dictate her life's narrative

Infinite Jest = problem of over-entertainment; extreme being the entertaining tape that kills people, and ways of overcoming this through discipline

Pale King = problem of boredom; extreme being IRS workers (i.e. most boring job)