Joelle Chapters Approaching Hype Edition!
/lit/ has an Infinite Jest summer reading book group!
If you have an interest in this book -- whether you have read it or not -- please consider joining us!
We will be reading Infinite Jest from June 3rd (today) – August 11th with an average pace of 15 pages a day.
Discussions will take place right here on /lit/, hopefully we will keep a thread floating around most of the time, but should activity slow down new threads will be made Friday for discussion to avoid daily spamming of dying threads.
TODAY'S READING is pages 97 - 109, scenes 34 and 35. Full schedule to follow this post.
*Infinite Jest is widely available in bookstores and in free ebooks formats online
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http://www.strawpoll.me/10356218 (embed) (embed)
SCENE BY SCENE GUIDE:
>http://faculty.sunydutchess.edu/oneill/Infinite.htm
REFERENCE SITE:
>http://infinitesummer.org/
I fucked up Today's Reading, it is June 17th pages 200-219, scenes 57 and 58!
>>8172835
Reposting last year's poll, rereaders weigh in
http://strawpoll.me/4625366
TODAY'S SIDE-TOPIC: Who's your favorite Ennet House resident?
is anyone actually still reading this? damn i quit after like page 50
>>8172862
182 persons answered yes to the poll, I don't know if a lot of people dropped it but tomorrow's scenes are the first to get into the real plot deeper. They'll miss the Joelle bits which are p good.
>>8172848
Gately's the objectively correct answer. Lenz was fun, though pretty despicable.
>>8172848
I've always had a soft spot for Bruce Green. I mean, the dude's going through a pretty rough patch.
That, and Tiny Ewell seems like a bro.
>>8172848
That whole section before the tattoo section to me felt like the "thesis" of new sincerity of the whole book; am I wrong?
I fell off the wagon boys. Just can't do it.
im probably lagging behind a bit, dont know how much because im reading on an ebook reader and my version has 1600 pages, so its hard for me to navigate through the schedule presented by OP.
i just finished with the part of audio and video communication. how much am i lagging back? and when does this book get some focus? so far it feels like an information overload, of both important and unimportant stuff, with an occasional great scene sprinkled in.
>>8173416
About 200-250 pages in. Don't know where that would land you in your book.
>>8173416
also, wanted to add, the yrstrully part was so tedious to read through, i hated it. what the fuck was that about.
>>8172848
Randy Lenz's increasing psychosis over the course of the book was pretty great
>>8172835
is JOI a jew?
>>8173416
Use the scene-by-scene guide link in the OP if you want to know how many scenes behind you are. Seems like the audio/video communication bit was scene 48, and today's reading is 57-59.
>>8173157
That's a nice tattoo actually
I'm reaing through it all just now and you guys will catch up to me soon.
I want to read the tattoo bit again and can't find it, anyone know?
>>8172835
before i buy infinite jest can anyone summarize in their own words?
>>8175115
DUDE TENNIS LMAO
been reading this bad boy on and off since November 2014, going to try and finish it in the next week while I am cottaging
>>8174526
Scene by scene guide said it's scene 57, YDAU.
There's a later chapter from Mario's perspective about detached cynicism that feels like DFW's take on irony
question:if the AFR get the samizdat from the antitois ... what are they looking for at the end of the novel when they infiltrate ETA and dig up JOI's head? why doens't the novel end around page 700, why do they not disseminate right away?
>>8175722It was read-only copy. They needed the master in order to copy/disseminate it
>>8173424
Nobody really knows. It doesn't fit very well with the rest of the book and it's one of the few chapters that doesn't get plot relevance later
>>8175232
Okay got it, thanks
>>8172848
The animal killer
>>8175722There was some kind of overwrite mechanism in JOIs skull
post some rare daves
>tfw you will never plan with Pemulis in taking DMZ at ATE
>>8175842
I thought one of the ennet house residents were a side character or something (pretty sure they already referenced it later) in the yrstruly thing
SO 10% THROUGH AND THE GROUPS DEAD RIGHT?
O BOI I AM LAFFIN
WELP GONNA GO FIND ANOTHER MEME GROUP TO TROLL
>>8175842
>>8179039
I mean it at least gets plot relevance with the lady whose purse heart gets stolen, and I have a feeling that will matter to some degree later. Also, wasn't Poor Tony the crossdresser also named Rob Tony? And wasn't Rob Tony the guy from the wardine be cry section? Could just be a coincidence, and they aren't related characters, but it feels like it's supposed to feel related.
