Jan 17, 2016 with infinite jest, at 1079 pages long, give it at least 107 pages before ditching it. Wallaces particular conceit in infinite jest is that the events described are taking place in the indeterminate future, possibly. As a college english major, ive read my fair share of great literature, and very few authors even approach wallaces ability. Feb 01, 1996 admittedly, infinite jest is a tough book. This is the last of a fourpart roundtable discussion with the infinite summer guides infinite summer. The chronology of his life is not overly difficult to trace, because david foster wallace provides a code for the years that can be used to map out the events. There is stuff that happens in the opening pages that explains events at the end of the book, albeit over pages and hundreds of footnotes away. Jul 31, 2009 there have been some interesting infinite summer posts about whether infinite jest counts as science fictionsee, for instance, these two at infinite tasks and this from chris forsterso i thought it might be interesting to run through some of my standard classroom definitions of science fiction and see how the book shapes up. Infinite summer yyc is open to anyone interested in reading or rereading, or trying to read for the nth time infinite jest over the summer of 2014. Feb 26, 2016 12 if you think infinite jest at 1,100odd pages is a long book, be advised that it started longer.
When i got to the end of infinite jest i read it about 10 years ago and im not one of those people with great memories. Infinite jest book club tackles the big tome on its 20th. Its a reboot of an online book club for infinite jest that drew people into the 1,000plus page book during the summer of 2009, infinite summer. So a bunch of folks are reading david foster wallaces infinite jest this summer and blogging about it. Reflections on infinite jest and infinite summer youtube. Edoardo nesis new novel, infinite summer translated from the italian by alice kilgarriff, takes place in tuscany between august 1972 and august 1982, right in the middle of the period known in italy as the years of lead, a period of social and political turmoil marked by leftwing and rightwing killings and bombings. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay. Reading david foster wallaces latest novel, infinite jest, i couldnt help thinking at times about 7yearold seymour glasss book length letter home from camp, published in the new. My posture is consciously congruent to the shape of my hard chair. Thoughts after reading infinite jest and a consideration of the infinite summer reading program. Apr 09, 2009 i began reading infinite jest by david foster wallace around october 2008. I remember it but couldnt tell you hals dads dogs name, it was obvious to me that the whole point of the book from dfws perspective, was to create the entertainment in real life, or, something close to it.
This is a cold room in university administration, woodwalled, remingtonhung, doublewindowed against the november heat, insulated from administrative sounds by the reception. When someone recommends you read this book, ask them how much virginia woolf, marguerite. That being said, it is an amazing piece of literature. Its long and thick, and when you couple that with the density of the prose and the complexity of how dfw thinks, it makes for a fairly intense going to just read the book. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by american writer david foster wallace. Sponsored by the morning news, participants were challenged to read and complete david foster wallaces novel infinite jest at a rate of about 75 pages a week from june 21 to september 22, 2009. Join endurance bibliophiles from around the world in reading infinite jest over the summer of 2009, june 21st to september 22nd. Infinite jest has been on my reading pile for ages but, despite adoring my recent birthday present of foster wallaces short stories, oblivion, i just havent had the strength of mind to start it. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. I remember it but couldnt tell you hals dads dogs name, it was obvious to me that the whole point of the book. Infinite jest, a friend of wallaces commented to me when i was researching every love story is a ghost story, the biography of wallace that i wrote, reads like a valentine to a. The chronology of his life is not overly difficult to trace, because david foster wallace provides a code for.
Ill keep you all posted on what im reading and my thoughts after i am finished. Exactly why matthew baldwin decided that the footnoteheavy, ubersmart david foster wallace novel infinite jest would make the perfect summer read was a puzzle. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and. Infinite jest does feature hal as a central protagonist, and it ends with him in the first scene. Now join endurance bibliophiles from around the web as we tackle and comment upon david foster wallaces masterwork, june 21st to september 22nd. Now join endurance bibliophiles from around the web as we tackle.
A subreddit dedicated to reading david foster wallaces infinite jest over the summer. There is stuff that happens in the opening pages that explains events at the end of the book. It has been categorized as an encyclopedic novel and made time magazines. I hadnt realized how much the internet had affected my ability to just sit down and read a book. Jul 09, 2009 its not too late to jump into infinite summer, a virtual book club dedicated to conquering david foster wallaces infinite jest by september 22. Again, i have to tip my hat to matthew baldwin and 2009s infinite summer which, as you know, was the catalyst for my first reading. The project is bringing the full spectrum of social media twitter, tumblr, livejournal and of course facebook 4,367 friends and counting to bear on wallaces baggy monster. Mar 03, 1996 reading david foster wallaces latest novel, infinite jest, i couldnt help thinking at times about 7yearold seymour glasss book length letter home from camp, published in the new. Infinite jest is a novel written by david foster wallace. My infinite summer with david foster wallace prospect magazine. Edoardo nesis new novel, infinite summer translated from the italian by alice kilgarriff, takes place in tuscany between august 1972 and august 1982, right in the middle of the period known. Not too many people write thousandpagers, much less read them.
Named one of purewows top 8 summer reads of 2017 named one of valet magazines best books of summer 2017 this novel, set in the booming economic years of tuscany in the 1970s, follows three men all involved in building a textile factory. Reflections on infinite jest and infinite summer part 2 youtube. Sponsored by the morning news, participants were challenged to read and complete david foster wallaces novel infinite jest at. Infinite summer makes use of many social networking and digital platforms. Again, i have to tip my hat to matthew baldwin and 2009s. Infinite jest as infinite jest a supposedly fun blog. A multilayered postmodern saga of damnation and salvation.
