Hey Everybody,
Thanks for joining us in reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest this summer. We'll be having discussions all summer as we read this epic book together, and feel free to post any thoughts, insights, or passages that interest you. To start us off, I had a question for everyone taking part in Infinite Summer.
On page 17 there's a great line "So yo then man what's your story?" The book is really about a lot of different stories so I wanted to ask everyone the same question. How did you decide to pick up Infinite Jest this summer? What draws you to the book? What's your story?
Thanks for joining us in reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest this summer. We'll be having discussions all summer as we read this epic book together, and feel free to post any thoughts, insights, or passages that interest you. To start us off, I had a question for everyone taking part in Infinite Summer.
On page 17 there's a great line "So yo then man what's your story?" The book is really about a lot of different stories so I wanted to ask everyone the same question. How did you decide to pick up Infinite Jest this summer? What draws you to the book? What's your story?
And to start us off, here's my story: I actually came upon the book by accident. I was ordering books for myself over winter break and ordered "Consider the Lobster" by David Foster Wallace and Barnes and Noble said "Books you might like" and indicated "Infinite Jest." I ignored it and ordered a few other books (that I still have to read) and Barnes and Noble kept telling me that I might like this book "Infinite Jest." So I read the description and it said the book was funny, thought provoking, and about entertainment--what more could I ask for? So I ordered it.
A week later it came in the mail and I realized it was 1000+ pages long. I had no idea (obviously I was not paying attention when I was reading the description) and I immediately thought, I'll wait till summer. When I got back to school I saw that it was on the syllabus for a class that I was taking (Epic and Mock Epic with the great Bob Bell) and I got really excited. But being a busy Williams student, I didn't give Infinite Jest near as much attention as I would have liked and when I was contacted about Infinite Summer I was really excited to dive back into this book. It's really a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy it.
Now it's your turn--what's your story? I'll be posting page numbers and some questions to think about for this our first week of Williams Infinite Summer!
Throughout spring semester, Infinite Jest was a topic of conversation amongst my friends. Many of them were planning or attempting to read the tome, so the name gradually became etched on my brain. Then, one glorious afternoon in May, I turned in my last final (a take home for French Revolutionary Tradition) and found myself in Tunnel City sipping an iced coffee with no stack of texts in front of me, or stress weighing down on me. That afternoon I borrowed Infinite Jest from my friend across the hall, and I read it over the next month: slowly and a bit unenthusiastically at first, until I became enmeshed around page 400 and devoured the rest of the book in days. Finishing the book was only momentarily satisfying, because I was left with so many thoughts and questions buzzing around in my head. So when daily messages announced to me that Williams would be having Infinite Summer, I was excited to get to discuss. Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteI've had a bunch of near-misses with this book, and this reading group finally persuaded me to hunker down and give it a go. I'm recently married to a Williams alum, which is how I found this blog. Back in college (late 90s), various friends were raving about this book, but I was a bit too caught up in some personal and chemical drama -- not unlike some of DFW's characters -- to actually commit to reading, well, any kind of novel. Kind of sad considering how I used to devour literature in my adolescence. Well, fast forward some 5 or 10 years, and a blogger that I read regularly (Daring Fireball) starts raving about DFW's genius, particularly after his untimely death. I still didn't follow the recommendations, but this time I actually checked out reviews of some of his titles and filed them away mentally. This spring, I was preparing with aforementioned fiancee to get married at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, CA, and we needed some reading material, and I picked up (or was it she picked up?) Girl With Curious Hair. I read the first several stories and fell in love with his writing style(s), resolving this time to actually pick up Infinite Jest and start reading it when the opportunity arose. A week ago, my now-wife forwarded me a link to this blog, and I decided to jump on the train. I hope nobody minds my tenuous association with Williams.
ReplyDeleteI'm still not sure about this book but I will give it awhile longer. What's bothering me? I'm not really interested in end notes about drugs or drug induced writing. Seems to me the book (so far) has needed the editing of Maxwell Perkins (who edited Thomas Wolfe's works, which were long rambling drink-induced).
ReplyDeleteListen to Slate's Audio Book Club's critics dissect David Foster Wallace's epic novel at http://tinyurl.com/cy6c43
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