(no subject)
David Foster Wallace killed himself on Sept. 12. I didn't really know who he was until my teacher brought it up in class. For those that don't know, he's a renowned author especially known for Infinite Jest.
I've been thinking about him a lot lately, and I think what we have here is the situation I try to describe in "Blank Nights." Something like a tortured genius that creates a remarkable body of work, then commits suicide. Instantly, that person's legacy grows. Takes on mythical proportion. It's happened to a bunch of artists, e.g. Ian Curtis or Curt Cobain or Hemingway. It's hard to separate the body of work from the circumstances of the death. etc.
I hope the value society places on the intellectual suicide does not get twisted around. By kids with a story, a demo, a painting, whatever.
RIP DFW I gotta try to read IJ sometime soon.
I've been thinking about him a lot lately, and I think what we have here is the situation I try to describe in "Blank Nights." Something like a tortured genius that creates a remarkable body of work, then commits suicide. Instantly, that person's legacy grows. Takes on mythical proportion. It's happened to a bunch of artists, e.g. Ian Curtis or Curt Cobain or Hemingway. It's hard to separate the body of work from the circumstances of the death. etc.
I hope the value society places on the intellectual suicide does not get twisted around. By kids with a story, a demo, a painting, whatever.
RIP DFW I gotta try to read IJ sometime soon.