Reading david foster wallaces latest novel, infinite jest, i couldnt help thinking at times about 7yearold seymour glasss book length letter home from camp, published in the new. Year of dairy products from the american heartland. Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else. Stephen kings the stand uncut edition and george r. I had ordered the book from after hearing of david foster wallaces death. Because this site has no search tool or archive feature, ive collected the series entire run into a single list, presented here in. Olivia wilde actress tron actress and activist olivia wilde is a modern day renaissance woman, starring in many acclaimed film productions, while simultaneously giving back to the community. Whether its drugs, sex, or fame, the novels primary goal is to examine the need for these addictions and show that it is possible to addicted to addiction itself. Infinite boston was and, you know, still is a limitedrun essay series about the reallife boston area locations figuring in david foster wallaces 1996 novel infinite jest, which was published on this website as a daily feature from julyseptember 2012. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. The book s title is taken from that of a film made by hal incandenzas father, james o.
Unquestionably, infinite jest required great ambition and focus to write, and requires a bit of ambition and focus to read as well. The lives of the students training and studying at enfield, founded by. The novels primary locations are the enfield tennis academy e. It has been categorized as an encyclopedic novel and made time magazines list of the 100 best englishlanguage novels published between 1923 and 2005. Not too many people write thousandpagers, much less read them. The book is drumtight and relentlessly smart and, though it does not wear its heart on its. Its set in ennet house, a boston rehab facility where don gately, the books. Randy is a cocaine addict and former dealer who ends up as a resident of ennet house. What follows is a reshuffling of all the scenes in infinite jest as they occur chronologically. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by american writer david foster wallace the novel is widely noted for its unconventional narrative structure modeled after the sierpinski gasket and its experimental use of endnotes. Please note that there are likely to be spoilers throughout the thre. As of 1991, when he began writing infinite jest, it was perfectly reasonable to. Walpole a suburb of boston about eighteen miles from the city page 8. In the novel wallace predicted a kind of protointernet service, a limited.
An exploration of infinite jest the michigan daily. I felt compelled throughout to read it aloud, such was the almost poetic quality of it. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by american writer david foster wallace. I was in france at the time, and when i got back to the u. Infinite jest by david foster wallace year of glad year.
A multilayered postmodern saga of damnation and salvation. He violates the house s strict nosubstance policy and continues doing small amounts of cocaine. Somewhere in the notsodistant future, the screwedup residents of ennet house. Infinite jest project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. There are roughly four narrative threads through the novel. Hal incandenza is the closest the book comes to having a protagonist. Infinite jest is notoriously known for being a long book its just shy of 1100 pages. Infinite jest characters from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. At the top of a hill is the enfield tennis academy, and at the base of the hill is the ennet hou. In 2006, little brown published a 10th anniversary edition of david foster wallaces infinite jest that featured a foreword by dave eggers. In a manner both reminiscent and imitative of thomas pynchons gravitys rainbow 1973, wallace traces the sometimes connected fortunes of two dozen or so addicted and obsessed souls variously involved with. One thing about ij is that there really isnt one coherent plot. Not every scene in the book is labeled with a definitive date, or has events or.
His latest offering, infinite jest, has been moving toward us like an ocean. Reading david foster wallaces latest novel, infinite jest, i couldnt. Once hailed as a work of singular genius, time has not been kind to the groundbreaking infinite jest, as paul ring discovers while reading david foster wallaces novel 20 years on. Ennet house, a residence for recovering substance abusers. Other times, similar undateable scenes are grouped together to. Martins storm of swords are longer this, but i was able to clear those books much quicker than david foster wallaces second novel. Welcome to week 14 of the ennet house reading group infinite jest discussion thread.
Ennet house drug and alcohol recovery house page 7. David foster wallaces infinite boston open source with. Steven asin infinite jest is the perfect book for the kindle paperwhite. In terms of pages spanned, there are two main plots that are on the whole fairly disjoint. Eggerss introduction observed that infinite jest was 1,067 pages long and there is not one lazy sentence. Nov 27, 2017 i kind of strongly disagree with alexs post about the endnotes. Please upvote each weeks discussion thread so it can stick at. But if you are seeking something other, then this book will not disappoint. Dec 19, 2016 infinite jest is notoriously known for being a long book its just shy of 1100 pages. Infinite jest takes place in the nottoodistant future, around the enfield tennis academy and the neighboring ennet house drug and alcohol recovery house in suburban boston.