A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwedup family to come along in recent fiction, infinite jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. A novel set in tuscany during the magical years when thousands of businesses blossomed, manufacturing objects for everyday life as wellmade and beautiful as the renaissance art. It continues to invite commentary and creative tributes. Jun 02, 2009 infinite jest has been on my reading pile for ages but, despite adoring my recent birthday present of foster wallaces short stories, oblivion, i just havent had the strength of mind to start it. Wallace wrote to a friend that the fuckers cut by 600 pages from the first version. Jun 29, 2009 thousands of socially networked bibliophiles have pledged to tackle david foster wallaces infinite jest over three months this summer, endnotes and all, as part of the infinite summerchallenge. If one of your reading resolutions is to finally finish infinite jest, david foster wallaces mammoth novel, im here to help. Infinite summer brings the reader back to italy in the 1970s, a time when growth and full employment propelled smart and industrious young men to create companies devoted to design. Thoughts on the novel infinite jest and the infinite summer reading program. Infinite summer brings the reader back to italy in the 1970s, a time when growth and full employment propelled smart and industrious young men to create companies devoted to design, architecture. The novel is a interconnected sequence of events, told out of timeline order, that focuses on addiction in all its forms. As a college english major, ive read my fair share of great literature, and very few authors even approach wallaces ability to entertain, enlighten, mystify or infuriate.
In 2009, a challenge was thrown out to people to read the novel over the summer. The three infinite summer blog posts i mention are below. I am seated in an office, surrounded by heads and bodies. Shortly after nanoremo 2008, i was mulling over books for the next installment, and. The length of infinite jest should not be an obstacle to finding pleasure in it. Infinite summer kicked things off and a supposedly fun blog is the stomping. Heres how i finally read infinite jest and how you can, too. Infinite summer blog archive how to read infinite jest. I had ordered the book from after hearing of david foster wallaces death. I began reading infinite jest by david foster wallace around october 2008. In fact, its take on the very nature of entertainment itself perhaps foresaw. Infinite summer brings the reader back to italy in the 1970s, a time when growth and full employment propelled smart and industrious young men to create companies devoted to design, architecture, automobiles, and more.
Oct 24, 2018 thoughts after reading infinite jest and a consideration of the infinite summer reading program. Infinite summer was an online book clubstyle project started by writer matthew baldwin. Nov 22, 2018 thoughts on the novel infinite jest and the infinite summer reading program. I hadnt realized how much the internet had affected my ability to just sit down and read a book, and looking back the first half of ij was all that tougher because i. For all those planning to read infinite jest this summer starting june 21. Infinite jest by david foster wallace year of glad year. The novel is widely noted for its unconventional narrative structure and its experimental use of endnotes there are a total of 388 endnotes, some with footnotes of their own. Some readers have found it useful to rip the book in half for easier reading on. After reading 200 pages of infinite jest, michael pietsch, wallaces editor at little, brown, told wallaces agent, i want to do this book more than i want to breathe.
Some readers have found it useful to rip the book in half for easier reading on the subway or on the beach. I was in france at the time, and when i got back to the u. I think what you say about infinite summer is quite interesting. Although of course you end up becoming yourself infinite summer the end of the tour.
David foster wallaces infinite jest, is, without question, the best book ive ever read. With infinite jest, at 1079 pages long, give it at least 107 pages before ditching it. In fact, its take on the very nature of entertainment itself perhaps foresaw the age of vanity and social media, as seen through the prisms of tinder, facebook, twitter and instagram. Underline words you want to look up later or, if you are reading the e book. Feb 07, 2016 and here, really, is the enigma of david foster wallaces work generally and infinite jest specifically.
The book was edited by publisher little, brown and companys michael pietsch, who has recalled cutting about 250 manuscript. Infinite jest has been on my reading pile for ages but, despite adoring my recent birthday present of foster wallaces short stories, oblivion. And just as intriguing was that after he recruited friends to read with him, the online book club they formed, infinite summer, seems to have taken off in as many ways as the book. Infinite jest made wallaces name when it was published in 1996.
Jun 04, 2015 edoardo nesis new novel, infinite summer translated from the italian by alice kilgarriff, takes place in tuscany between august 1972 and august 1982, right in the middle of the period known in italy as the years of lead, a period of social and political turmoil marked by leftwing and rightwing killings and bombings. Underline words you want to look up later or, if you are reading the e book, highlight words not in the kindle or ios dictionary, star your favorite sentences, make lists of characters, etc. Nooit eerder las ik een boek uit met zon groot gevoel van overwinning. Its definitely got me reading books again, which is marvelous. Infinite winter read infinite jest with a few hundred of. There have been some interesting infinite summer posts about whether infinite jest counts as science fictionsee, for instance, these two at infinite tasks and this from chris forsterso i thought it might be interesting to run through some of my standard classroom definitions of science fiction and see how the book. Infinite jest book hennepin county library bibliocommons. Thousands of socially networked bibliophiles have pledged to tackle david foster wallaces infinite jest over three months this summer, endnotes and all, as part of the infinite. Three men share a dream of building a textile factory from scratch.
This is a cold room in university administration, woodwalled, remington. I hadnt realized how much the internet had affected my ability to just sit down and read a book, and looking back the first half of ij was all that tougher because i was retraining my attention span. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of infinite jest by david foster wallace. And here, really, is the enigma of david foster wallaces work generally and infinite jest specifically. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by david foster wallace comprising about 1,000 pages. A handful of firsttime ij readers have expressed gratitude for infinite winter, without which theyve told me they wouldnt have read infinite jest. Its not too late to jump into infinite summer, a virtual book club dedicated to conquering david foster wallaces infinite jest by september 22.
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