>>8180463
roy tony is not poor tony krause.
yrstruly is emil minty, and they're mugging burt f smith.
>>8180480
I've seen this connection somewhere, yrsetruly being Emil, I think it might have been the scene by scene guide?
I'm reading the book for the third time right now and I think the connection is strenuous at best.
>>8172848
Erdedy and Green. I feel for em.
>>8173424
It's one of my favorite chapters by far, even if the slang is way overdone.
>what the fuck was that about.
Sets up Poor Tony, who goes on a to be main-ish character throughout the rest of the book, as well as Bobby C (the guy who gets fucked up by Wo), who becomes central to the narrative later on. (obviously in flashback because he got his head popped by the hotshot...) Roy Tony is also mentioned in the chapter and he shows up later in Boston NA.
>>8175842
>It doesn't fit very well with the rest of the book and it's one of the few chapters that doesn't get plot relevance later
Man, I don't get this. I find the 'Wardine's Mama' chapter way worse for this. How can it not fit or hold plot relevance to have a chapter detailing the lives of homeless Boston junkies in a book about drug addiction? This is the low point for these characters, a concept that recurs throughout the book where someone either plunges headlong into death or starts their path to recovery. It shows the absolute ugliest of street drug addiction and sort of justifies this long tedious road to recovery detailed in all the Ennett House chapters.
>>8175115
addiction, depression, entertainment, family, sports, irony.
How just talking to people openly and sincerely can seriously make you and those you talk to better off.
If you've ever been high, and during that high been super anxious, inside your own thoughts, paralyzed, then read it.
If you wanna improve your vocabulary, read it.
>>8175115
also french canadian extremists in a zany allegorical terror plot to fuck up the US and David Duchovny's Twin Peak's character investigating
>>8172835
Coincidentally at the city where I live there was this kind of 'sport fest' at the park where you can check out different sport stands and sign up for attendance.
>And but so; good day to go read my 15 pages of IJ to the park - it's sunny why not
>See pic related
>ETA
Feels bad no one to share my outburst of kek
Title reads in Portuguese 'Become a champion - come learn how to play a sport of choice'
>>8180883
That's pretty funny. What does the 'ETA' stand for in this case?
>>8180905
' Escola de Ténis de Almada' or in English - ' Almada's Tennis School'
>>8180922
oh alright, so pretty much any tennis school has a 1/26 chance of being called ETA, no?
>>8180954
1/23 actually as we don't use K's W's and Y's
What is with the cardboard cutout of AFR on Boston's streets?
>>8180576
No no, it's there somewhere, but damned if I remember where. Emil Minty is definitely yrstruly, and the woman with the purse becomes relevant later on.
>>8181672
The first time through I didn't spotted the connection but maybe guerrilla advertising for the samizdat?
>>8181672
Pretty sure it says that was a falseflag by the FLQ somewhere
So since this group is dying anyways, let's try to hash out the book's ending again.Wraith JOI alerts Gately and Hal who ends up in hospital beside Gately due to DMZ of the Master Entertainment buried in his skull?
So DMZ, although the chemical itself is fictional, is supposed to be a mix of an "ergotic psychedelic" and a muscarinergic deliriant; i.e. LSD and diphenhydramine or datura.
So, I've been toying with the idea of an acid/DPH trip, maybe just a small dose of each to test the waters (50ug/300mg). Maybe DXM or ketamine mixed in with the DPH, so that the spiders aren't so terrifying. Anyone else into terrifying hallucinogens want to give an IRL DMZ trip a try?
>>8185607
I don't think that's what you should take away from this novel
>>8185607
>using deliriants, ever
Pretty fucking dumb
>>8185650
I also realized how easy it is to secretly dose people with LSD. My roommates and I have put like 8 tabs worth in each others' food and drinks at this point (although it's always microdosing; I wouldn't want to be at work when a full tab hits)
>>8185666
Have you tried them and disliked them, or just heard that they're bad for you? (or heard that they're "not fun" but that's the point)
>>8184751
The samizdat is the video the attache was wathicng. Les Assassins wanted to turn it into a weapon, so they "advertise it". People at Molly Notkin's party were talking about it, so it seems its spreading slowly. At least the idea of a letal film.
>>8185607
This sounds like a good idea, you have my go ahead!
wasThe MPsupposed to be a takedown of Pynchon?
