D.F.W
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You are currently reading a thread in /lit/ - Literature
You are currently reading a thread in /lit/ - Literature
What's this fag's best short story, in your opinion?
I guess a big part of serious fiction's purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us ... Since an ineluctable part of being a human self is suffering, part of what we humans .... We've all got this “literary” fiction that simply monotones that we're all ... &c.
A RADICALLY CONDENSED HISTORY OF POSTINDUSTRIAL LIFE :: A SHORT STORY BY DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
When they were introduced, he made a witticism, hoping to be liked. She laughed very hard, hoping to be liked. Then each drove home alone, staring straight ahead, with the very same twist to their faces.
The man who’d introduced them didn’t much like either of them, though he acted as if he did, anxious as he was to preserve good relations at all times. One never knew, after all, now did one now did one now did one.
[appears in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men]
i liked Good old neon. It was his only short story i read, tho'
forever overhead
>>8230344
Didn't remember this one. Absolutely shit.
>>8230318
Infinite Jest
Infinite jest. It isnt technically a short story, but its not that long either, to me.
>>8230318
TRI-STAN
DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
Octet. It's the only one where he really achieves what he sets out to every damn time.
>>8230318
If I ever saw dfw in real life I would have nunchucked his ass to death
Incarnations of Burnt Children.
Go and read it, anons. It's only 2 A4 pages, IIRC it's halfway in Oblivion somewhere.
>>8230318
Definitely Good Old Neon. Probably the best thing he ever wrote.
>>8230318
Either Octet or Tri-Stan:I Sold Sisse nar to Ecko
Mr. Squishy was great once it "clicked" but it was still a bit too long for its own good. Ditto for The Soul is Not a Smithy.
>>8230409
Agreed. Forever overhead is also really good imho.
>>8230400
OP here,
Yeah I read that one and really liked it.
>>8230376
great record
Forever Overhead and it's not even close:
"You have grown into a new fragility."
"A flower with chemical petals."
"Suit tops held by fragile knots of delicate colored string against the pull of mysterious weights."
Also has that great line about the mountains and the sunset looking like an EKG.
>>8230367
this
The Depressed Person is one of the mosy excruciatingly accurate things I've ever read.
Mister Squishy is excellent, one of the funniest pieces of fiction I've ever read
>>8230318
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.
>>8230840
It was great and did what it set out to do perfectly, but the gimmick with the footnotes competing with the main text for attention in such an annoying way made it a chore to read. If anything I'd say it achieved what it set out to do --too-- well.
>>8230882
I agree, it's very discomforting and unenjoyable, but it displays its characterization so well.
>>8230879
I'd take a daily dozen DFW threads over this summer's shitOPs
>>8230840
Absolutely, Anon. Was arguably the most unpleasant 30 pages I've ever read, but damn if that's not the truth.
>>8230409
This. Finished reading it for like the 5th time a minute ago.
How big is DFW's cock?
>>8231278
infinite
Little Expressionless Animals
but i have yet to read Oblivion.
>>8230318
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (the interview stories, not the entire collection of the same name).
>>8231768
with the tits
>>8231768
I did like the brief interviews themselves, but some of them weren't brief enough. Like the masturbation fantasy guy who ended up in the nuthouse. It was a funny premise but DFW completely killed the joke by having it run on that long.
>>8231281
jest ;)
you actually made it /lit/, i fell for the DFW meme
>good old neon
>[sp]dude i was a dick when i was a kid better kill myself lmao[/sp]
>[sp]dude im dead but this is just a book bro is not even true lmao[/sp]
what a hack
with a story called death is not the end and the stuff in good old neon, what did david think happens when you die?
>>8233638
What the fuck was the deal with that story btw? Was the poet supposed to be dead or was "death" a metaphor for retirement and/or middle age as the "death" of one's sex life?
The one in Brief Interviews about the wife who desperately wants to please her husband and thinks it's her fault is really good.
OMG SOMEONE JUST GIVE ME A STRAIGHT ANSWER, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE
i never got taught
>>8230344
not his best desu
>>8230318
The one he didn't write.
>>8230318
It's tough to pick, but The Soul is Not a Smithy is probably my favorite. Little Expressionless Animals is tier-one yuri though.
My two favorites are The Soul Is Not A Smithy and Good Old Neon
>>8230344
>Then each drove home alone, staring straight ahead, with the very same twist to their faces.
That line has always stuck out to me. In a good way.
>>8233648
I interpreted it as the quiet years of decline by a person who knows they've peaked and have nothing original left to share with the world. They just get fat and cirrhotic as they rest on their laurels until they keel over. A death before dying kind of deal.
