Infinite Jest - Chunky- Discussion thread

[Petra]

Thanks, Irene! I see this great discussion as a group effort. Without all of you, I would have missed a lot in the book as well.
I had fun leading this group and glad that you all enjoyed it. I've never done something like this before. You all made the experience great. Thank you.

[Petra]

I was reading an on-line interview from 2011 (The David Foster Wallace Generation, Apr 7/2011; "On the posthumous publication of The Pale King, The Daily Beast gathered together 6 leading novelists to talk about DFW's influence on them, his sruprising humor, and his final work.)

I quote:
The Daily Beast: "One thing you can see in Wallace's archive is how he, during an early draft of Infinite Jest, also inserted a character named "David Wallace" into a long end-note at the back of the book. By the time we get to the published version, that character's name has been changed to Marlon Bain."

I had to look up who Bain was again:
"Bain, Marlon
46; ETA student in Orin's dream; Orin's affair with his sister, 47; 246; ETA student when Orin attended, 284; 296; had O.C.D., 1039; excessive sweating, fn.234/1039; inDeath in Scarsdale , fn.234/1039; never leaves home, which is one room, "practically lived" with the Incandenzas in Weston AZ, fn.234/1043; letter to Steeply, fn.269/1047; mother "decapitated by a plummeting rotorblade" 1051; in Himself's films, 687; dislikes meeting people outside his home and office, 663"

He's the guy who wrote the letters to Helen Steeply. I wonder why DFW chose that character to name as himself.

[Stacie]

I second that, Irene... Petra, amazing job as discussion leader! Thanks for all the tips and insight and links. I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much out of the book as I did if it weren't for ALL the chicks reading along together, so thank you!

I like the theories about the infinite jest of Infinite Jest. Still, even though I'm not usually one to re-read books (too many new ones to read, so little time), I may just be one of those suckers that goes back for more IJ at some point in the future. (The far, far future!) I'm guessing I'll like it just as much, but still won't "get" just as much.

[Rebecca]

Awsome to all that finished. My hats off to Petra too. I never would have picked this up on my own to read alone.
I will be last to finish up but will be glad when it's done. I liked the ride even though it was a crazy one. I plan to read Jonathan Frazen who maybe has a similar style. Thank you ladies.

[Amy]

Although I finished the book, I've missed the last week of discussion because I haven't had time to be on Goodreads (crazy life ... but it seems like nothing compared to the lives of the characters in the book!).

I just wanted to thank Petra for doing such a great job leading this group and also thank everyone who wrote comments - I really enjoyed reading everyone's perspectives on the book. This has been one of the best online group reads!

[Petra]

Thanks, Amy! I'm glad we were all here together.

I had to post this:
GR recommended this book to me and it reminded me, immediatley, of IJ: Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages
......what do you think? Another group read? .......KIDDING! :D

[Rebecca]

I have been enjoying 775-808. More about Gately and the updates on some of the minor characters. Joelle's mom suicide was so grotesque. Joelle's mother and father was complicated and I enjoyed it. I found myself laughing and wheelchair rolling down the hill and Ewell's money club. Never know if I should be or not.
I didn't get if the inner child guy was really wanting Hal to love him but he feared his rejection and so he choose the other guy? I find like when DW expounds on characters i like IJ but when we get snippets that are random. Not so much. I am getting more details on Gatley's accident.

[Petra]

Rebecca, I'm glad you're still posting and enjoying the book.
I don't think anyone understands that inner child scene. It was weird and out of place, I find.
DFW really has a knack for portraying characters. I found myself caring for many of the people in this book.
I think DFW would have wanted us to laugh. His humour is wonderful and I enjoyed how he stuck these humorous scenes into the book.
Joelle's family was mixed up, that's for sure. Her mother's suicide was gross.

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

Has anyone else seen this "hipster flow chart" here on Goodreads?



http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/39...

[Amy]

That's great, Sheila!

[Amy]

The Boston Review just posted an article on DFW. Here's what it quoted about Infinite Jest from DFW's biography:


"It must not hook readers too easily, must not allow them to fall into the literary equivalent of ‘spectation.’ Infinite Jest had to be, as [Wallace] subtitled it, “a failed entertainment.” To the extent the novel was addictive, it should be self-consciously addictive. That was one reason he’d structured the story like a Sierpinski gasket, a geometrical figure that can be subdivided into an infinite number of identical geometrical figures. The shape of the book—following Wallace’s natural cast of mind—was recursive, nested. Big things—Infinite Jest, a novel you keep having to reread to understand—find their counterpart in smaller things."


Full article is here:
http://www.bostonreview.net/BR38.2/tr...