Did PynchoncuckDFW's dad andbeathis mom????
>>8180608
underrated post
>Mr. Incandenza, this is the Enfield Raw Sewage Commission, and quite frankly we've had enough shit out of you.
Gotta love the mad banter between the Inc brothers.
>>8176645
What book is he holding?
I read to p. 170 two years ago then gave up. Should I start from there or reread?
>>8172835
There's one thing and one thing only that the mods could do to immensely improve the board, instantly, overnight, and that's facilitate more threads about David Foster Wallace. Create them, nurture the ones that exist, guide the discussions, and make sure they stay on track. If we're here to discuss literature, ultimately, we are here to discuss David Foster Wallace. There is no way for a person to grasp the full implications of Infinite Jest and not realize this. We're talking about the smartest man who ever lived. You must realize this. It's not a joke anymore. We're seeing the world degenerate further and further into chaos, and we're standing by and watching it happen. You want to fix this board? You want to fix the world? You want to fix your life? You need only take one step: read Infinite Jest. There is no substitute for hard work, and that's what Wallace requires of you if you are to understand him. If you are to understand not just him, but the world. We're not talking about escapist literature, fan fiction, genre nonsense. We're talking about saving our lives. We're talking about meditating on God. We're talking about communing with the primary presence. This is not an issue to be treated lightly.
>>8172848
lenz is my favorite character in the entire book by far
>>8173061
Gately is the correct answer
Question: does anyone practice 12 step programs? Gone to meetings?
>>8188493
no but if you are a pseud you can take advantage of their trust and sit in on their meetings and use people and their stories as material for your shitty ironically pomo turd that you are writing solely to impress mary karr
well guys I've been reading at about ~50 pages a day and will probably finish today
thanks for the reading group, it was a good ride
>>8176640
Can you explain this a bit more? Is this what joi describes in the professional conversationalist section early in the book? I could never understand that long sentence where joi talks about a priapristic something or other in his head
>>8176640perhaps "too late" is not "too late [the afr have it]" but "too late [it auto-erased]"this also explains why john wayne is there standing guard with a gun, not defected from flq and standing guard for others but standing guard over hal and gately who he is forcing to digthis also 100% explains how gately gets involved because even if the meeting point is sharing a hospital room with hal (after he takes or is dosed dmz) there is no explanation for how gately gets involved in the plot to go to joi's graveyard and dig up his headbut if the afr when they arrive at ETA send wayne, their undercover kid to go find hal for interrogation (mario ignorant, the moms already questioned previously by duplessis and orin currently captured (and maybe not having the answers they need) john wayne is sent to get hal from the hospital and takes him and the big guy in the room to the graveyard because gately would be 1. a witness to dispose of 2. a good diggeri also wonder if this doens't mean gately's fate is face down in a shared grave with joi's bones
>>8172848
That hair is all wrong
Sorry if this is off topic, but ive seen a fair amount of hate for this novel from /r/badliterature. Ive been wondering what about this novel people really hate.
>>8192121
I read this book about a year ago and I dont remember the digging. What page is that on? I want to freshen up. In fact, mentioning the head.
>>8192261i don't have exact pages, though it is addressed once in a dream the wraith gives gately in hospital around page 800 and briefly in the book's first 20 pages while hal is in ambulence
>>8192261
Within the first 15 pages. If there is an Infinite Jest, it's that DFW hid it that openly.
>>8192308
he didn't even hide it though. allow me to quote openly, because this isn't even a spoiler.
"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."
infinite bump
>>8172835
Latecomer here.
Been wanting to read IJ for some time. I'll go buy it tomorrow to catch up with you guys.
How do you pronounce pemulis?
>>8196055
pem you luss
>>8192232
they mostly hate the people who like it
Vocabulary
Loupe - Small magnifying glass used by jewelers and watchmakers.
Otiose - Of no practical use or end, inutile.
Entrepot - City or port, i.e. hub, where goods are imported and exported to and from.
>>8192232
Infinite Jest is kind of the epitome of middle-brow. The people who hate it, I'm sure, are mostly seriously into literature and see it as way overrated and get sick and tired of hearing praise on something they deem totally mediocre, or, people who are stupid as fuck and angry that there are books they don't understand or can't read in a weekend.
>>8185683
PSA: Dosing people without their knowledge is extremely poor form. Hallucinogens affect people in different ways and it's pretty fucking shitty to subject someone to a potentially scarring or psychologically difficult experience without their consent.
