/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.8487822]

Where should I start with david foster wallace????
i only own the book The Pale King should i give that a go lol

[Anonymous No.8487833]

>le lol!
Nah, just off yourself.
But seriously, his essays are better. His short stories are better. The Pale King is better. Infinite Jest can only be suffered by those with a high tolerance for secondhand embarrassment.

[Anonymous No.8487876]

>>8487822
start with his essays

[Anonymous No.8487884]

>>8487822
david "foster" wallace is a writer who was trying to lead by example, so you might as well just get it over with and kill yourself my main lad

[Anonymous No.8488000]

>>8487822
Start here.

[Anonymous No.8488037]

>>8488000
legit? is this good or are you pulling my leg

[Anonymous No.8488039]

>>8487833
It's not quite that bad, but I do agree that basically everything else he did was better, including The Broom of The System.

[Anonymous No.8488071]

>>8488037
It's sincerely the best thing he ever wrote. Nobody had an understanding of African American vernacular and culture quite like DFW

[Anonymous No.8488084]

>>8488071
>African American vernacular
>Wardine be cry

you're right, no one had an understanding quite like his, since it was utter trash.

[Anonymous No.8488096]

>>8488084
You clearly didn't understand what he was doing there. It wasn't supposed to be an accurate representation of how African Americans speak everyday; it was a commentary on the unique grammars that form in isolated communities, a loving analysis of language's infinite communicative potentials. Go read a transcript of a Gucci Mane interview if you want to know how black people speak, but read DFW if you want to know how humans of all races speak.

[Anonymous No.8488109]

>>8488096
Yes, that's what was going on, he wasn't just giving a shit rendition of ebonics, how convenient would that be? But no, I'm sure you're right, Wardine be cry is the single greatest literary achievement of the 21st century in revolutionary linguistics.

[Anonymous No.8488112]

>>8488109
>he wasn't just giving a shit rendition of ebonics
If that's really all you took away from that chapter then I sincerely feel sorry for you and your inferior intellect. I assume you were unable to finish the book? How pathetic.

[Anonymous No.8488117]

>>8488112
heh, someone's grumpy i didn't like his lit waifu.
No, i'm sure Davy Wally is a great author. You're right, but aren't you always?

[Anonymous No.8488252]

>>8487822

Non-fiction: I started with his essays and I think it's a good way to go. He published two excellent essay collections: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (which I give a slight edge) and Consider the Lobster. A posthumous collection, Both Flesh and Not, includes his excellent essay on Federer, but the rest is uneven (the one on Bret Easton Ellis is an embarrassment). Other non-fiction, such as Everything and More (a book on infinity) are only for completists.

Short Stories: I read Oblivion next; I believe it's his best collection. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is generally well regarded. Girl with Curious Hair is the weakest.

Novels: Tehe Pale King, despite being unfinished, is probably the easiest one to read. I don't recommend starting there though. Broom of the System wasn't written as a novel but as a philosophy thesis by a very intelligent but young and show-offy student and reads as such. IJ is the place to start. The thing about the book--and this is true of his writing as a whole--is that it's somewhat disorienting at first but it does explain itself in due time

tl;dr: my recommendation is A Supposedly Fun Thing --> Oblivion --> IJ

[Anonymous No.8488477]

>>8488252
Brief Interviews is a lot better than oblivion.

[Anonymous No.8488536]

DAVID FOSTER WALLACE

[Anonymous No.8488752]

>>8487822
His essays are great.

Still haven't read infinite jest.