when does the story start. when do i get a main character.
i might not be up to lits standards but the only chapter that was making remote "sense" was the chapter about buying marijuana and him failing to quit.
am i getting memed hard?
>>8079038
>he wants a story
>he wants a main character
stick to mass market paperbacks at the grocery store
>>8079038
Yes infinite jest is a meme. I shitposted about it here for years and then I actually read (300 pages of) it. Truly a meme.
>>8079042
i thought it was going to be one of those "every chapter different mc different plot same world" kinda deal.
but the prose/style/whatever seems to change every chapter and sometimes its very hard to read without cringing desu.
is this "art" the same way the cia paid andy warhol to make art?
>>8079038
You're getting memed on. By his own admission DFW wrote this book to impress people. Readers talk about it to impress other people, or signal superiority (>>8079042), or to trick ego-readers into wasting their time on a 1000 page doorstop.
Kinda sad when you think about all the attention this book and it's author has received. But that's just how the world works. What's on the inside doesn't matter to most.
>>8079074
DFW never said that. He specifically said that he didn't set out to make Infinite Jest big, and that after a while it "became obvious" that it would be.
>>8079086
He often wrote about his need to impress people with his writing, though. IJ did not need to be 1000 pages.
>>8079038
don't listen to the trolls. infinite jest is a very difficult book to read, because it focusses more on themes, recurring elements, and a large ensemble cast of interconnected characters, each with their own plot, and backstory, as well as diverging into excruciating amounts of detail. this is how the book was intended to be; if this is not your style, by all means stop reading and maybe a few years from now you'll decide to give it another shot. the good side is that DFW makes all the information in this book pretty easy to understand; he very rarely divulges in weird dreamy sequences and all-over the place metaphors and time and reality jumps like say Gravity's Rainbow does. this book is not hard, it is just long, and very dense.
rest assured though, IJ is *not* a meme. there are many many many online communities and blogs devoted to this book which will attest to that fact. many people on /lit/ however, being high school kids who think that reading animal farm and catcher in the rye has made them excellent readers, have been flunked by it just like yourself and try to justify this by selling the book as shitty and unreadable. best way to find out is to keep reading. after I finished it, the first thing I did was go back to the first page and start again; I spent 6 months devoted to this book and still haven't read anything since that was up to its standard.
>>8079117
2/10, too many "I'm not a troll" statements, weak persuasion beyond appeals to ego.
Got em. The meme never dies lmao. Have fun.
>>8079099
>IJ did not need to be 1000 pages.
you're right, it should have been longer, as indicated by DFW himself
>>8079117
i dunno man it sounds like you're one of those folks who like bad television and constantly say "watch it till episode 30/100" it'll get better by then aka spend multiple grueling hours on this piece of entertainment before it pays off
i guess i don't see the appeal of paying penance without having experienced the pleasure first.
>>8079038
You got meme'd hard, broski.
>when do I get a main character
Don't worry anon, himself will be introduced soon enough
>>8079038
The story starts when the medical attache dies.
>>8079055
>is this "art" the same way the cia paid andy warhol to make art?
>>8079086
actually he made a note in one of his books while he was struggling to write the pale king that the "key" to writing infinite jest was "MMK" (mary karr), he was so productive because he was trying to impress her, so
>>8079050
>>8079074
You have no idea what you're talking about. Keep sucking Harold Blooms' cock.
>>8079117
It's not hard at all. It's an easy read, very accessible. Figuring things out is pretty difficult along the way, as should be with every book. But it all comes together in the end, it's a really rewarding payoff, imo.
>>8079340
Almost every book book has a catalyst, pham. Don't dismiss the actual work's merit and results based on its original intentions.
Besides, you're focusing on the one aspect when it was only one of the reasons for initially beginning the project.
It's a fucking decent book. That's all it is, no one on a chink image board is going to make your brain switch to a mode where you suddenly enjoy it. Obviously this board is obsessed with its memes and in jokes but when you're NOT browsing this website, and you're out In the real world actually reading this book none of that shit matters. This book was a critical and fairly commercial success when it was released. It's good. Some people might not like it, but It's good.
>>8079038
If you aren't enjoying it put it down.
There is a slow going slump around a 3rd the way in but otherwise the style doesn't change imho.
