A rare post
Over 13 months in the making but I have just this very night finished Infinite Jest - all 981 pages and 386 endnotes.
It was not complete, and could have gone on for another 400 pages. Not only do I feel this, but I know that a good third of the original manuscript was cut by the editor. David Foster Wallace, won’t you please publish Volume II?
I finished page 981, harrumphed, and immediately turned back to page 1 looking for answers. I’ve found one thusfar. Maybe two. Now the book is less like a novel and more like a 5000-piece puzzle.
I ache that it is finished, in that bittersweet way that I ache when I have finished a 5000-piece puzzle: Having completed the challenge, all that remains is to tear it down and box it up.
Happy holidays to all.
It was not complete, and could have gone on for another 400 pages. Not only do I feel this, but I know that a good third of the original manuscript was cut by the editor. David Foster Wallace, won’t you please publish Volume II?
I finished page 981, harrumphed, and immediately turned back to page 1 looking for answers. I’ve found one thusfar. Maybe two. Now the book is less like a novel and more like a 5000-piece puzzle.
I ache that it is finished, in that bittersweet way that I ache when I have finished a 5000-piece puzzle: Having completed the challenge, all that remains is to tear it down and box it up.
Happy holidays to all.