Infinite Jest - Chunky- Discussion thread

[Meg]

great!

[Pam]

I am in!

[Amy]

I'm in! I just downloaded the book and began reading - looking forward to discussions starting in January!

[Meg]

What a great group!

[Leah]

Oh, if it's not too late, I'd like to join in. Been meaning to tackle this one!

[Meg]

It is definitely not too late, we would love to have both of you

[Shannon]

I'm in! Where can I find the reading schedule?

[Shh]

I tried this one over the summer, but just scratched the surface. I'm looking forward to reading this with the group...is the schedule out yet?

[Meg]

Yes, look for a second thread called Infinite Jest - reading schedule. Glad to have you.

[Cathie]

I would like to read this book with the group, but it is on re-order in our bookstores up here in Canada (largest bookstores - Indigo). I don't know if i will be able to catch up, if i get behind in the reading schedule :-(. I will try to locate one in a 2nd hand bookstore...I really want to read this with you all.

[Meg]

I believe it is available on Kindle if you have a kindle and/or the kindle app on your computer while you are waiting. Just an idea, we would love to have you.

[Allie]

I'm in. I hope I make it.

[Petra]

Anyone started yet? I plan to start today (as soon as I get off the computer).

If possible (the story may meander a bit over time), would it be helpful if I posted short summaries of our weekly reads?

[Amy]

I've already started!

If you have the time to post a short summary I think it could help some people, especially those reading a different version (to make sure that they're int eh same place).

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

I have started, and I agree that a short summary for each week's reading would be helpful to keep everyone on the "same page". :o)

[LauraT]

Petra wrote: "Anyone started yet? I plan to start today (as soon as I get off the computer).

If possible (the story may meander a bit over time), would it be helpful if I posted short summaries of our weekly r..."

Yes Petra, just to know where are we supposed to get to week by week!!!
I've barely started, only few pages ...

[Petra]

There's a lot going on in the book so I'll try to update as I finish each chapter. The updates are in spoiler brackets but are clearly marked to include which chapter they include.
I'll try to get a bit ahead of the group so that I can have summaries ready at the beginnning of the week. For this week, it'll be a bit more chaotic. (sorry)

The Years in order:
Year of the Whopper
Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad
Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar
Year of the Perdue Wonderchicken
Year of the Whisper-Quiet Maytag Dishmaster
Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office, Or Mobile
Year of the Dairy Products from the American Heartland
Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
Year of Glad

Summary: Week 1; Pages 3-97
The "O" signifies the chapters or segments with the circle & crescent moon symbol. I'm not sure if the symbol signifies anything important.

"O" Year Of Glad
The Year Of Glad is the most futuristic of the chapters.
- Hal Incandenza (18 yrs old) is at a College admission interview. He’s been coached on how to behave His Uncle Charles (C.T.) does most of the talking.
- Hal is brilliant; so brilliant that the College Deans are concerned about his grades dropping from A+++ to only A but his verbal scores have dropped so that they “are just a bit closer to zero than we’re comfortable with” .
- Since Hal attended the Enfield Tennis Academy, which was founded by his father, his more spectacular grades are held suspect.
- The Dean’s sequester Hal alone to interview him. In the interview, Hal tries telling his story but is wrestled to the ground, taken to the men’s washroom to be held and then driven away in an ambulance to the local hospital.
- Also included in this chapter is a memory in which 5-year-old Hal comes out of the family home, carrying a chunk of mold, saying he’d eaten some of it. His mother (the Moms) runs around the yard in distress, not knowing what to do. Hal doesn't remember the incident but was told the story once by his older brother Orin.

Thank goodness that not all chapters are as detailed as the first one. :D

"O" Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
Erdedy buys pot.

"O" Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad
Hal meets with the Professional Conversationalist. The Quebecois are mentioned.

"O" 9May Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
Orin phones. Mario is introduced.

"O" Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
April 1st: The Medical Attache finds The Entertainment and starts watching it.

Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar
- Wardine's story of convoluted family, fear, terror.
- Bruce Green falls in love with Mildred Bonk. Two years later (Year of the Whisper Quiet Maytag Dishwasher) they have a baby & live in a trailer with Tommy Dooley, who in future will sell pot to the lady who is bringing the pot to Erledy.

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (3 chapters)
"O" 1. (Apr 1) Hal & Mario talk about God, Himself's death & the Moms reaction to the death

2. (Oct) a delve into Orin's life, phobias, superstitions.

