It's not really a linear easy to follow story and you'll need two bookmarks because there's like 100+ pages of endnotes which often form their own stories.
It took me a long time to read, but I basically read 15-25 pages 2-3 times a week. I felt reading in short bursts allowed me to just enjoy the writing rather than get too bogged down.
IMO, give it a shot. There's a lot of brilliance in there.
Wallace was a talented writer and could be very funny
But it's just too much - too much stuffed into one book, a ridiculously convoluted plot, too many characters. I enjoyed it to a certain degree, and I don't regret reading it, but I've never felt compelled to read it again.
RE: Wallace was a talented writer and could be very funny
But it's just too much - too much stuffed into one book, a ridiculously convoluted plot, too many characters. I enjoyed it to a certain degree, and I don't regret reading it, but I've never felt compelled to read it again.
I agree with this, even if I probably liked it a little more than you did. He was a very gifted writer, and I enjoyed the novel, but he did make it unnecessarily complex.
RE: RE: Wallace was a talented writer and could be very funny
But it's just too much - too much stuffed into one book, a ridiculously convoluted plot, too many characters. I enjoyed it to a certain degree, and I don't regret reading it, but I've never felt compelled to read it again.
I agree with this, even if I probably liked it a little more than you did. He was a very gifted writer, and I enjoyed the novel, but he did make it unnecessarily complex.
Thanks for all the comments. I am also a Kindle reader as opposed to hard copy, and not sure how the endnotes will translate on the Kindle. I live in NYC and it is just too big a book to lug around on the subway etc.
I was convinced that hipsters just carried Infinite Jest around allover the city, and especially on the subway, even if they weren't necessarily reading the book. They wanted to be seen with it.
Not sure how the end notes would work with Kindle. Consider the physical copy if you're willing to read at home.
Agree with the other posters that the novel was "too much." It's a flawed book in a lot of ways, but there's certainly a lot of brilliance and just memorable stories he tells and I don't regret reading it.
I read it on Kindle years ago during my PATH commuting days
I enjoyed it in that form, but as others have pointed out - it's a lot in more ways than one. It's a book I've wanted to read again, but it's a commitment. I also do a lot of my "reading" via audible now, and that book may be tough on audible.
I was convinced that hipsters just carried Infinite Jest around allover the city, and especially on the subway, even if they weren't necessarily reading the book. They wanted to be seen with it.
Not sure how the end notes would work with Kindle. Consider the physical copy if you're willing to read at home.
Agree with the other posters that the novel was "too much." It's a flawed book in a lot of ways, but there's certainly a lot of brilliance and just memorable stories he tells and I don't regret reading it.
Ha! I am in my 40s now, but during that time I did see a lot of people lugging it around even in Murray Hill, where I lived at the time, which was not a bastion of hipsters (at least at that time not sure what is like now except then whenever I am in car or bus going through it every store has literally which is not uncommon in NYC over a 20 year period).
I was convinced that hipsters just carried Infinite Jest around allover the city, and especially on the subway, even if they weren't necessarily reading the book. They wanted to be seen with it.
Not sure how the end notes would work with Kindle. Consider the physical copy if you're willing to read at home.
Agree with the other posters that the novel was "too much." It's a flawed book in a lot of ways, but there's certainly a lot of brilliance and just memorable stories he tells and I don't regret reading it.
I think thus actually dovetails with my comment. There are some cultural mile markers that become rites of passage as folks figure out who they're gonna be in their 20s. If you find yourself going down the hipster/artsy path this book is one of them. But we often look back at those awkward growth periods not-so-fondly, and I think that has a lot to do with how this book is perceived.
Basically, a lot of folks thought reading/liking/"getting" this book said something about them or provided some sort of cultural cashe, and in retrospect it might be a little embarrassing when, upon further inspection, it's still just a book.
But it's just too much - too much stuffed into one book, a ridiculously convoluted plot, too many characters. I enjoyed it to a certain degree, and I don't regret reading it, but I've never felt compelled to read it again.
I agree with this, even if I probably liked it a little more than you did. He was a very gifted writer, and I enjoyed the novel, but he did make it unnecessarily complex.
Thanks for all the comments. I am also a Kindle reader as opposed to hard copy, and not sure how the endnotes will translate on the Kindle. I live in NYC and it is just too big a book to lug around on the subway etc.
I have a Kindle app on my iPad, and the footnotes serve as hyperlinks. Just click on the footnote, and it takes you right to it. I found that very easy to use, unlike with the hard copy, which I had to leaf through to get to the notes. As an aside, you should read the footnotes, some of the funniest stuff in the novel.
