Infinite Jest: First timer discussion
This topic is about
Infinite Jest
The Beginning & The End (notes)
date
newest »
newest »
Just finished IJ yesterday. Took me 6 months. Have never read anything like it nor do I think I ever will again. Most amazing book ever. So much so that because it ended so abruptly I'm going to start to read it all over again. Some things that helped me get the most out of my first read:*go slow...no more than 10-20 pages or so a day so you absorb.
*I read the book on my kindle as the hard copy was too unwieldy to read comfortably, but I kept the hard copy next to me as I read so I could jump to the footnotes (can't do that on my old kindle)
*DO read the footnotes. There's a lot of arcane stuff in there but also some very important detail.
*I also kept the IJ wiki page open on my iphone open as I read so that I could double check characters, especially students at the ETA and the residents of Ennet House. Hard to keep them all straight.
*Avoid spoilers at all costs, especially discussions of the ending. It will ruin the book for you. Try your best to piece it together on your own. I was surprised how much sense I was able to make of things on my own without any outside help.
*Read carefully and slowing and watch for clues. DFW sticks very important little tidbits here and there and if you're not careful you'll miss them. I'm sure I'll find many of these on my 2nd read that I missed on my first.
*Savor and enjoy. What a book. I'm so very sad today knowing that DFW isn't around to give us another like this.
Mod
Thanks for the feedback Peggy!
These all sound great and I will definitely be taking them on board. I'm on target for my first 100 pages by Sunday so will have an update then.
I've read a lot of other books that have difficult timeline structures so I'm really enjoying it so far. It reminds me a little of Haruki Murakami books in as much as the chapters are like short scenes, both fast and slow; it reads almost like a play!
Let me know if you decide to re-read it! I imagine you get a different experience every time.
Before I even opened this book I decided to do some research, looked on various blogs etc but had to stop before I stumbled into some *spoilers*
Things I have taken into consideration:
~ TWO BOOKMARKS (minimum)
I have placed one at the front and one at the beginning of the endnotes to make it easier to flip back and forth. There have been other suggestions of a certain page that helps with the timeline structure, but I wish I hadn't read about it. It has obviously been placed at a certain part of the novel, by Wallace, because that is when he thought we should read it.
~ PENS/HIGHLIGHTERS/PENCIL/PAD
There are varied tactics when it comes to reading this books; sawing it into thirds, color-coding, buying two copies. But I think this is all just personal preference. I am one of those people who like the get comfortable with a book, bend the spine, dog-ear the pages, coffee and chocolate stains. So I was pretty excited about the idea of writing within the pages, highlighting passages that I love, make note of the characters and the time line. Of course, this can all be done by making notes on a separate pad or buying an electronic version.
~ TAKE TIME TO DIGEST
I think that the sheer size of the novel is what puts most people off, making it seem more difficult than it maybe is. So, I'm going with the divide and conquer method. Every 30 pages, I'm going to take a break and possibly make notes.
I read that whilst preparing for his role in The End of the Tour movie, Jason Segal would read 100 pages a week and I think that is pretty reasonable and what I am going to aim for.
Other than that I am going to try and not put too much pressure on myself or my brain and try to just enjoy it for what it is.
Has anyone else got any key tips that have helped them, or planning on doing before they begin?
Also, I'm planning on getting to page 100 by the end of this week (June 26th '16).
I'll create a new update of my thoughts! Let me know if you want do a read-along!