The book is scattered with glorious insights, moments and vignettes but you have to find them for yourself (everyone has their own favourite moments) and the main 'arch' or 'theme' is pretty discernible early on. It doesn't go much further than the entertainment/addiction/dissatisfaction vibe but that vibe is really well expressed and fleshed out in many ways through subplots and vignettes. So don't expect any big plotty set pieces etc. just more of what you've already read.
>>8079038
There are lots of reasons to hate this book, yours aren't one of 'em. Try the starter kit it has better books anyway
you guys are so self-conscious
it's just a book lmao
i read the whole thing, was so long that its hard to say whether i enjoyed it. loads of incredible insights into the human mind and addiction etc, and loads of beautiful, accurate observations and descriptions. There are times when he goes off on an explanatory tangent just to troll you though i;m sure. Great book though.
>>8079821
Well put
Is "im the kind of guy who gets in a taxi and says the library and step on it" one of the worst lines ever put on paper?
if you told me that was in a john green book i would have believed you
>>8079038
I knew it
>>8079038
I'm gonna read it soon but also keep in mind he's going to kill himself.
I'm reading it atm OP, watching that un-cut interview and reading some criticism contextualised it for me, I think he definitely could of cut it down but I'd still say it's worth it.
>>8079038
Hal is one of the main characters and is introduced in the first chapter I believe. The other main character will be introduced later on.
It seems to me that Wallace introduces characters and plot lines that don't make much sense in the beginning but then ends up weaving them together in the end. If you feel confused just keep reading. The prose and style are simple enough to allow the reader to read without much effort. It took me about two weeks to read so the only real wall one faces is the time the book requires.
Marijuana man isn't really relevant in the end if I remember correctly. Sorry about that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIuk8zIlRGA
>>8080285
I liked that book, but I remember actually cringing at it
>>8081456
REEEEEEEEE
>>8081456
You know, this could have been a funny skit, exept is was written, acted and edited like shit
>>8081179
it was a 1400 page manuscript
>>8081456
is that shawna malway tweep
>>8079038
I read 250 pages of infinite jest last summer. I fell into a depression and stopped reading for a few months. Haven't picked it up since, but I really enjoyed it. Infinite Jest is kind of like Starting Strength on /fit/. Everyone says its a meme, but it's actually quite good. It's not as hard as people make it out to be.
The vocab and whatnot is intentionally academic, though there are much harder books in that respect too -- The Karamazov Brothers (Translated by Ignat Avsey into English) is one I can think of off the top of my head.
Its weird, I loved GR, and found it to be a genuinely entertaining book, with complex and thought provoking themes.
But fuck me, I'm 100 pages into this and it just seems bland and pointless. Am I missing something?
>>8081456
>981 PAGES OF FOOTNOTES
>ITS ALL FOOTNOTES
Alright, I laughed.
>>8083696
>I read 250 pages of infinite jest last summer. I fell into a depression and stopped reading for a few months.
>Haven't picked it up since
>Infinite Jest is quite good for you.
I drink lots of vodka. That cleans out my system, and even cleans my teeth (I haven’t brushed in years, and haven’t had a cavity since).
I also eat a liverwurst sandwich pretty much every day – to counterbalance the effects the vodka has on my liver. I make my sandwiches on seeded rye (because it’s the healthiest bread), with mayo (because eggs are the best protein; I use kewpie, because the msg makes it taste better), coarse mustard (good for the white blood cells), zucchini pickles (because they taste good), and a bunch of baby spinach (just for filler; it could honestly be left out).
I also eat a lot of canned fish (mostly sardines, but also the occasional fancy smoked oysters) on saltines. They give you all your essential amino acids, and provide a nice opportunity to try out various hot sauces, which are generally very low in calories, while high in flavor and immensely prodigious to healthiness.
Aside from that, I drink large amounts of water (anywhere between ice-cold to slightly chilled) every day, always through a straw, and sometimes with a lemon wedge.
To each their own, I say, but I’m just shy of 30 and am doing better than most of you.
>>8083781
>I make my sandwiches on seeded rye (because it’s the healthiest bread
That's like saying you eat a Big Mac because it's the healthiest fast food burger
Bread is murder
>>8083727
Ah, I should have specified that my depression had nothing to do with the book itself
>>8083781
>immensely prodigious to healthiness
does nothing for your prose, unfortunately
>>8083781
where is this from?
Pahulniuk>David Fosters boredom
>>8079038
hal and don are the main characters. there is only the outline of a story present, with most of the dramatic parts left out for effect. it is 95% characterization and hence is barely a novel. it is more a long-form meditation on us culture circa 1990
