I havent read infinite jest, but heres some memes about it. Dec 19, 2016 infinite jest is notoriously known for being a long book its just shy of 1100 pages. I think what you say about infinite summer is quite interesting. Dec 05, 2015 david foster wallace reads from the pale king and incarnations of burned children 122000 duration. Shop finishing infinite jest takes a heartbreaking w.
Taking part in the discussion were troy patterson, katie roiphe, and james surowiecki. Dec 01, 2016 warning spoilers really though, bbbbaaaaaddddd spoilers why are you still reading if you havent finished the book. Was the allegedly fatally entertaining and scopophiliac thing jim alleges he made out of her. Instead of simply listening, he resorts to drugs and entertainment, dmz and his movie infinite jest, to communicate. Infinite jest by david foster wallace in an interview with the boston phoenix, wallace said, plot wise, the book doesnt come to a resolution. The book is drumtight and relentlessly smart and, though it does not wear its heart on its. Our critics dissect david foster wallaces epic novel. Also, the audio book doesnt include the endnotes and its just not ij without the notes. If you do this, you also need to tear the footnotes from the back half and tape them to front half. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america. Join critics troy patterson, katie roiphe, and james surowiecki as they discuss david foster wallaces infinite jest.
The last few months with you guys have been totally awesome, and ive loved the adventure of helping guide yall through the subterranean underbelly of the enfield tennis academy and out to the freezing sand of gatelys beach. Infinite jest, by david foster wallace, is the worst science fiction novel ever written. Infinite summer blog archive infinite summery week 1. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of infinite jest by david foster wallace. A readers guide was the first book to be published on the novel and is a key reference for those who wish to explore further. And the bouncing backandforth is a feature, not a bug. I bought the audiobook but i also bought the kindle version to help with the notes. In 2006, little brown published a 10th anniversary edition of david foster wallaces infinite jest that featured a foreword by dave eggers.
I cant recommend the purchase of the what at first appears to be the amazing ive heard good things about the audio, excellent vocal performance audio book of infinite jest. Jul 16, 2009 dubious math in infinite jest by mike strong. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by david foster wallace comprising about 1,000 pages. Over 200 vocabulary words collected from infinite jest. Buy infinite jest 01 by foster wallace, david isbn. Jul 06, 2015 david foster wallaces 1996 novel infinite jest poses rhetorical, formal, and verbal challenges that will confound many readers new to the text. At its very core, this book is a critique of flashiness and attitude, and argues for a healthy distrust of irony and. In fact, its take on the very nature of entertainment itself perhaps foresaw the age of vanity and social media, as seen through the prisms of tinder, facebook, twitter and instagram. Feb 04, 2016 if one of your reading resolutions is to finally finish infinite jest, david foster wallaces mammoth novel, im here to help.
But if you are seeking something other, then this book will not disappoint. I decided to read through to the end of infinite jest this morning, which means 1 this is post is off the spoilerline and consequently deals with the text as a whole and 2. Visa, mastercard, american express paypal, diners club and discover. Big in its aspirations, big in its scope, big in what it delivers. I received an email earlier today from a reader who had excitedly received their unabridged audio book of. Infinite jest is both sad, depressed and funny and even 25 years after it was published in 1994 remains relevant to the modern age.
Stephen kings the stand uncut edition and george r. I guess this is a first for me and ill get straight to the point. Producing, promoting, and developing innovative comedy and spoken word entertainment in northern ireland. The novel is widely noted for its unconventional narrative structure and its experimental use of endnotes there are a total of 388 endnotes, some with footnotes of their own. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. He knocks the ceiling tiles down in an attempt to find the dmz. Anyconversation or interchange between father and son is better than none at all. The inverse is the boy he hardly knew that came upstairs and sat with geoffrey day to keep his black shape from coming back, and don gately being forced to id with others in order to keep. Mac, and then use the save or download command to save the audio file to your hard drive. Let me say, first of all, that i am a huge fan of david foster wallace in general and infinite jest in particular.
Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else. Martins storm of swords are longer this, but i was able to clear those books much quicker than david foster wallaces second novel. It is an exuberant, uniquely american exploration of the passions that make us human and one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do. Heres my take on slates audio book club discussion of the thick book. Without justifying his point, critic y continues on attacking the original book, not expanding on his dislike of infinite jest, and indeed, he was not. Infinite jest by david foster wallace the new canon.
