So we're a little bit more than half way through the week, which means to be on pace you probably want to be around page 60 or so (if not you can always catch up). Here are just a few of my thoughts on the first half of the reading (don't forget to post your own at some point!):
- As a few people have mentioned, the answer to the triva question is that Infinite Jest comes from Hamlet, specifically the scene where Hamlet speaks to the skull of one "Poor Yorick." Have you seen that name anywhere in the book (the footnotes perhaps?). This Hamlet reference makes Hal's whole relationship with his dead father more interesting (here's a line: Hal in the ambluence says "I think of John N. R. Wayne, who would have one this year's WhataBurger, standing watch in a mask as Donald Gately and I dig up my father's head." (17)) What could this mean? What's going on? I don't really know...
- We've met a lot of different people already--Hal, Mario, Don Gately, the medical attache (just to name a few)--do you find anyone's story particularly enjoyable? Moving? Interesting? Is there one you relate to more than the others?
- On page 55 there is a line which I think sums up DFW's reason for writing the book: "The reason being it's a lot easier to fix something if you can see it." What is he trying to show us? What needs fixing?
Be sure to post your questions and comments whenever you get a chance. Hope the reading is going well, and don't forget to check back on Wednesday for next week's reading assignment and some more things to think about!
Having made it to page 64 and the attending mammoth footnote, I can start to piece some of this together. The filmography has some interesting clues:
ReplyDelete- John Wayne could be one of the John Waynes mentioned in _Homo Duplex_, though since that film is from B.S., maybe he's the son of one of the John Waynes. No other connection so far, that I can remember.
- Hal hasn't met Don Gately as of page 64, but he is the narc addict who presumably will spend some time in the rehab center next to the tennis academy that I read about when skimming the Wikipedia article for Infinite Jest.
- _Infinite Jest_ is also the title of 5 of Hal's father's films, all unreleased and enigmatic. I have a hunch about their significance, but I got it from reading a plot synopsis, so I'll hold off for now.
Some recurring motifs: sandwich bags, Byzantine erotica.
The whole Hamlet thing is starting to come into focus. Digging up his father's head is surely a reference to Yorick, whose skull Hamlet and his friend come across in the graveyard where Ophelia is being buried. Yorick and the phrase "Infinite Jest" were clearly important to Hal's father, who used them in his film work. Both Hal and his father grew up with alcoholic fathers who were public figures -- beyond that, I'm not sure what the connection is yet.
I know that DFW has a kind of ambivalent relationship with TV entertainment and commercial influence on people's lives. The most obvious joke is the commercial sponsorship of calendar years, but I don't see yet how that ties into any larger thesis.
One last little observation -- I love how he even slips a joke into the casting on his movies. Notice how an actor's name changes over the years.
The Filmography is probably my favorite footnote. All of the names of JOI's various production companies are important--Meniscus, Heliotrope, and second favorite (after Poor Yorick) is Latrodectus Mactans (keep an eye out for this one).
ReplyDeleteHal's father being dead and Hal's relationship to him also make Hamlet extremely important, especially since after his death.
My other favorite observations are how the movies reflect the book, either as mirror images of certain passages (you might remember that the plot of "It was a Great Marvel That He was in the Father Without Knowing Him" is the scene on pages 27-31) or of the book itself (Infinite Jest is the obvious one, but I think the Joke is the most interesting one).
Also the movies are the primary art form in the book, whereas the novel itself is art. The section with the medical attache just sitting there, his dinner attached to his face so he can eat and watch without moving is hilarious but also a comment on how we consume entertainment. Infinite Jest the movie and the book are a lot about how we deal with our addiction to entertainment, and I feel at times that DFW wants us to "watch ourselves" like in "The Joke" and in seeing our own faults correct them and become more active (like the quote from 55).
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