This book gets talked to death here, but I don't care. I don't want to talk about DFW's shitty personality, or his politics, or his philosophy.
I want to know why Infinite Jest is entertaining. It has no right to be as fun to read as it is. The world and characters he paints feel real. The plot lines, while scattered, are entertaining. How does he do it? I'm genuinely interested in an analysis of his story-building. My initial thoughts are that he builds such well-made characters through detail; the detail in each character in the book, major and minor, is rich. The way he jumps around, exploring different parts of each character's history, and doing each section with a focus on one or two particular characters explores them and expounds upon them before returning to the main chronological plotlines. The world too is revealed in these time jumps. His chronology-breaks allow him to explore tiny details; with how massive the book is, all of these tiny details add up into a convincing image of all his characters. Beyond being a book of experimental language, beyond being a book of philosophy, IJ is a book of characters, and one that has yet to be rivaled in such a manner.
>words Come back to me when there's a movie. If it's good enough for that I might read it
Jason Robinson
The film format would not handle the chronology of the story very well. Also, the story in IJ lives in the details; film makes a good point of having many visual details but missing out on everything else. Not to say a movie couldn't happen; some talented director could probably capture the spirit of the book in film, but it will still be very different from the experience of the book itself.
Mason Morgan
my copy just arrived - are the footnotes essential? am I going to get fed up of swapping to the back every 10 minutes?
Evan Gray
No, you won't get fed up, the footnotes are part of the storytelling. He's aware that you're flipping back and forth, and some of the story is told within the footnote itself.
I think you're right about how the character detail really keeps you invested, and that's really what gets anyone invested in any story, but I kept being surprised by how fucking funny the book is. Genuinely laughed out loud on multiple occasions. Plus, his near prophetic satire on the future of technology was also really engaging to me.
Dylan Brooks
>I don't want to talk about DFW's shitty personality Audience pussy.
Landon Lopez
Anytime mario came in I couldnt help but smile. Especially that bit when he touches the guys hand by accident basically.
Adrian Sanders
I know he was an awful person, I'm just not interested in discussing it in this thread. I'm more interested in the story telling techniques of Infinite Jest itself right now.
Hudson Rodriguez
Oh neat, how cucked are audiobook fags who don't get the footnotes?
Colton Jackson
The footnotes work as story that doesn't fit into the already jumbled main block of the book. What I usually do is come to the end of the sentence the footnote is in, then flip to the back (where I have it bookmarked) and read the footnote text. Beware though, some are multiple pages long. But the long ones are also some of the best ones.
It does have its funny moments. They help cut the tension when the book goes to some dark places, I find. You bring up a good point about characters too; any story rests on the strength of its characterization. A story with a complex and interesting plot and world will only ever be mediocre without strong characters, whereas a book with strong characters and almost no plot can be amazing.
Mario is such a wholesome, sincere character. He is physically challenged and probably mentally challenged too. I think Wallace intended for him to be a beacon of sincerity in the ironic satire he presents. The fact that the most sincere character in the novel is also profoundly disabled was a good move on his part.
Nolan Barnes
Is AA really like how its portrayed in this book? Like with the religious stuff? I know dfw wanted to be catholic but he def seemed to struggle with the idea of god, like with that chapter of hal and mario
Ryan Parker
>ordered Mason & Dixon, V, Gravity's Rainbow and ATD last week from UK retailer because it was cheaper than amazon >decide yesterday to buy IJ from amazon to read after Pynchon >IJ arrived today... the others haven't REEEE I know they're all huge time investments so I don't want to start IJ knowing that the others should be here soon. How does Yea Forums decide what to read?
Jaxson Walker
Dude it is just a meme. No one here has actually read it.
IJ is a time sink just because of how mammoth it is. If you spend most of your free time reading it will still probably take you at least a week to finish it. So it wouldn't be much of an issue if you just tackle it.
Yeah this board just turns into /pol books/ sometimes but there are still plenty here who have read it. Infinite Jest also happens to be fairly popular among novel enthusiasts so it's not like its meme status on this board is the only reason to discuss it.
Evan Rodriguez
Had a debate with myself, decided to just start IJ and then do Pynchon >he realized that he would have plenty of time to enjoy all the cartridges, and realized intellectually that the feeling of deprived panic over missing something made no sense
well shit
Jose Rogers
Yep. I had the same brick-shitting moment when I started Infinite Jest.
Dylan Rivera
The whole 'missing reel' feel is pretty well done. Lots of disconnected plot points to theorize about, with background easter eggs. Same appeal as Rick and Morty desu.
Charles Turner
The structure of the plot is interesting to me. Almost every single scene does have a connection to a main plot lines, but there really are some that show up and end within one scene and while they might expand upon the world or characters they don't really ever show up again.
Julian Ramirez
>The reason being it's a lot easier to fix something if you can see it this line is early in the book after a short paragraph on Mario recording the tennis players and exemplifies how every scene has a reason for being there. when you realize the initially chaotic seeming structure was meticulously organized and done that way for a reason, it sheds a new light on Wallace's writing skills.
Leo White
Yes. I went to AA for a couple of years and it's a complete picture of what it's like in real life. The sayings, the crazy people, etc. All accurately portrayed.
Nathaniel Long
The beginning is hard to push through, because nothing seems to make any sense. There are a few hints here and there, which you quickly learn to connect and which begin to form a coherent picture. Once you go past a certain point your are irreversibly hooked and the length becomes a non-issue. What makes it great for me is that you somewhat have to work and pay attention to pick up the more subtle hints, like how most of the characters are connected. The plot is unpredictable, quickly changing pace from people watching a silly movie to wheelchair assassin executions. It is just a glorious mess.
Xavier Hughes
I noticed that. It's like 200 pages of struggle then all of a sudden it clicks.
Jayden Long
I a bit glazed over during the incredibly long description of the tennis academy, do I need to re-read it or was it just to really explain the lengths Hal goes to for his secret smoke?
Juan Baker
I absolutely agree, it's a 9/10 That's the worst part of the book, it's not all that important.