"O" 3. (Apr 2) Hal's pot smoking methods & routines. Medical Attache is still watching the entertainment cartridge.

Year of the Dairy Products from the American Heartland
Don Gately robs a house. It goes bad.

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (Nov.3)
Jim Troeltsch gets sick, spends time in bed, has a sick-induced nightmare/dream.

"O" As of Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
A short bio of James Incandenza, his marriage to Avril, starting ETA, his movies, his burial place.

Denver Co, 1 Nov Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
- Orin flies
"O" - Pemulis is not big-brother material
- dream sequence of an outlandish tennis game (Orin's?)

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (3 chapters)
"O" 1.
- Kate Gompert in the Psych Ward
- the Medical Attache is still watching the cassette; his wife peeks up at it
- Schtitt, his relationship with Mario & his theories on tennis

2.
- Tiny Ewell in Detox
- a larger group has gathered around the Medical Attache; they are all mesmerized by the cassette.

"O" 3. (30th April)
- Maranthe & Hugh Steeply meet in the hills above Tucson
- Steeply tries to determine if Maranthe sent the cassette to the Medical Attache; Maranthe denies accusation
- 23 people were mesmerized by the cassette in total
- an earlier connection (affair) between the Medical Attache and Avril Incandenza is revealed
-a strange aside about a herd of rampant feral hamsters
- Maranthe & Steely talk about pretending to pretend to pretend to betray (loyalties)
- Maranthe plays with his hidden gun
- there's a mention of a M. DuPlessis who died in a robbery gone bad
- Who's Luria?
- Both men relax, tensions subside; Maranthe's gun stays hidden

[Petra]

Things that popped out to me in The Year of Glad:

DFW has a way with words. Phrases I liked:
"My chest bumps like a dryer with shoes in it"
"I consume libraries."
"I do things like get in a taxi and say, "The library, and step on it"."


- there's some hidden threats between Hal and his uncle ("C.T. looks at me, his look horribly mild"; pg 5)

-Hal wrote 9 essays for his entrance admission form. Six are named. Are these names/themes important? What are the other three essays called? (named essays: Neoclassical Assumptions in Contemporary Prescriptive Grammar, The Implicatons of Post-Fourier Transformations for a Holographically Mimetic Cinema, The Emergnence of Heroic Stasis in Broadcast Entertainment, Montague Grammar and the Semantics of Physical Modality, A Man Who Began To Suspect He Was Made of Glass, Tertiary Symbolism in Justinian Erotica)

- the difference between how Hal sees himself as talking and gesturing and how the Deans observe him. (Hal: "I soothe the air with a casual hand", "I am speaking slowly and distinctly".
Deans: "But the sounds he made", "like an animal", "Flailing...Waggling", "Sounded most of all like a drowning goat".

- Hal has been hospitalized before under similar circumstances ("the only other emergency room I have ever been in, almost exactly one year back"; pg 16)

These are weird circumstances that bring more questions than answers.
I found, though, that despite the ominous hints of things gone bad, DFW tells this story with a lot of humour tossed in. The scene in the bathroom is really quite funny if we listen to Hal's side. And it ends with the toilet flushing. :D

[Meg]

great job, this helps a lot!

[Petra]

I felt kind of sorry for Himself in The Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad. That was quite a ruse to spend time with his son. His life seems really sad: his wife seems to have numerous affairs and he & his son (sons?) don't seem to speak. At least, he & Hal don't seem to speak together. It seems like a very lonely life for Himself.

[Petra]

Thanks, Meg.
The chapters are so different. Hopefully, the summary will be good when we have to refer back at some point in time (if we have to refer back). There's a lot of characters and situations happening in many different periods of time.
When I started to read this the first time around (I got to about 150 or so pages before stopping), I didn't pay much attention to the years. This time, I'm paying more attention. It makes for a jumpy storyline but there's also a strange sense of more continuity.

[Meg]

In reading reviews of this book, I was read that the first 200 pages are difficult, but if you stick it out it becomes good reading!

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

So far I am finding the book confusing, but very well written. David Foster Wallace certainly had a way with words, and a poetic way of describing even the most basic things. I am hoping that my confusion will decrease as some of these chapters tie together.

