Taka's review
The Broom of the System
by David Foster Wallace
i actually did feel that the plot was impressively intricate in its construction, with ex-roommates and ex-wives and ex-neighbors wending their way back into each other's lives.
but otherwise, i agree.
Glad to make friends with someone with a similar view on this book, Rob.
Maybe it was intricate, but it seemed bland in terms of not having any fantastic, weird, and maybe even absurd elements like in IJ, which I absolutely loved. De gustibus non est disputanum, after all :D
Taka's review
The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace
Taka's review
rating:
bookshelves:
japan_jul07-present,
post-modern_lit
Disappointing--
As a raving fanatic of DFW, I was surprisingly and to all contrary expectations let down quite thoroughly by his first novel. People say it's a mini Infinite Jest, but that's really not true at all. I mean there are budding and teasing similarities, but they are, in my opinion, very different novels concerned with different issues. First, The Broom of the System is mostly in dialogue without the sharp wit and rolling-on-the-floor-funny humor and the trademark myriad lengthy footnotes you see in his later works. Second, it is a hell of a lot less pretentious; i.e. I didn't have to consult the OED, not even once, which is unthinkable in his later works, fiction or essays. In this sense, the book is much easier to read, but then for a seasoned DFW fan/reader, it felt lightweight, paltry, and very unsatisfying indeed. In other words, I felt cheated.
Indulge me with a little rant. The quintessential DFW experience is a menagerie of pretentiousness, sophis...more
As a raving fanatic of DFW, I was surprisingly and to all contrary expectations let down quite thoroughly by his first novel. People say it's a mini Infinite Jest, but that's really not true at all. I mean there are budding and teasing similarities, but they are, in my opinion, very different novels concerned with different issues. First, The Broom of the System is mostly in dialogue without the sharp wit and rolling-on-the-floor-funny humor and the trademark myriad lengthy footnotes you see in his later works. Second, it is a hell of a lot less pretentious; i.e. I didn't have to consult the OED, not even once, which is unthinkable in his later works, fiction or essays. In this sense, the book is much easier to read, but then for a seasoned DFW fan/reader, it felt lightweight, paltry, and very unsatisfying indeed. In other words, I felt cheated.
Indulge me with a little rant. The quintessential DFW experience is a menagerie of pretentiousness, sophis...more
i actually did feel that the plot was impressively intricate in its construction, with ex-roommates and ex-wives and ex-neighbors wending their way back into each other's lives.
but otherwise, i agree.
Glad to make friends with someone with a similar view on this book, Rob.Maybe it was intricate, but it seemed bland in terms of not having any fantastic, weird, and maybe even absurd elements like in IJ, which I absolutely loved. De gustibus non est disputanum, after all :D