Feb 01, 1996 admittedly, infinite jest is a tough book. Please keep these annotations spoilerfree by not revealing information from later pages in the novel. Reading infinite jest without reading the footnotes. Infinite jest by david foster wallace book analysis.
Wallace included hundreds and hundreds of footnotes, well, really the more annoying. Infinite jest ebook by david foster wallace 9780316073851. All pagination mentioned here holds for the hardcover and paperback editions. Beyond the ease with which one can lookup footnotes, consider the. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
What i find annoying is the lack of footnotes on the page of mention, while they fill. Wallace began writing infinite jest in earnest in much of it is single spaced, and what footnotes existed at this stage appear at the. The shear size of the book commanded attention the kind of attention t. The center becomes a hotbed of revolutionary activity by quebec separatists in revolt against the organization of north american nations which now rules the continent. David foster wallaces infinite jest, is, without question, the best book ive ever read. How is the experience of reading infinite jest on a kindle. Beyond the ease with which one can lookup footnotes, consider the following. Whats the main problem you have with ebook reading on kindle. Reading david foster wallaces latest novel, infinite jest, i couldnt help thinking at times about 7yearold seymour glasss booklength letter home from camp, published in the new. David foster wallace, the reigning champion of footnotes, decided to use endnotes for infinite jest for practical as well as aesthetic reasons.
Infinite jest isnt for everyone, and i dont mean that in a condescending or patronizing way. The point of the footnotes dfw said this several times in interviews is to mimic the fractured way we take in information in our daily lives. Dec 10, 2010 david foster wallaces infinite jest, a favorite book of many, is the kind of genrebender that will thwart your mind with its convoluted narrative, plethora of allusions and cultural references, and multilateral connections between the characters. Infinite jest yale university library downloadable media. Apr, 2009 a gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwedup family to come along in recent fiction, infinite jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives. Read infinite jest by david foster wallace available from rakuten kobo. Im tempted to think of infinite jest as a hardcopy hyperlink novel, and the kindle thing just takes it back to the source. Steves infinite jest utilities page back bay little, brown last modified 02apr17. If one of your reading resolutions is to finally finish infinite jest, david foster wallaces mammoth novel, im here to help. Infinite jest, in other words, can be exceedingly frustrating. Navigating its maze of relationships and 400 footnotes could drive even the most seasoned literary disentanglers up the reading room wall.
In fact, its take on the very nature of entertainment itself perhaps foresaw the age of vanity and social media, as seen through the prisms of tinder, facebook, twitter and instagram. Infinite jest by david foster wallace bookconscious. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tenn. Some readers have found it useful to rip the book in half for easier reading on the subway or on the beach. Last summer, for example, i read the double bind because of its connection with the great gatsby. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by american writer david foster wallace. If you do this, you also need to tear the footnotes from the back half and tape them to front half. Footnote 304 appears in the main text in a later chapter, but it is also referenced by four other footnotes in addition to footnote 39. As a college english major, ive read my fair share of great literature, and very few authors even approach wallaces ability to entertain, enlighten, mystify or infuriate. The novel is widely noted for its unconventional narrative structure and its experimental use of endnotes there are a total of 388 endnotes, some with footnotes of their own. David foster wallaces infinite jest is a really long book and one of the main criticisms shared by those who have read it is the overabundance of footnotes, even. Infinite jest by david foster wallace overdrive rakuten.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Just a couple of things readers of infinite jest may find useful. Youre going to want to but dont skip the footnotes. At more than 1,000 pages with copious footnotes infinite jest is a famously difficult read. Infinite jest by david foster wallace turns 20 today, and im still confused by it all these years later. There are 28 unnumbered chapter breaks signified by a little circle, similar to 28 days in a lunar continue reading matt bucher. In case youve been lucky enough to avoid infinite jest in your own life, let me explain the seriousness of the situation. Infinite jest adobe epub ebook, kindle book, overdrive read average rating.
What if i just dont read the footnotes in infinite jest. Last summer, for example, i read the double bind because of. David foster wallaces infinite jest, a favorite book of many, is the kind of genrebender that will thwart your mind with its convoluted narrative, plethora of allusions and cultural references, and multilateral connections between the characters. Feb 15, 2016 at more than 1,000 pages with copious footnotes infinite jest is a famously difficult read. Why i cannot recommend the infinite jest audio book infinite jest i guess this is a first for me and ill get straight to the point. To be fair, the essay, penned on the topic of and shortly after 911, was by wallaces own admission written very fast and in what probably. Steven asin infinite jest is the perfect book for the kindle paperwhite.