Plus you probably don't even have real acid, because the type of person to surprise dose somebody isn't the type to do their due diligence on that sort of thing.
I know how umadbro I sound bug it's that sort of thing that gives drugs and responsible drug users a bad rap. So go fuck yourself.
>>8172835
I really want to fuck every female in this book.
>>8196901
wow congrats you are a beta male with the same taste in fantasy women as another beta male (dfw)
avril: the mommy slut who will love you because she treats everyone like a child and fucks around
kate gompert: the sub dependent who won't judge you because she is at a low point
joelle: the popular but "not like other girls" attractive goddess who will love you because she is 'deep' and likes NERD things like art film
pamela hoffman jeep: literally a fuck toy
the eta girls: innocent young atheletes
ET CETERA
done the book, here's my last bump
have a good summer friends
>>8196969
So what exactly was wrong with the ETA girls? They're old enough to have a boyfriend, and probably aren't sluts since they focus on tennis.
>>8196198
*iss
Can anyone pick apart the Eschaton scene? So Lord, who they say plays god, puts his personal map through the monitor, which houses the map, not the territory...there's deffo some deep abstract shit going on there...Help me please lads
DFW really needs to make attributions in dialogue.
If only I could be there to help that girl ponder the beauty of her tits.
>>8197935
My take on eschaton was that it's a Warhammer 40k x DnD type thing, don't worry too much about the particulars it escalates pretty quickly
>>8197935
>>8198363
yeah this,
i forget which is which wrt territory/map but peemster's flipout is people thinking snowing on the physical play area is snowing in the game's play area
imagine someone spilling a glass of water on a warhammer game and a bunch of the pieces get moved and drenched. you move them back to where they were and dry them off they don't take water damage
the overall point of eschaton, if there is one, i've never been sure of, but there are a few interesting ways to read it, namely, the cutthroat total war between players at eta reflecting the dark and lonely nature of the academy's competition, the detachment from and trivialization of world politics and atrocities in a landscape of statisticians and entertainers, and the obvious commentary on modern warfare that serves both critique andforeshadowing
also important in this chapter: the green car watching the kids play ... shadowy movement at the edge of the page
>>8172835
Holy shit. Just found out about you guys. I'm at page 90.
Reading it as I travel through Europe. I guess I'm a little behind, but I'll be saving these.
>>8198707
check out last year's on the catalogue too
had more active members and some really great discussion
>>8197949
I found this effect really nice. I assume you mean when Joelle's at the party? It's like being among a bunch of strangers who are talking and you fade in and out of different strangers' conversations, listening. Didn't you like the excerpts from interviews with Ennet House residents?
>>8200047
Thanks for putting that scene in perspective. But still, voices are for more than verbal communication.
you should stop reading this and spend your time on better books instead. have a nice summer
>>8200886
well today I skipped another day just to keep reading Hamlet
I do wanna finish the book eventually though senpai
how come i mainly understood IJ but didn't have a clue what was going on a great deal of the time reading gravity's rainbow?
>>8203961
Probably because you are a fucking moron, evidenced by your belief that understanding Infinite Jest in some way qualifies you to understand an entirely different book of a different style from a different author.
>>8203980
is gravity's rainbow just like way more complex?
>>8204138
It is different.
>>8204197
did you need help reading it?
>>8204222
how did you understand it then though?
>>8204251
I read deeply and thought about it.
>>8196901
>being ridden the USS Millicent Kent and living to tell the tale
>>8197935
>>'It's snowing on the goddamn map, not the territory...'
>This is a reference to the statement "the map is not the territory," i.e., the thing representing some other thing is not that other thing in reality -- just a representation of it. Count Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski (1879-1950), the founder of general semantics, coined the phrase. It's interesting that the term map appears so often in Infinite Jest, as in reference to suicide (eliminating one's own map) or when one of anhedonia's symptoms is described thus: "The world becomes a map of the world." (p.693) Clearly Wallace is doing something with this general idea.
>>8198447
steeply's in that car
>>8204282
god thats nice
keep talking man
>>8204263
how long it take you
i was like 2 months and thats with not understanding it too
>>8204306
I've read it three times, the first time was about two months, the longest was six.
>>8204344
thats pretty nice man
i wish you many more happy reading times
Not trying to derail but would any of you be interested in a 2666 reading group?
Good, I thought the threads died already.
