/lit/ - Literature

>>12778665
those aren't chapters.
As far as I can recall there isn't much "stage direction" either.
those were ideas for character storylines and scenes from part two that didn't make it in.
Some of this was clearly moved forward into part 1 however.
There really wasn't as much actual material missing as many people believe.
This confusions stems from a misunderstanding about manuscript length and David's extensive note-taking.
There were in reality around 6 extra chapters. 4 were added to the paperback edition and were for the most part clearly unfinished.
One of these stories was published separately following his death, "all that", which is really sort of his public suicide note.

>>12778301
it's just a "you meet the mortician" scene.
It's kind of cliche, but the end of the book was intended to be a sort of walk-into-death.
When Fogle is waiting outside Merril's office you could say he's really waiting to meet guide, hence the circular quiz his assistants put him through regarding "the blue devils"

>>12775437
I assumed you mean chapter 22 which is the Chris Fogle chapter.
Chapter 23 is only like two pages long and is verly about the destructive tedium of institutions that starts at a very young age. It serves as a strong transition scene between the college-based Fogle novella in 22 and chapter 24, which is also tediously long and may also be what you're referring to. The point of chapter 24 is as a true into to the "David Wallace" character, literally designed to be deliberately boring and overbearing in regard to the daily operation at the IRS facility he is joining (analogous to the Fogle story). He also barely meets Stecyk for a second here, whose look of true empathy makes him reflect on his loss of innocence as he recieves head from the iranian-crisis refugee tour guide that mistook him for a high-level executive at the company. In the last line he imagines his penis is larger than it really could be "realistically speaking". In an unwritten section of the novel David was going to be upset at Stecyk for looking at him with pity, feeling that his sympathy mostly stemmed from his hideous appearance. David felt used and intended to use Sylvanshine himself.
This also relates to the scenario where he is receiving sex from the tourguide in that they both relate to other's interpretations.

>>12775491
You're a moron.
That's not what Bloom was even referring to, and as I explained in a previous thread Bloom was responding to a misreading of a passage in Infinite Jest where he imitates Bloom for artistic reasons that Bloom misunderstood out of reactionary sensitivity.

>>12775437
Chapter 23, this is the true autobiographical section of the novel. Chris Fogle is an allegory for David's life and the events that occur in chapter 23 relate to David's transition into a writing career.

In the previous thread (i missed) someone made this post:
>I cant think anyone really believes that today's so-called 'information society' is just about information. Everyone knows it's about something else, way down.
>So what's it about?

I would say that it's about masking the disgusting facts of life, that it is suffering, pointless etc.

>>12657014
I would disagree.
Aside from their overwhelming beauty they have little else in common aside from attraction to odd men, Meredith is a much more realistic character however.

>>12652385
sure thing.
It was never my intention to spoil anything. I'm trying post only things I wish I had known on my first read through.
I apologize for the misunderstanding.

>>12652421
He definitely did write papers for other students, and he did get in trouble for some "boy"-stuff which may or may not have been related to frat activities, but the way he details that suspension situation is mostly fiction.

>>12652187
i will, but you should now those other 3 are very incomplete, and you can tell.
The last one is clearly completed, but raises questions about certain characters that don't really mesh well with the rest of the book. It is very interesting though and really weighs creedence to the fact that this was a very deliberate suicide.

>>12651106
to be fair, I didn't mention /when/ he would appear, only that he would.
It would be easy to forget his name considering his first appearance is non-speaking, in a news article, in a section that is only one page long.
Also, when he does appear in a notable role he is not explicitly named.
It is something to look out for and doesn't mean much on the surface.
I have a whole other spiel on the ghosts that I'm saving for down the line, that's the real spoiler.

>>12650966
I don't believe I'm truly spoiling anything, but if that was the case i apologize.
The book really can't be "spoiled" on account of the fact that there is next to no plot, but so far all I've tried to do was provide details, notes, and things to look out for that are not immediate obvious on a first read through.

>>12650509
for the purposes of this thread, yes that is somewhat similar to my actual thought process.
I have something to offer to this discussion that most people unfortunately will not.

>>12649044
>low quality
i don't proofread.
All my posts are stream of consciousness essentially.
Please ignore grammatical errors and such, I am only here (and in these threads alone [i hate tripfags]) to provide content and context.
I am sorry i triggered the spammer.
He is clearly a sad man based on his seemingly constant 24/7 presence on this board.

>>12648000
Interesting.
the most obvious one is that white is traditionally a color associated with death.

>‘La Belle Dame sans Merci"
>Beautiful lady without mercy.

the book features two insane, neurotic women in prominent roles, one of whom is exceptionally beautiful (Meredith Rand). It also reminds me of infinite jest's "your murderer will be your next life's mother", the Prettiest Girl of All Time repeatedly apologizing over your bassinet.

David always had a hard time with women. To some extent, you could make the argument that it's a major part of what drove him to his death. The book reflects this.

>>12647346
Sylvanishe's ability relates to a comment made in the previous thread:

>[Do you think David creates] intentional irony expanding on his comments about his hatred for authors using their their storys/characters (in order to demonstrate how intelligent the author is) by making intentionally banal points to see how willing we are as readers to blindly take the authors word as insightful or gospel in the way people did IJ?

It's a dramaticized example of the power of what you pay attention to, intuition, reading between the lines (his sensory input is overwhelming, and yet he can see things others can not). The Pale King was meant to reflect the themes of "this is water" and this is why I had issue with the poster in the last thread who tried to read the book as literally "about" accounting and taxes.

>>12647687
no, unfortunately not. Only by manner of speech.

>>12647386
unfortunately he shows up again in maybe two or three sentences.
He does have a speaking role in the final, originally unpublished chapter from the paperback.
I'll make a point to post some scans of that chapter when we get to that point (i know most people won't have this edition).

>>12642739
His nickname "the anti-christ" in the novel is a reference to his red-skin, an allusion to David's cystic acne.

>>12642731
Lavache means cow by the way.
He was being milked by his father similarly to how David was by his mother irl.

>>12642617
Oh are you referring to Lavache's character?
Because if so, you're sort of on to something (as he is a clear self-insert) but at the same time there's more to the story.

>>12642617
You're basing this off D.T. Max's biography (I actually know this man), and you should know that he never explicitly states the root for the mental health issue for a reason. The only hint he provides is that his roommate walked in to find him crying in his bed and unwilling to explain. There's a reason.

>>12642617
That also makes no sense...
Did you really read Broom?

>>12642617
he was suspended.
the mental-health break thing was a cover-up.
There is no mention of essay laundering in TBOTS.
>>12642607
you're still mad.

>>12642502
I think it was called "The Klang Birds" or something to that effect.
Too tired to pull it up.

>>12641174
Something to note as well:
David's actual writing career began while under "that" suspension.
He wrote a story for his then-girlfriend about some strange, perpetually-circling birds that fly into each other's asses or something along those lines.
Upon his return he would write that one about "Planet Triphalon" (mostly about his depression) which would be published in a school magazine, only adding to his then school-celebrity (his suspension seemed to have gotten some attention itself).