It's been a few years since I read the book but I found it a very rewarding read at the time. Despite the stated purpose, this article just strikes me as missing the point entirely. The value of...
It's been a few years since I read the book but I found it a very rewarding read at the time. Despite the stated purpose, this article just strikes me as missing the point entirely. The value of reading DFW... is in reading DFW. And he's one of the few where I don't think audiobooks are really appropriate to the work. If you don't want to commit to a ~1,000 page novel, then that's perfectly ok. He has some wonderful collections of short stories and essays, and there is always the classic introduction via his This is Water speech.
Why do you think reading is so much better with him than other authors? As someone who listens to quite a few audiobooks, I actually think this about most books, so I'm interested in your perspective.
Why do you think reading is so much better with him than other authors? As someone who listens to quite a few audiobooks, I actually think this about most books, so I'm interested in your perspective.
Taking Infinite Jest specifically, I'll put it this way: the best advice I got prior to reading was to have three bookmarks ready; one for the text, one for the endnotes, and one for a particular...
Taking Infinite Jest specifically, I'll put it this way: the best advice I got prior to reading was to have three bookmarks ready; one for the text, one for the endnotes, and one for a particular endnote I would be referring back to frequently. DFW loved his endnotes, but he also utilised them quite purposefully. They're not just interesting asides, references, or expansions upon ideas that you would find in an academic text. They're an integral part of the whole experience. And there is a peculiar kind of rhythm that develops through the regular flip back and forth, and I think that can't help but be unique for each reader as they decide when is appropriate1 (e.g., on the spot, at the end of sentence, paragraph, chapter, etc.). Reading DFW is often a rather active process and this is the key element that I don't think audiobooks can capture.2
For the record, I have absolutely nothing against audiobooks, and I think the rise in popularity in recent years is a great thing. In the vast majority of cases it doesn't matter how a person engages with a book (obvious exceptions being the likes of House of Leaves), it's just great that more books are getting read. And there are some really fantastic narrators out there finally getting their own bit of fame.
1. At what point did you flick down to this one? 2. Caveat, I haven't had a chance to listen to any of the IJ audiobook, so I have to admit to a heavy amount of assumption on my part here. These opinions are all based on reading DFW and what knowledge I have of the form from having listened to other audiobooks.
A good part of the twisted humor is buried in how maximal the work is. Can you say you're getting the full IJ experience if your eyes aren't shriveling up and nearly falling out of their sockets...
A good part of the twisted humor is buried in how maximal the work is.
Can you say you're getting the full IJ experience if your eyes aren't shriveling up and nearly falling out of their sockets after walking over yet another multi-page diatribe about something woefully inconsequential to the plot, the book, or the world itself?
It's a lot easier to tune out of an audiobook and still travel march the work than it is to mindfully turn the page again and again as you mime the act of reading.
What is Infinite Jest about? The setting is an alternate history America that is wacky and largely established for comedic and thematic purposes, the plot matters even less and barely exists across 52.5 hours/1,100 pages but consists mostly of groups of people living their lives at an elite tennis academy and a drug/alcohol rehab facility, the characters matter a lot and many are very deep but there are a billion of them and their stories are told temporally out of order in a way that leaves you (the reader) often not understanding them until, like, 45 hours/800 pages into the book. The vast majority of chapters are devoted to describing characters in little snippets of their lives in ways that have some thematic relevance but usually no story relevance.
But Infinite Jest is also about is the rot of cynicism and the painful catharsis of earnestness and the trap of excessive entertainment potency and figuring out how to find meaning in giving your life to something.
It’s a lot, it’s confusing, sometimes it’s dumb, sometimes it doesn’t always work, but it’s impossible to read Infinite Jest and not recognize the late David Foster Wallace as some kind of genius. A sub-genius couldn’t write this. And although I was bored throughout significant chunks of the book, and although I think there is a half-way decent case that Infinite Jest would be better if you cut down 30-60% of it, I also found it brilliantly insightful, and it ended up resonating with me in a way books rarely do.
[...]
So I’m going to try to extract the value I got from Infinite Jest by going over my understanding of its setting, plot, and themes to present them in the most condensed form possible to readers so they can hopefully get a significant portion of the value to be gleaned from the book without necessarily spending 52.5+ hours reading it.
Needless to say, FULL SPOILERS FOR Infinite Jest AHEAD, but I’ll also note the caveat that this is a book where the plot doesn’t really matter.
I read this book twice last year, once actually reading the physical book and then immediately after finishing it I started a second listen listening to the “Infinite Cast” podcast in which a...
I read this book twice last year, once actually reading the physical book and then immediately after finishing it I started a second listen listening to the “Infinite Cast” podcast in which a couple started reading it during COVID as kind of a joke but then actually finished it over the course of 3 years and thought I gleaned a great deal of meaning and entertainment from both reads. I feel it is the craziest most rewarding book I’ve ever read.
It's been a few years since I read the book but I found it a very rewarding read at the time. Despite the stated purpose, this article just strikes me as missing the point entirely. The value of reading DFW... is in reading DFW. And he's one of the few where I don't think audiobooks are really appropriate to the work. If you don't want to commit to a ~1,000 page novel, then that's perfectly ok. He has some wonderful collections of short stories and essays, and there is always the classic introduction via his This is Water speech.
Why do you think reading is so much better with him than other authors? As someone who listens to quite a few audiobooks, I actually think this about most books, so I'm interested in your perspective.
Taking Infinite Jest specifically, I'll put it this way: the best advice I got prior to reading was to have three bookmarks ready; one for the text, one for the endnotes, and one for a particular endnote I would be referring back to frequently. DFW loved his endnotes, but he also utilised them quite purposefully. They're not just interesting asides, references, or expansions upon ideas that you would find in an academic text. They're an integral part of the whole experience. And there is a peculiar kind of rhythm that develops through the regular flip back and forth, and I think that can't help but be unique for each reader as they decide when is appropriate1 (e.g., on the spot, at the end of sentence, paragraph, chapter, etc.). Reading DFW is often a rather active process and this is the key element that I don't think audiobooks can capture.2
For the record, I have absolutely nothing against audiobooks, and I think the rise in popularity in recent years is a great thing. In the vast majority of cases it doesn't matter how a person engages with a book (obvious exceptions being the likes of House of Leaves), it's just great that more books are getting read. And there are some really fantastic narrators out there finally getting their own bit of fame.
1. At what point did you flick down to this one?2. Caveat, I haven't had a chance to listen to any of the IJ audiobook, so I have to admit to a heavy amount of assumption on my part here. These opinions are all based on reading DFW and what knowledge I have of the form from having listened to other audiobooks.I waited because you were talking about when it's appropriate!
That's a very good example and illustration! Thank you!
A good part of the twisted humor is buried in how maximal the work is.
Can you say you're getting the full IJ experience if your eyes aren't shriveling up and nearly falling out of their sockets after walking over yet another multi-page diatribe about something woefully inconsequential to the plot, the book, or the world itself?
It's a lot easier to tune out of an audiobook and still travel march the work than it is to mindfully turn the page again and again as you mime the act of reading.
From the article:
[...]
I read this book twice last year, once actually reading the physical book and then immediately after finishing it I started a second listen listening to the “Infinite Cast” podcast in which a couple started reading it during COVID as kind of a joke but then actually finished it over the course of 3 years and thought I gleaned a great deal of meaning and entertainment from both reads. I feel it is the craziest most rewarding book I’ve ever read.
Aaron Swartz’s somewhat famously wrote a blog post on the book as well. Spoilers ahead though!.
Couple of friends of mine also did a podcast on it in 20 episodes: Jest Friends