this was fantastic. why is it shit on? is because >muh no talent
>>7713211
What was fantastic?
>>7713262
The dragons and elf-rich cosmic gods
why is your copy so shiny
do you have oily hands or something you fking gnome
>>7713275
its the flash from my camera you fcking pirve of Shit
>>7713211
What's the point of this book?
I've read 500 pages, some parts are good, like the portrait of people in rehab, and the thoughts about addiction. And the parts about "Himself".
But what's the point of the book?
Sorry for being cis-scum, but I tend to drop long books when they're not plot-driven. I'm not a big fan of jazz.
Out of nowhere, the canuck spy and the US agent start again with their ramblings about ONAN and Quebec politics.
I read that the editor managed to remove big chunks of this, but Wallace made a point that most of it was essential to the book.
To me the book is a blueprint with sparks of real talent.
>>7713310
1. you've only read half of it and only have half the story. you don't know how it all comes together.
2. even half way in the book, its themes should be really obvious to you right now. it wears it so obviously on its sleeve that if you don't get it you are a plen
>>7713310
Wallace's use of footnotes might have been worthwhile if more than 2/3s of the footnotes were actually interesting. He was a superfluous, meandering person, and fitfully offed himself.
The lack of plot progression is appropriate to frame themes of ennui, but I merely wish that IJ were more insightful in that regard, if not interesting. I agree that there were some sparks of talent, parceled as they were.
>>7713310
The book is about annularity. It doesn't make sense until the end, and even then it may require multiple re-readings to completely grasp "the point" of the work. It's highly conceptual and if you are looking for absolute meaning or purpose, you may be left wanting.
>>7713326
as someone who hasnt read it and probably never will can you sum the book up in a few sentences
>>7713326
hahahaha are you serious
holy shit dfw fans really are this dumb aren't they
>>7713310
So yeah, if you are looking for some huge plot points that makes everything 'make sense' and gives you a grand narrative that allows you to go back and reconstruct a linear story out of all the 'randomness' you will be disappointed. The parts with the Quebecois and mr. Inflatable Breasts are meant to be a meta-commentary/analysis of the themes of the book. Some think that's nice, some feel it is heavy handed. If you don't vibe with the themes and the exploration of them and if you dislike the prose and if you haven't found anything amusing and if you haven't connected with any of the characters then you should probably bail. You could also just chill and read 'Of Course You End up Becoming Yourself', I think it really added to my understanding of DFW views on what fiction is, what very good fiction should do and expounds on what he tried doing with DFW.
>>7713329
This
do the work for me for no reward u useless monkeys
>>7713324
>if more than 2/3s of the footnotes were actually interesting.
I read one which is literally 25 pages long. I chuckled each time I turned another (e-)page.
>>7713329
There are multiple narratives and narrators that are intertwined but on a plot level it's about a tennis academy, a halfway house for drug addicts, Canadian-USA espionage, and a dead conceptual filmmaker.
Why's he always wearing a bandana? Did he secretly want to be a gangster, or an eastern european housewife?
>>7713353
>or an eastern european housewife?
>>7713353
His hairline was thinning out, but he used the pretext of adopting the practice from living in Texas, where the temperature always made his forehead sweaty (which would drip on whatever he was reading)
>>7713369
*Arizona, not Texas, my fault.
Can you guys read brothers k before commenting on IJ. That'd be great
>>7713379
u wot m8? make us fagot
>>7713379
>implying anyone on /lit/ reads good books
>implying anyone on /lit/ reads
>>7713211
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v18/n14/dale-peck/well-duh
I noticed that both DFW and Richard M. Stallman have tics (nervous twitches), as in OCD or Tourette.
DFW : see pic (only lasts a split second)
RMS : In the documentary "Revolution OS", when he praises Linus Torvald for making a faster kernel than GNU.
Sorry if it's a bit off-topic, but it's the /DFW/ general, right?
Both DFW and RMS are very generous, hardworking, rigorous people. They seem to be so demanding with themselves that they tend to snap.
I can't tell if or how it shows in Wallace's writing.
>>7713379
Touch my hand and make me believe in god - comparing brothers k and IJ opens up the whole 'sincerity' and devotion to higher powers (AA = Father Zosima?) which is cool and all but why is that relevant? Or are you just proud of having read two books and an online article?
>>7713379
>implying
But yeah, the relationship between 3 very different brothers is pretty central to IJ.
A bit like in The Corrections, btw.
>>7713416
? not him but IJ is clearly heavily influenced by brothers k.
>>7713379
wut?
i read the brothers karamazov. 5 times. IJ is still shit.
comparing them is a crime to the human intelligence, don't do it again.
>>7713423
Yes, of course it is. I wasn't disputing that fact, I've read the Brothers Incandenza paper and the inspiration is very blatant. I was just calling the other poster a faggot for bringing his e-peen into the discussion without coming with his own point.
Pic not related.
>>7713475
Tennis and depression?
Well, if you don't make it to The Show, you only have 2 options : college tennis or depression. College tennis in itself being highly depressing.
The passage in infinite jest where the woman in the halfway house shares the anecdote about how when she was a child, the sound of her violin in unison with the reverberations of a window summoned some kind of dark recess of her mind to become foregrounded in her mind was moving. The way she described it like a black mass billowing from the corner of her mind was legitimately unnerving and has promoted the most reaction out of me thus far in the book.
has anyone else had a similar experience reading this chapter or was i being autistic
>>7713942
I should have read this back after i wrote it. It makes me sound like a retard, but - oh well
>>7713211
Pynchon is a meme author. literally genre tier fiction. no discernible talent.
>DFW was a weirdo and is popular with college kids, therefore I have to shit on him to make those kids mad!
>>7713954
You are a funny nigger
>>7713942
yeah DFW certainly has a way to describe madness.
I remember when he tries to define a nightmare, or the worst nightmare : something that you've always known was there, but you never cared, and suddenly you see it and you're terrified.
(this concludes a long description of Hal having a bad dream about a form creeping from the floor to the ceiling in his room)
I don't remember your excerpt precisely.
>>7713310
>Out of nowhere,
It is autistically over-structured. There's no 'out of nowhere.' Finish it.
>>7713412
the depressed person and good old neon
possibly also westward
