Kris’s Comments (group member since Aug 06, 2012)

Kris’s comments from the Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace group.

Ali wrote: "Not taking into account differences in editions, the minimum is 8588 pages. Proust is 4211, RIARD is 3298, and IJ is 1079. If you read 24 pages a day, you will get it done in one year, unless you finish IJ before beginning Proust Et al, in which case we would subtract IJ'S pages from the year's quota, leaving you with 7509 pages to read, which can be finished with twenty and a half pages a day for one year. If you want to be really lazy and only read Proust, assuming you want to read the Modern Library six pack which does not include the Davis translation (4211 pages), you can finish him off in one year by reading twelve pages a day. "

This is reassuring! No need to only read Proust. I bet we could also add in some Gaddis too.

Marieke wrote: "Pretty punchy indeed! I can't wait!!

The other thing that makes be salivate in both groups is all the other recommendations for extra credit reading...I think that is "resources" here and "auxilia..."

I feel the same way, Marieke - I've been filling up my tbr shelf and ordering books as quickly as I can.

Stephen M., you are still in charge of general merriment.

Ali wrote: "I wasn't criticising it. It doesn't matter to me if you want to be off-topic or not, especially since you're not even close to starting the book, although it might when you begin. She thought she was behind on the discussion, and I wanted to let her know what to expect. The fact that half the messages are pointless and off-topic is neither good or bad. It just is. ."

All is well. I think because there's a lot of advanced notice that these general discussion threads are likely to be pretty stream of consciousness, and they will still be here when we all start IJ. (Those of us reading IJ and Proust simultaneously are likely to get pretty punchy, anyway!) But as Mary said, we'll definitely have more specific threads for IJ discussion as we start reading in December/January.

Melody wrote: "OK. Step 1. Ordered my copy. I'm already behind because I haven't read all these comments in our group discussion."

Welcome aboard, Melody! And there's plenty of time to catch up.

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "I am introduced.

Thanks for the invite. Joining this group . . ., well, I don't feel like I really had a choice.

This will be my third traversal of DFW's genius masterwork. My hope is for a s..."

I am so glad you joined, Nathan. And you're right, you really had no choice at all....

MJ wrote: "No one's mention William Vollmann's Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means. That can be the tenth book(s)."

I am now calculating the page count on our 10 books for 2013.... :)

Moira wrote: "Kris wrote: "Mary, Madeleine, and all, what do you think about starting the IJ read sometime in December for those of us who need a good head start before the Proust read, with the understanding th..."

Oh yes - I'll send you an invitation.

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "Infinite Boston has recently been posting an excellent photo essay of the locations where IJ was shot:

http://www.infiniteboston.com/


Re-readers may be interested in comparing the first draft of..."

Thanks so much Nathan - great links.

Bird Brian wrote: "I have this book. I haven't read that much of it, so I can't attest to its quality, but what I know of it seems pretty good.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16..."

Thanks Brian! I have a copy of it waiting here as well. I haven't started it yet, but I''ve heard good things about it.

Bird Brian wrote: "Holy cow! there's already 48 people participating. This will by far be the largest group read I've ever been in."

It's pretty exciting. I'm thrilled to see such a great response.

OK, I updated the group info to clarify that starting in December is an option.

Jason, I'm glad you brought this up. I've been concerned about the overlap. It's good to have another option -- it feels more realistic to me.

Jason wrote: "I might be more interested in reading it in December than in January. It won't take us that long to read Margarita and this way we won't have two huge projects going at once. It is ambitious enough..."

That sounds good to me, Jason. Mary, Madeleine, and all, what do you think about starting the IJ read sometime in December for those of us who need a good head start before the Proust read, with the understanding that those who want to can begin in January as scheduled.

I also want to check with Ian to see when he's thinking about starting up a Lewis Carroll group read/collaborative writing project. I think that will be a lot of fun. My guess is it would start in the fall, so I don't think a December IJ start will interfere.

Jason wrote: "A lot of us are in the Proust group. Can we convince them to set their reading schedule around ours? Maybe we can get them to delay Proust a smidge so we have time for IT. No?"

I'm reluctant to ask them - it's a huge group, and I know it will be ambitious for them to try to move everyone through all of ISOLT in one year. And my sense is that we'll need some time for IJ - I don't think we can rush through it in a few weeks. However, I do think when we see the reading schedule, we can try to find a way for the IJ reading to fit in in a way that won't make those of us doing both groups go crazy - or crazier than we already are.

I think I'm probably going to start IJ sometime in December, maybe over my winter break, to get a head start on it before January comes.

What do you think, Jason and everyone else?

Stephen M wrote: "http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by...

This is a very cool list. I feel validated for my struggles with To the Lighthous..."

I'm very excited about Women and Men too, whenever we get to it. :)

Stephen M wrote: "Finnegans Wake!"

Laughing here. :)

Moira wrote: "At Kris's request, here is a (v slightly modified) version of the comment here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9...


Some nice online resources..."

Thanks Moira!!

Moira wrote: "Whatever). I was sort of clutching at anything and everything in very early sobriety, so I powered through it (I admit, freely skimming over some of the non-addiction stuff). So that was my personal hook that got me through the book when my attention flagged. I think without something like that, it can be a lot harder to read."

It's such a powerful combination when a book comes to you (or you to the book) at just the right time. Such strong motivation for you to keep reading, too!

Moira wrote: "Kris wrote: "Just added a new Resources thread, Moira -- http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9... Could you cut and paste message 41 into it? That would get the thread off to a great start! "

I wi..."

Thanks! I would do it, but since you put together all the links and info, I wanted that to be clear. :)

Very helpful perspective, Moira. It sounds like a combination of faith, attentive reading, use of resources to help remember characters, etc. when memory fails, and patience is required.