infinite jest

[Language-Gamer]

Bump.

[GRWelsh]

I'll add it to my reading list.  I occasionally like to tackle odd or difficult books.  I've read ULYSSES.  I've read TRISTAM SHANDY.  I have NAKED LUNCH on my reading list, but haven't gotten to it yet.  A lot of people seem sharply divided on these sorts of 'unconventional cultural touchstone' books -- I'm not sure what else to call them.

[Language-Gamer]

Will someone just read this book already?!

[Lucian]

 Perhaps one day, but I'm making my way through a book of similar size already, The English and their History. Then there's Don Quixote goading me from the shelf...

[Pragmatic]

I picked up this book a few weeks ago. Pretty busy at work, so I've only managed ~200 pages so far. DFW is a complete enigma. Have you seen his interviews on YouTube? He's undoubtedly a genius.

[Language-Gamer]

I picked up this book a few weeks ago. Pretty busy at work, so I've only managed ~200 pages so far. DFW is a complete enigma. Have you seen his interviews on YouTube? He's undoubtedly a genius.

Yeah, I've seen a ton of his stuff on YouTube. Crazy smart.

[HIJ]

This is one of the most intriguing books I've read. The writing is often rather horrible and something that even a high school teacher would give a low mark on, yet it seems so utterly right and at home in the book. Maybe that is because I know of the author and so I recognize that he can write better than how he is writing and so the way he is writing has a point, but whatever the case may be, it's terribly interesting.

I thought the writing was supposedly amazing?

[Language-Gamer]

This is one of the most intriguing books I've read. The writing is often rather horrible and something that even a high school teacher would give a low mark on, yet it seems so utterly right and at home in the book. Maybe that is because I know of the author and so I recognize that he can write better than how he is writing and so the way he is writing has a point, but whatever the case may be, it's terribly interesting.

I thought the writing was supposedly amazing?

It works on different levels. It utilizes dialects. Hard to explain. So the individual sentences would be poor writing form but the fact that he can write in dialects and still make the writing compelling shows how great of a writer he is.

[Pragmatic]

I don't think that DFW would agree that the writing is horrible.

[Language-Gamer]

I don't think that DFW would agree that the writing is horrible.

depends on how you are approaching it. In an essay of his he talks about Standard Written English and how it is a dialectic of English just like there are tons of others. So if one is approaching his writing from the dialect of SWE, as is really common in novels, then the fact that tons of his sentences start with multiple conjunctions ("and so," "and but," "and but so," etc.), then it is bad writing. That's my point.

[Pragmatic]

Yea many of his sentences are not structurally correct. But he writes as people (probably more eclectic people) speak. I find it much more engaging, and I think that's what he intended in his writing.

[Language-Gamer]

Yea many of his sentences are not structurally correct. But he writes as people (probably more eclectic people) speak. I find it much more engaging, and I think that's what he intended in his writing.

100% his intent. I find it kind of crazy that I enjoyed the actual writing so much given that I tend to prefer SWE when I'm reading. For instance, the mark twain stories I have read have not been particularly enjoyable (although the dialects he uses are often more over the top compared to Wallace's).

[Language-Gamer]

I think I am going to pick up and read IJ again. Maybe with a more detailed focus on figuring it all out.