Yet this flamboyant novel is also one of the most downtoearth books you will ever read. Eggerss introduction observed that infinite jest was 1,067 pages long and there is not one lazy sentence. Unquestionably, infinite jest required great ambition and focus to write, and requires a bit of ambition and focus to read as well. But this infinite jest summary guide may actually prove valuable to you at least, that is the hope. Slate audio bookclub on infinite jest warning many plot spoilers. Infinite jest as infinite jest a supposedly fun blog. While i cant read the book not even the end notes for you, i. Jul 08, 2015 in infinite jest, madame psychosis is the onair name of a character named joelle, also known as p. On my first reading of ij, i noticed a few mathematical errors but thought little of them. By any definition, and not just word count, infinite jest is a big novel. For all the possible directions a last post about infinite jest could take, ive decided to look ahead to what comes next. Feb 26, 2016 12 if you think infinite jest at 1,100odd pages is a long book, be advised that it started longer. Thinking about giving it a shot but dont want to waste the money if its just as hard to follow as read. A brief note to readers new to infinite jest and a very.
If one of your reading resolutions is to finally finish infinite jest, david foster wallaces mammoth novel, im here to help. Everything ive ever let go of has claw marks on it 606. The truth is it might be the worst novel ever written, or at least published, but given the fact that wallace has stiff competition from the burgeoning spawn of pc elitist writers, not to mention his own pomo kith, such as rick moody, dave eggers, and that. Heres how i finally read infinite jest and how you can, too. David foster wallace, sean pratt, brown book group little. The discussion occurred last march and was initially recommended to me by mr. At the top of a hill is the enfield tennis academy, and at the base of the hill is the ennet hou. Its not really that good of an audio book to listen to and the narration was too slow for me so i ended up reading the whole thing on my own after maybe a hundred pages in. The internet is full of charts and complicated schemas to explain the whole sweep of infinite jest, but i just came across this explanation of the book s ending by the late hacktivist aaron. Infinite winter read infinite jest with a few hundred of. In infinite jest, why is john wayne unable to compete in the.
Infinite summer blog archive how to read infinite jest. Some readers have found it useful to rip the book in half for easier reading on the subway or on the beach. I dont know these people but they seem to be experienced literary critics. The abundance of or excess of guides and commentaries on the novel can perhaps have the adverse and unintentional consequence of making readers new to infinite jest believe that they cant get it without help. Wallace wrote to a friend that the fuckers cut by 600 pages from the first version. Sources consulted during the compilation of this summation. Jan 28, 2017 david foster wallaces lexicon was the stuff of legends. My transcript for the last year might have been dickied a bit, maybe, but that was to get me over a rough spot. Set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwedup family to come along in recent fiction, infinite jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives. I havent read infinite jest, but heres some memes about it anyway.
Part of what makes this publication hard are generous undefined phrases deliberately. They are not boring bibliographic details, but rather an integral part of the text. This post ditches the official spoilerline and talks about the ending of infinite jest. Is there no ending to infinite book because there couldnt be. I felt compelled throughout to read it aloud, such was the almost poetic quality of it.
If its important to you not to read such a post, please do not read this post. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Oct 18, 2016 infinite jest explores the idea that all humans are addicts and examines how the chosen drugs particularly entertainment of late 20th century americans eat them alive. Infinite jest 1996 my favourite book of all time and the very.
His widely acclaimed novel infinite jest contains over 20,000 unique words. Infinite jest ending spoilers infinite jest a lot of people on this thread have embraced swartzs interpretation of the ending which im going to post here. Certain kind of parallel lines are supposed to start converging in such a way that an end can be projected by the reader somewhere. Infinite jest has become an exemplar for difficulty in contemporary fictionits 1,079 pages full of verbal invention, oblique narration, and a scattered, nonlinear, chronology. This is my experience with the book and things i think could help you either finish the book or allowing yourself to just not start it. Why i cannot recommend the infinite jest audio book. With regard to the basic 14 plot line, the setting for the majority of the action is enfield, a fictional suburbia town outside of boston.
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