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/lit/ - Literature

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6994138 No.6994138 [Reply] [Original]

What do I need to know before starting this book?

>> No.6994148

>>6994138
That it's an easy read. Just long. & don't give up at the ebonics chapter.

>> No.6994179

>>6994138
The main thing is to keep in mind that a lot of the stuff from the early parts that may seem insignificant is much more important than it seems.

>> No.6994206

none of it is Ironic even if it seems that way

>> No.6994213

>>6994206
DFW's words himself.

>> No.6994257
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6994257

>>6994138
Be patient. The first 400 pages are confusing, always shifting time and place and character. But slowly it becomes clearer (even if something seems to be always missing). It's like solving a puzzle without a few pieces.
Pic related.

>> No.6994279

>>6994206
not even the ebonics chapter? thats embarrassing

>> No.6994313

>>6994279
Too many folks take this advice a little too quickly. There are clearly ridiculous and goofy jokes Wallace's novel. He's from the Barth and Pynchon school of pomo writing so he's into some complicated, oddly specific and zany shit. That said, there are serious emotional crescendoes in IJ and there are genuine appeals to humanity, kindness, empathy, and patience. Why he felt the need to clarify that those moments weren't just jokes is beyond me and speaks more to his north eastern roots than the literary traditions that molded him.

>> No.6994392
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6994392

>> No.6994578

>>6994313
He had to do that because people were literally too dumb to get that they weren't just jokes. People tend to have a binary understanding of emotions/tones and find it hard to consider two or more emotional/tonal states being existing simultaneously in one place.

>> No.6994702

>>6994392
why did he kill himself

>> No.6994718

>>6994702
He was on an anti-depressant for years, tried switching to other brands because of the side effects, eventually tried to quit anti-depressants entirely which didn't work, then tried to take the initial one again but killed himself before it kicked in.

>> No.6994795
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6994795

>the library
>and step on it