I haven't seen one in a while. I have not read IJ but do have it on my bookshelf if I ever muster up the courage and determination to wade in. I always associated IJ with Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, which I also have but have not read. I did read his Mason & Dixon and thought it hilarious, if a bit over the top. And his Inherent Vice didn't do much for me.
I'm a big reader, almost all fiction, and have way too many books in my tiny W. Village apartment. I also have a lot of photography books. But I'd be up for meeting up for a drink in the City with any other BBI readers to talk about books during our long football off-season ahead.
a couple of years ago and it really wasn't for me. What sold me on not finishing it was my wife saying "It's one of those books that feels like an accomplishment to read - and maybe that's a big part of its allure". That was the end of that, 100+ pages in. And I'm a big reader.
It took me a long time to read, but I basically read 15-25 pages 2-3 times a week. I felt reading in short bursts allowed me to just enjoy the writing rather than get too bogged down.
IMO, give it a shot. There's a lot of brilliance in there.
I agree with this, even if I probably liked it a little more than you did. He was a very gifted writer, and I enjoyed the novel, but he did make it unnecessarily complex.
Quote:
But it's just too much - too much stuffed into one book, a ridiculously convoluted plot, too many characters. I enjoyed it to a certain degree, and I don't regret reading it, but I've never felt compelled to read it again.
I agree with this, even if I probably liked it a little more than you did. He was a very gifted writer, and I enjoyed the novel, but he did make it unnecessarily complex.
Thanks for all the comments. I am also a Kindle reader as opposed to hard copy, and not sure how the endnotes will translate on the Kindle. I live in NYC and it is just too big a book to lug around on the subway etc.
Not sure how the end notes would work with Kindle. Consider the physical copy if you're willing to read at home.
Agree with the other posters that the novel was "too much." It's a flawed book in a lot of ways, but there's certainly a lot of brilliance and just memorable stories he tells and I don't regret reading it.
Not sure how the end notes would work with Kindle. Consider the physical copy if you're willing to read at home.
Agree with the other posters that the novel was "too much." It's a flawed book in a lot of ways, but there's certainly a lot of brilliance and just memorable stories he tells and I don't regret reading it.
Ha! I am in my 40s now, but during that time I did see a lot of people lugging it around even in Murray Hill, where I lived at the time, which was not a bastion of hipsters (at least at that time not sure what is like now except then whenever I am in car or bus going through it every store has literally which is not uncommon in NYC over a 20 year period).
Not sure how the end notes would work with Kindle. Consider the physical copy if you're willing to read at home.
Agree with the other posters that the novel was "too much." It's a flawed book in a lot of ways, but there's certainly a lot of brilliance and just memorable stories he tells and I don't regret reading it.
I think thus actually dovetails with my comment. There are some cultural mile markers that become rites of passage as folks figure out who they're gonna be in their 20s. If you find yourself going down the hipster/artsy path this book is one of them. But we often look back at those awkward growth periods not-so-fondly, and I think that has a lot to do with how this book is perceived.
Basically, a lot of folks thought reading/liking/"getting" this book said something about them or provided some sort of cultural cashe, and in retrospect it might be a little embarrassing when, upon further inspection, it's still just a book.
Quote:
In comment 16454688 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
But it's just too much - too much stuffed into one book, a ridiculously convoluted plot, too many characters. I enjoyed it to a certain degree, and I don't regret reading it, but I've never felt compelled to read it again.
I agree with this, even if I probably liked it a little more than you did. He was a very gifted writer, and I enjoyed the novel, but he did make it unnecessarily complex.
Thanks for all the comments. I am also a Kindle reader as opposed to hard copy, and not sure how the endnotes will translate on the Kindle. I live in NYC and it is just too big a book to lug around on the subway etc.
I have a Kindle app on my iPad, and the footnotes serve as hyperlinks. Just click on the footnote, and it takes you right to it. I found that very easy to use, unlike with the hard copy, which I had to leaf through to get to the notes. As an aside, you should read the footnotes, some of the funniest stuff in the novel.
I'm a big reader, almost all fiction, and have way too many books in my tiny W. Village apartment. I also have a lot of photography books. But I'd be up for meeting up for a drink in the City with any other BBI readers to talk about books during our long football off-season ahead.
If you pick it up, you know what you're getting into. It's long and complex but has some great stuff.
To another poster's point, we should probably start a reading thread.