[Allie]

As a newbie to DFW and this book, can anyone provide background as to the importance, or lack thereof, of this author or book? I don't remember this book when it was published or any brouhaha about the book when it came out.

[Petra]

Allie, what info are you looking for? I made a few notes from the introduction of the book that may shed some light for you. It's in the Reading Schedule thread.
Sheila, I'm hoping, too, that the story lines will blend. That would help the confusion/jumpiness.

Another thought that I forgot to mention before. The chapter "9 May Y.D.A.U" is before the chapter that takes place April 1st, Y.D.A.U.
The 9 May chapter seems inconsequential and yet something happened....maybe. I mean, if I were to phone someone and basically say what Orin said (have to look it up; it was only a sentence) and then hang up, it could be a sign of distress or a call for help. It was a very strange and out-of-place chapter.

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

Allie, I have to admit I don't know a lot about David Foster Wallace, but from the little bit that I have read he seems to have been a gifted writer and genius, who must have also been personally tortured since he commited suicide in his 40's.

I think Infinite Jest probably had a more cult like following before the author killed himself, though it was listed on Time magazines list of 100 best English-language novels prior to the author's death.

Has anyone else read any other books by David Foster Wallace? Or has anyone read his biography? Does anyone else have any other details or thoughts of the author or prior significance of this book?

[Julia]

Hey! First post here, but looking forward to this discussion. It was just what I needed to get me through Infinite Jest. I don't know much about the author, but I would definitely recommend his Kenyon College commencement speech, This Is Water.

[Irene]

Still waiting for my copy to arrive from Amazon. I will catch up when it gets here.

[Amy]

Julia wrote: "Hey! First post here, but looking forward to this discussion. It was just what I needed to get me through Infinite Jest. I don't know much about the author, but I would definitely recommend his Ken..."

Thanks, Julia - I'll look this up! Infinite Jest is the first book I've read by DFW, but so far I'm impressed with his writing and enjoying it!

[Rae]

Infinite Jest has been on my reading list forever, but I have been intimidated by its size and format. I was excited to see it on the group read, and am making good progress on my ipad version.

However, I have a confession.

Before I got too far into the book, I visited my local library and checked out David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest A Reader's Guide by Stephen Burn. This guide is less than 100 pages, and has given me enough perspective on the forest to avoid being swallowed by the trees.

[Petra]

Rae, I wanted to get my hands on that book. I may look for it a bit harder now that I know it helps.
If, during the course of the discussion, any of the tips helps, would you mind posting it, please?

How's everyone doing with the reading? 85 pages seems like a lot of reading for this book. So much is happening, it's all over the place and not much of it seems related (yet). It's like reading a bunch of short stories. I had this impression the first time I tried reading this book, too.

[Petra]

Also, I got to the first footnote with a reference to another footnote further along in the book. :D
Had to think for a moment about whether to look at the second footnote or leave it until I got to it naturally in the book. But I read it and am glad that I did.

[Meg]

I have read 60 pages so far, and it is a doable task, in my opinion. Just a difficult read so far.

[Stacy]

I'm around 30 pages...not overwhelmed yet but a little confused. Looking forward to the 200 page mark when it starts to (hopefully!) come together!

[Petra]

I'm reading this section for the second time (tried reading this book earlier this year) & I'm picking up some interesting "hints" that I'm not sure are hints or relevant or figments of my imagination....things I didn't notice at all the first time.
I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone's thoughts are.

[Julia]

If there is something that I often read about IJ is that it's one of those books that people often want to reread immediately after finishing. I wonder how many "clues" we miss on a first read.

Also, as far as resources go, I am quite fond of the Infinite Summer website. They had a slightly different weekly schedule, but the texts are marked by page, so you should be fine as far as spoilers go.
http://infinitesummer.org/index

And personally, I would recommend their "How To Read Infinite Jest" post. Great tips there, particularly with the three bookmarks and the large amount of online resources.

http://infinitesummer.org/archives/215

Finaly, this is my go-to Glossary. I am not a native English speaker, so sometimes I am not sure if the word exists or if it is a Wallace neologism. This is quite helpful - and spoiler free - by presenting the words/expressions by page and explaining them in the context of the novel without new information.

http://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/d...

[Amy]

Julia - that is a great resource. Thank you for posting! I've read a little bit past the stopping point for the week and I can tell that everything will eventually come together, but it does seem disjointed.

