Infinite Jest proves to be finite

[skwantz]

... we came in?

I finished reading last night and have to say I harbor deeply mixed feelings about what this book means, what it is about.  I tried to take Steve's advice to heart and read it as a landscape or as like a helicopter ride over a strange and fascinating alien place, taking in the details and soaking in the local color.  At the same time

Comments

[heyitsgogi]

I like this review, Joe. IJ is definitely frustrating. It's a shaggy dog story, but it's also intentional. I think DFW had a lot of reasons for why he wrote it like that -- not the least because he was DFW, and had compulsions. But also he was pretty brilliant, and I think the idea that the Entertainments (including IJ) were just to fuck with the audience and for no other reason might be a red herring. I had forgotten that part about "one's inescapable POV" but I like that you brought that up. It makes sense to me that DFW would be trying to write that -- though arguably every book is an escape from one's personal POV

[skwantz]

That's good stuff, the Swartz material, and very observant. He must have read the book several times to pick out that kind of obscure shit. Fascinating though -- in fact, the original reason I had for even writing again about IJ is that, after I finished, I went back and reread the first few chapters and was thrown totally off balance by this line from Hal in chapter 1: "I think of John N. R. Wayne, who would have won this year's WhataBurger, standing watch in a mask as Donald Gately and I dig up my father's head." I thought, Fuck! what is this? There's so much contained in that line, it freaked me out.

Red herring, though, I'm not sure. I don't see any of these ideas as being mutually exclusive, however I take your point about the escapist nature of all books. Still, I see connections between the entertainments/the creator of them and Infi-Jest/the creator of it. And it seems to be, at least in some pages, self-referential. So there.

[heyitsgogi]

You saw The Informant? What did you think?

[skwantz]

Um, heh?

No, I haven't seen it. Is it good? Do they talk about Infinite Jest in it?