I’m not a big book reader anymore. It’s a matter of focus. At home there are a million different things vying for my attention: TV, movies, games, the internet, my wife, family, friends. Whenever I think about maybe sitting down to read, one of the myriad other things I could be doing grabs my eye and off I go.
Vacations, however, are a different story. Especially when they involve beaches and not many plans other than eating. And, what a coincidence, I just happened to have one of those no-plans-lots-of-beach-and-pool-time vacations! A couple of months ago, I polled Twitter about Infinite Jest, having seen it come up a few times on sites that I frequent. The overwhelming response was something like “It’s great, but dense, and I never actually finished it.” (Well, one co-worker had, but he was literally the only one).
I decided I would give it a shot, because what the hell? It’s only just over 1000 pages, after all. I actually started reading Infinite Jest 3 days into the vacation, stalled slightly by finishing up the last half or so of Neil Gaiman’s most excellent American Gods (which, by the way, I recommend reading if you haven’t).
Here are a few notes and observations from my reading thus far (my Kindle tells me I’m about 16% of the way through).
- David Foster Wallace has a way with language. I love how he uses (and sometimes creates) words. They paint vivid pictures of the characters he is portraying. The way he changes his use of language between characters creates a window into the minds of these characters. I’m also a fan of how he stretches my vocabulary (a bit more on this later).
- Similarly, the way he stretches sentences to their absolute limits gives you a very clear picture of how each of the characters thinks. You will at times find yourself reading a sentence that stretches multiple pages (an English teachers worst nightmare!) These are not always easy to read, but they are extremely effective at conveying a state of mind.
- The end notes are not always as helpful as you would like, but I suspect that is not merely oversight. Everything about this book so far seems extremely calculated. You are given as much information as the author wants you to have at any given time, and no more. Any insight you think you glean on your own is almost certainly planned. Think you’ve figured out a plot point or some secret that is being hidden? It seems more often than not it is spelled out for you shortly after. It makes me think DFW is having a good time making people feel like they are smart, only to remind them that maybe they aren’t as clever as they think.
- The comedy in the book ranges from the subtle to the absurd. Things like “The Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment” and the Wheelchair Assassins are contrasted sharply with very subtle plays on words, or obscure jokes about tennis that 99% of the non-tennis playing population will surely miss, or an I-have-no-idea-how-long end note listing the entire filmography of one of the main characters, in which descriptions range from full cast/crew lists and plot descriptions, to “Untitled – conceptual – unfilmable”. I am not finding myself laughing out loud yet, but I’m very often smiling.
- Reading this book on a Kindle is, I think, maybe the best way to read it, especially if it is a model with touch. End-notes are accessible by tapping on their number, and another tap sends you right back to where you left off. Looking up definitions of words (which you will absolutely need to, and frequently) can be done by tapping and holding on the word. None of the free dictionaries you have installed know the word? Two more clicks and you’re looking at the Wikipedia text. Instead of a 1000+ page book, an O.E.D., and a medical dictionary, you have one small e-reader. Fantastic!!!
- This makes me miss playing tennis in high school. Badly. I need to do something about that….
I’m going to make a concerted effort to continue to read before my next beach vacation, and I do have a couple of 9+ hour flights to/from England coming up. I’ll try to write more about the book later. There’s a specific chapter that I think is maybe some of the best writing I’ve ever read (J.O.I.’s father talking to him in the 1960s, if you’ve read or at least tried to read the book). I’d like to dive into that I think. The bit about Brando is….I don’t have words.