Infinite jest ebook chicago public library bibliocommons. Infinite jest kindle edition by wallace, david foster. The lack of physicality is a bummer, but i feel its vastly compensated by having access to everything id like to read in seconds. It is an exuberant, uniquely american exploration of the passions that make us human and one of those rare books that renew the. Specifically the oversized shelf, adjusted to accommodate textbooks, magazines, and tomes of infinite dimensions, a realm from whence literature rarely returns. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, infinite jest bends every rule of fiction, features a huge cast and multilevel narrative, and questions essential elements of american culture our entertainments, our addictions, our relationships, our. That said, i wanted to pick infinite jest up on it, and ive been discouraged by a friend who says its one of those books you really have to read on paper. Infinite jest by david foster wallace, paperback barnes.
Feb 04, 2016 if one of your reading resolutions is to finally finish infinite jest, david foster wallaces mammoth novel, im here to help. A spoof on our culture featuring a drugandalcohol rehabilitation house near boston. Some of the endnotes have end and footnotes of their own. It has been categorized as an encyclopedic novel and made time magazines list of the 100 best englishlanguage novels published between 1923 and 2005. Set in an absurd yet uncanny nearfuture, with a cast of hundreds and close to 400 footnotes, wallaces story weaves between two surprisingly similar locales. Navigating its maze of relationships and 400 footnotes could drive even the most seasoned. In a sprawling, wild, superhyped magnum opus, david foster wallace fulfills the promise of his precocious novel the broom of the system. Ive seldom been more engrossed in a novel, and more willing to put in the time of. We cannot, as a society, allow hideo kojima to read. If youve never read it, starting infinite jest can be a little intimidating. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading infinite jest. Jun 11, 2016 a side note i tried infinite jest as an ebook at first, and then when it was clear i couldnt finish it by the time my overdrive loan would expire, i placed a hold on the hard copy. It is a long, indepth examination of the origins of the afr and can be read early on for background and reference.
Early into the book the footnotes dont seem to add much to the story, so i decided fuck it, im going to skip them. Jan 17, 2016 if youve never read it, starting infinite jest can be a little intimidating. Reading infinite jest on the kindle versus dead tree pulp. Heres how i finally read infinite jest and how you can, too. Reading infinite jest without reading the footnotes ive decided to read infinite jest, but quickly became frustrated by the footnotes, specifically the fact that theyre in the back of the book. This is the reality we could face if we let hideo kojima read infinite jest. Sooner or later i had to see what the fuss was about. Infinite jest is the name of a movie said to be so entertaining that anyone who watches it loses all desire to do anything but watch it. Wallace wrote to a friend that the fuckers cut by 600 pages from the first version. And please pay attention to formatting and grammar. He says your attention branches so much between the main text and the footnotes that he often had to use two different pagemarkers, and he also said that. To be fair, the essay, penned on the topic of and shortly after 911, was by wallaces. The novel is widely noted for its unconventional narrative structure and its experimental use of endnotes there are 388 endnotes, some with footnotes of their own.
Infinite jest ebook by david foster wallace rakuten kobo. You start the book having no clue when it is happening and who the various characters are. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in. While typically for wallace i guess scenery cuts are splicing but not awkward. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwedup family to come along in recent fiction, infinite jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives. With its baroque subplots, zany political satire, morbid, cerebral humor and astonishing range of cultural references, wallaces brilliant but somewhat bloated dirigible of a second novel after the b. Also, as a teacher, i look for works that sound related to things we study in class. While i cant read the book not even the end notes for you, i. Dec 19, 2016 infinite jest isnt for everyone, and i dont mean that in a condescending or patronizing way. I remember harish venkatesan lugging around the paperback copy in college and hearing that this effort was part of the experience. The good news is that it is not a thousandpage paragraph or even a thousandpage story.
Infinite jest is both sad, depressed and funny and even 25 years after it was published in 1994 remains relevant to the modern age. But infinite jest regarded by many as wallaces masterpiece is just awful. It is the genx ulysses that even those like me, who consider themselves dfw superfans, are. It provides a thorough exploration of the novels plot, characters and main themes, including drug addiction, modern society and the power of entertainment. If youre putting in the effort to read infinite jest then.
There is stuff that happens in the opening pages that explains events at the end of the book, albeit over pages and hundreds of footnotes away. Definitely read the footnotes too as theyre essential to the narrative structure of. A side note i tried infinite jest as an ebook at first, and then when it was clear i couldnt finish it by the time my overdrive loan would expire, i placed a hold on the hard copy. Mar 03, 1996 reading david foster wallaces latest novel, infinite jest, i couldnt help thinking at times about 7yearold seymour glasss booklength letter home from camp, published in the new. I cant recommend the purchase of the what at first appears to be the amazing ive heard good things about the audio. Talking about some of the most different books, there is a number of books you are going to find. Apr 12, 2012 why i cannot recommend the infinite jest audio book infinite jest i guess this is a first for me and ill get straight to the point. Ive decided to read infinite jest, but quickly became frustrated by the footnotes, specifically the fact that theyre in the back of the book.
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