I began reading infinite jest by david foster wallace around october 2008. With regard to the basic 14 plot line, the setting for the majority of the action is enfield, a fictional suburbia town outside of boston. Ill try my best to give you an answer, but i must warn you. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a north american dystopia, centering on a junior tennis academy and a nearby substanceabuse recovery center. Somewhere in the notsodistant future the residents of ennet house, a boston halfway house for recovering addicts, and students at the nearby enfield tennis academy are ensnared in the search for the master copy of infinite jest, a movie said to be somewhere in the notsodistant future the residents of ennet house, a boston halfway house for recovering addicts, and students at the nearby. Beyond the ease with which one can lookup footnotes, consider the following. Through reading infinite jest, qainat khan saw boston through the eyes of drug addicts and met them as fully realized characters the minutiae of their life stories, their internal monologues. At the top of a hill is the enfield tennis academy, and at the base of the hill is the ennet house. We invite you to share your questions and reflections up to page 875 location 19972 on kindle. Not every scene in the book is labeled with a definitive date, or has events or characters that can be crossreferenced to deduce a definitive date.
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. The oldest brother is orin a pro footballer and lothario who was involved with joelle van dyne the female protagonist, of sorts, who is a radio show hostess, and star of the film infinite jest. Well, from what i recall of the novel there are some parallel narrative lines. It is as thick with narrative stuff as any novel in recent memory, but it has. Heres how to read david foster wallaces thousandpage door stop and masterpiece infinite jest. Somewhere in the notsodistant future, the screwedup residents of ennet house, a boston halfway. She is also a recovering addict at the nearby ennet house, run by a former addictcumcounselor named don gately. Infinite jest characters from litcharts the creators of. Wallace wrote to a friend that the fuckers cut by 600 pages from the first version.
Late in the book stice nearly defeats hal in a threeset tennis. The major environments in infinite jest are the enfield tennis academy and ennet house. Infinite jest, in other words, can be exceedingly frustrating. Ennet house drug and alcohol recovery house footnoted redundancy sic in the text, and a conversation between a quebec separatist and a u. Somewhere in the notsodistant future the residents of ennet house, a boston halfway house for recovering addicts, and students at the nearby enfield tennis academy are ensnared in the search for the master copy of infinite jest, a movie said to be so dangerously entertaining its viewers become entranced and expire in a state of catatonic. 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 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. David foster wallaces relentless doorstopper of a novel, first published in 1996. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by american writer david. Buy infinite jest 9780349121086 by david foster wallace for only. Dec 22, 2015 ill try my best to give you an answer, but i must warn you. Before he died, james incandenza, founder of the eta and film auteur, created a movie so. It has been categorized as an encyclopedic novel and made time magazines list of the 100 best.
Theres a scene in infinite jest 1996 that gets at the insoluble. An ambitious and frequently brilliant fictional exploration of the pursuit of pleasure and its ramifying consequences, by the antic author of girl with curious hair 1989, etc. The novel is a interconnected sequence of events, told out of timeline order, that focuses on addiction in all its forms. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a semiparodic future version of north america. The novel touches on many topics, including addiction and recovery, suicide, family relationships, entertainment and advertising, film theory, united statescanada relations as well as. A study of david foster wallaces infinite jest, as reference for hals bio. The book is drumtight and relentlessly smart and, though it does not wear its heart on its sleeve, its deeply felt and incredibly moving. I kind of strongly disagree with alexs post about the endnotes. 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.
To fully understand what wallace was up to, the book bears being read, and reread, with talmudic focus and devotion. Infinite jest is a novel about wallaces alcohol addiction and recovery on a route through boston we all walk and drive and manage not to see into. The novel infinite jest is the story of this addictive entertainment, and in particular how it affects a boston halfway house for recovering addicts and a nearby. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by david foster wallace. Feb 07, 2016 infinite jest, in other words, can be exceedingly frustrating. Infinite jest takes place in the nottoodistant future, around the enfield tennis academy and the neighboring ennet house drug and alcohol recovery house redundancy sic in suburban boston. Hals communication problem in the year of glad may have begun on 20 november y. Infinite jest is a novel written by david foster wallace. Feb 26, 2016 12 if you think infinite jest at 1,100odd pages is a long book, be advised that it started longer. Feb 01, 1996 admittedly, infinite jest is a tough book. Mar 03, 1996 reading david foster wallaces latest novel, infinite jest, i couldnt help thinking at times about 7yearold seymour glasss book length letter home from camp, published in the new.
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