Reading about the AA group made me want to have something like that, but for depression. Addiction and depression are similar in some ways, and it'd be interesting to hear an AA take on it. What kind of lame platitudes they would come up for it, etc.
The only problem I see with it, is that addiction is a problem that exists in your life, and it's usually fine without it. With depression, it's life itself that's unbearable, and you abstain from it and take it one day at a time.
What do you think? Would it work?
>>8204656
>reading 300 pages of anal and vaginal rape as a group
nah
>>8206042
>Addiction and depression are similar
stopped reading there
this edition is half the price of the blue one every one has. Can anyone comment on it? Good paper, font, material, etc?
>>8206193
it's the one i read - it's perfectly readable
>>8206198
how about the footnotes and endnotes? Everything ok in that aspect?
>mfw today's reading
>>8206193
I bought it when this infinite summer began and the only complaint I have is that the print smudges a bit in the edges when you grab the book. This happens because the margins are small and you end up having to overlap your hand a bit over the text. This happens regardles of having your hands a little moist or not. I guess its due to the cheap printing. But overall good edition specialy if you dont mind wearing it off. Im using it to take a lot of notes. Probably gonna get another one someday to just re read it without the notes
I'm finding this more boring by the day even though it's only 20ish pages a day, does it get any better soon?
>>8206066
Why? I don't have any experience with addiction, my only exposure to it being through the book, but I found some things that are somewhat similar: It poisons and ruins your life; makes you hit numerous rock-bottoms, each one worse than the last; makes you lose all faith in yourself and your will.
Well, maybe they're not that similar, and there are more differences than there are similarities, but still, I'm curious about the idea of a support group for depressed people.
>>8206622
>I'm curious about the idea of a support group for depressed people.
it's called /r9k/
>>8206456
what page are you on?
700-end is pretty fantastic
>>8207662
I'm following the reading schedule
>>8206622
You probably have some wherever you come from. Most chronic conditions have support groups.
>>8206042
Group psychotherapy exists, anon.
>>8207550
/r9k/ enables people to continue making bad life choices. It's basically the opposite of what a support group strives to do.
>>8172848
this is don gately
>>8180599
Nice post. Good dubs.
Here's something I wondered about while reading: how much experience with DuBois does the average reader here have?
I haven't really had any experience with it prior to starting, and reading so much about it has got me interested enough to try. Now that I have, almost purely by chance, I can't stop thinking of doing it again. It was pretty interesting.
Started reading this a weeek later than the schedule and finally finished it. I have to say that the ending was kind ofabrupt. I did like the last sentence though.
>>8208843
Too small, Gately seems like one of those huge gym types from the descriptions.
>>8197935
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJpfK7l404I
>>8185607
>IJ inspired him to use more drugs
suck it Dave
>>8209871
shitty music ugly people
pemulis would beat the shit out of that pussy nu-male faggot
>>8209871
also ann kittenplan is not this qt
>>8210890
> Decemberists
> A decade+ old band
> Writes songs about rape, violence, tragedy
> regularly uses ye olde racial epithets in historical songs
> not an SJW
> some 14 year old on 4chan calls him nu male
> Thinks pemulis's style is to get in a dumb ass fist fight
OK kid.
>>8210952
i heard colin melon once asked the republicans in the crowd to raise their hand and then told the audience to boo them.
the decemberists are shit anyway. i seen them once and then seen carnegie meloy by himself later and it was a far better experience + performance.
Can we have some thoughts on the motivations of Tine and the Qeubcois? I feel like most of it is explained in what Steeply and Orin talk about and also just that " That's what Lur..I mean the president..." bit but some clarification would be great.
Just finished IJ about 4 hours ago, it's worth it lads hang in there.
>>8211677
luria p is possibly avril
>>8210645
Me too. Or is weed not a drug?
Fuck, why does no one discuss what's actually on the schedule, instead bragging about how they finished it already?
Isn't the whole point of the challenge is to read together at more or less the same speed, so everyone is on the same page? Fuck, this is annoying.
just finished! whew what a ride, good luck lads
anyone want to discuss the ending?i still can't believe mario is the son of avril by orin!
>>8212258
>memboi
>>8212252
Let's try and get some discussion up then. What's up with Lyle? That last bit about him and Himself having long conversations the night away makes him look a bit shadier, did I miss anything on the previous bits in which he appears?
>>8213659
spoiler, if you really wanna knowhe's a ghost
>>8212252
I'm just waiting on you fellas catching up to me