Even at this stage, I can understand why people go back a re-read it. I have the feeling that I may be missing some details and when I'm done with the book I will understand how well it was put together. It's almost like a literary puzzle.

[Meg]

Julia, thank you so much for the links it really helps!

[Julia]

Amy, I find it interesting that you mention a literary puzzle as the basis of the structure of IJ. DFW has said that the novel was initially structured as a fractal triangle, the Sierpinski Gasket.

You can read a bit about it here: http://kottke.org/07/12/infinite-jest

[Rebecca]

I really am enjoying this book. I like the challenge. I like the style. The opening and them BAM with The year of the trial size dove bar. Having never known drug addicts or addiction I appreciate the insight to their world. I have to say in nursing school psych was my least favorite rotation but do like this section. So far I want to know about the strained brother relationship with Orrin. I feel sometimes I have to chose with story to follow and I want to keep track of them all which is another great but fun challenge.

[Meg]

The Sierpinski Gasket scares me!

I find that I am more interested in certain snippets than others, right now I am in the psych ward and find that very readable. Perhaps some of it seeming more autobiographical?

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

Is anyone else reading all the notes at the back of the book? Last night I read a section with a bunch of them, and was constantly flipping back and forth. :o)

[Meg]

I am starting to read the footnotes as well. It seems that the stories are starting to come together.

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

So this (Sierpinski Gasket) is the structure of the book?



Yikes!!

Since the big triangle hole is left in the middle, does that mean that while all the little triangles are connected in a way, there is still a big hole in the middle of the story at the end?? :o)

[Julia]

Yes! You can't read IJ and skip the footnotes! It's part of the process! (At least that's what I've been told).

Using two - and later, three - bookmarks really helps.

[Julia]

Sheila - Since they moved somethings around when editing the novel, I wonder how close to an actual gasket we got. Maybe some clever double-major undergrad will someday publish an essay on it.

And talking about structure, is someone joining this group read with a good knowledge of Hamlet?

[Rebecca]

I will now. does the number correspond to a footnote or page?
Sheila I was looking at it storyline wise. A first he starts. There is a story with Hal, We get storylines with other characters, then stories within stories. then the stories within stories become major stories. I have no idea though. LOL

[Julia]

Elegant Complexity: A Study of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest by Greg Carlisle tries to arrange themes, plot and characters as Sierpinski Gaskets, but I'm not really sure how closely I want to study these before reading. If anyone is interested, a screencap from the kindle edition.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/uqqiv81hsvs...

[Amy]

Julia wrote: "Amy, I find it interesting that you mention a literary puzzle as the basis of the structure of IJ. DFW has said that the novel was initially structured as a fractal triangle, the Sierpinski Gasket...."

Wow! That is really cool. It gave me the impression of a puzzle, but I had no idea how complex.

[Petra]

Julia, thanks for the links!

Amy, this seems very much like a literary puzzle. There are hints of abuse/intimidation, affairs, communication breakdown, etc. It all points to a coming together that will be explosive. Could all these family issues be the reason for Orin's leaving?

The footnotes should be read as they come up in the story. Two or more bookmarks are helpful with this book. Rebecca, the numbers correspond to the footnote number. Some footnotes have footnotes as well. DFW's brain must have been very, very detail orientated to keep it all straight.
Some footnotes don't seem relevant, some are jokes, some (many) are very detailed accounts of drugs (DFW seems to have been exceptionally knowledgable about drugs), some add family history and other details to the story).

Speaking of which, wasn't footnote 24 amazing?! I spent a lot of time on that footnote last night. Seems that something happened in the Year of the Trial-sized Dove bar. James changed the name of his production company from ??? (can't remember) to Yorick Entertainment. This is the first Hamlet reference I recognized. Anyone know the Hamlet story? I don't and wonder what could have caused the change in name. A betrayal? It may have been one of Avril's affairs but that seemed more open before the name change so I think it may be something more serious than an affair. Also, anyone else think the film, Infinite Jest V, is the entertainment cassette that the Medical Attache is watching?

Julia, I'll check that link out later, when we're further along in the book. I'm not sure if I understand enough about what's going on yet to sort out the themes and such.

Possible spoiler...not sure if I got this right: (view spoiler)[ Are Hal and Mario twins? (hide spoiler)] I've been wanting to ask this for awhile and think everyone is past the point where I got the idea now.