
The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009) - lermontov
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/03/09/the-unfinished
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jraines
If anyone is daunted by Infinite Jest but undaunted by the fad of hating DFW,
definitely start with his books of essays & journalism. IMO they're a lot more
rewarding and enjoyable than his novels.

I think _E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction_ is essential reading.
(PDF link: [https://jsomers.net/DFW_TV.pdf](https://jsomers.net/DFW_TV.pdf))

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tannhauser23
Wait, what fad of hating him?

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bri3d
Like any other subculture / virtue signal which gains in popularity, there's a
strong group for DFW and a strong backlash against from both sides. One side
rejects the signal due to its popularity ("only dilettante freshman losers
love DFW, REAL enthusiasts love REAL lit") and the other rejects the signal
due to its accessibility ("these hipsters think they're cool just because
they've read something, anyone could buy the book and do that!").

We see it in programming, too - "only newbie idiots love Ruby, Rust 4ever"
plus "this damn hipster Rust brigade is ruining programming, Java is still
just fine!"

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Analemma_
Don't forget the hate from the positivist-minded STEM crowd and right-wingers,
who both have a reflexive dislike of anything with a whiff of postmodernism
about it.

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arkaic
I found Infinite Jest extraordinarily compelling, hilarious, and endlessly
entertaining. I wouldn't go as far to say that it was "hard to put down". The
book will fatigue you at points, as there is such a density of ideas within a
single page that you need to just step back for the day and take it all in.
But I was inevitably drawn back every time to sit down and open Infinite Jest
again and again. Maybe it was the prose, or the endearing and terrible
characters that DFW make all come to life, or the sprawling mystery plot. I
love the way DFW makes these small, minute observations of life that always
seem to make me go "yeaaaah I can relate too!" So many unforgettable moments
in that book, including the section about marijuana, and the chapter of the
kids playing tennis analogized with war.

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e40
_I love the way DFW makes these small, minute observations of life that always
seem to make me go "yeaaaah I can relate too!"_

We need a word for that, in English. I had a very close friend that had an
uncanny ability to find things about any situation that I would gloss over,
but when he pointed it out, I would realize that I had missed seeing it but I
completely agreed with it. And, weirdly, this friend also committed suicide.

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cf
The word is insightful.

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jhanschoo
I think "empathizable" Igor "relatable" are better candidate, though they lack
the sudden quality that parent post has.

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briga
I wonder how the critical reception to The Pale King will evolve over time. In
my opinion it's been a bit over-esteemed by fans of DFWs work. It really does
feel incomplete, and not just in a Brothers Karamazov sort of way. It lacks a
center of gravity, and I never really felt a strong connection with any of the
characters. By the end of Infinite Jest the book had become something greater
than the sum of its parts, and I didn't really feel the same thing happening
with The Pale King.

The only part of the book that I feel comes close to the greatness of Infinite
Jest is the 100-page 'As the world turns' chapter. But then, I don't think
that chapter necessarily benefits from being a part of the book, and could
just as easily have been published as a stand-alone piece.

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erikpukinskis
Isn't that the nature of the thing though? If he could have completed it,
you'd be reading a finished novel. You'd have to kind of squint and try to
look through the trees to the set of places he might have been heading.

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andrewfromx
show of hands, how many HN readers have tried to read Infinite Jest and never
made it all the way thru?

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johnhattan
I made it about 125 pages. I wanted to like it, but the endless digressions
and footnotes wore me out.

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laxatives
FWIW, I didn't like it for the first 300-400 pages either. But it very quickly
became one of my favorite books. Its worth sticking it out to the end.

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frgtpsswrdlame
>300-400 pages

>very quickly

How good can a book be if it starts off bad and stays that way for so long,
most books would have already ended?

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laxatives
I never said it starts off bad. DFW just makes a point to make the book
inaccessible. It isn't meant to attract a wide audience, but many good things
are initially dismissed because they aren't easy.

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bebop22
IJ is really one of the most wonderful books ever written, it was a long read
but extremely rewarding. I love how it comes full circle, you get to the end
and want to read it again. But most amazingly the central event of the plot is
completely absent and up to the reader to figure out. The digital version
makes the footnotes much much easier.

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kneel
Has anyone made an easier to read online version of Infinite Jest? With pop up
footnotes so you don't have to flip pages?

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savanaly
It's not so bad in dead tree form if you use two bookmarks (one for the main
text, one for the endnotes).

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dwtdfw
I prefer it in kindle form, i.e., lighting it on fire.

