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Friday, June 19, 2009

Books Infinite Summer

Posted by Alison Hallett on Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 2:05 PM

Colin Meloy has never read Infinite Jest.

I think I bought my copy of Infinite Jest in 1997. To be honest, I don’t know what inspired the purchase. Had I read A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again? Probably. I don’t know why I would’ve bought a book by an unknown author that weighed in somewhere north of 1000 pages. Regardless, it was so long ago that I don’t remember actually buying it. All I know is that it has sat in my book collection for 12 years, unread.

I've never finished it either. Lots of people haven't. It's big, and heavy, and hard-on-purpose. The excerpt above is from a guest post Meloy wrote on the blog Infinite Summer, an online book club devoted to reading David Foster Wallace's novel—in its entirety, and not just until the Quebec separatists show up, which is where I always get bored and give up:

Join endurance bibliophiles from around the world in reading Infinite Jest over the summer of 2009, June 21st to September 22nd. A thousand pages1 ÷ 92 days = 75 pages a week. No sweat.

That's absolutely doable. And I think I'm gonna do it, if only so as to no longer be subjected to the insufferable smugness of people who HAVE read it. Thanks to Blogtown reader April for the tip.

 

Comments (22) RSS

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1
IJ is the only book I've read that's funnier (despite all of the soul-crushing sadness) than Confederacy of Dunces. After the first read through, you can literally pick it up and turn to any page and enjoy the non-stop jokes. I'm totally in for a full re-read.
Posted by A CAT, probably on June 19, 2009 at 2:23 PM · Report
2
God, I totally read the whole thing two summers ago. You haven't read it yet, Alison? Un-fucking-believable. And I was just starting to like you. I thought you were smart and stuff, but I guess if you haven't been able to get through Infinite Jest... well, lets just say you are no longer invited to my wine and cheese parties. Call me when you're done, though. Then we'll actually be able to have an intelligent, adult conversation.

God I hope that comes off as snobbish and effected as I wanted it to be. Otherwise I'm totally going to deserve all those dirty looks.
Posted by Patrick A. Coleman on June 19, 2009 at 2:29 PM · Report
3
@patrick

ahem: affected

I hope you're wearing your vest with the rainbows on it when we have our intelligent, adult conversation. :)

Posted by Alison Hallett on June 19, 2009 at 2:35 PM · Report
4
Once you get into it, you're gonna be reading way more than 75 pages a week.

If I hadn't just reread Infinite Jest last summer [rearranges monocle, disdainfully brushes lint off of tweed jacket], I'd totally do this. That book is nothing short of amazing.
Posted by Erik Henriksen on June 19, 2009 at 2:45 PM · Report
5
@Alison....Bwahahahaha...Good one!
Posted by turtledove on June 19, 2009 at 2:45 PM · Report
6
"IJ is the only book I've read that's funnier (despite all of the soul-crushing sadness) than Confederacy of Dunces."

Hmmm that is purty high praise as I consider "Dunces" the funniest book ever. I shall read your "Jest" and register my thorough opinion on your plebeian "internets"
Posted by Abusive on June 19, 2009 at 2:46 PM · Report
7
Confederacy of Dunces is my favorite book ever ever ever. But I'm gonna give Infinite Jest one more shot.
Posted by Alison Hallett on June 19, 2009 at 2:48 PM · Report
8
We should totally have a blogtown sub-reading-club for this (and put the merc's robo-spam-decimated forums back to work). I don't trust most jerks on the internet to discuss anything potentially "high brow," but I trust you jerks on the internet.
Posted by A CAT, probably on June 19, 2009 at 2:54 PM · Report
9
I've been thinking about doing this as well.
Posted by Cary Clarke on June 19, 2009 at 3:07 PM · Report
10
I'm reading this right now! I started it in January...
I got 200 pages in, then took a class that required a lot of other reading. And now I'm plowing through it again (aka, like 3-5 pages a day, at most). I'm nearly on page 300. I really like it, and I'm totally determined to finish it. Should we start a book club to talk about it as we read it???
Posted by ROM on June 19, 2009 at 3:13 PM · Report
11
Does this book have dragons and/or elves in it?

If not then I'm OUT.

*slams door to bedroom and turns up Rush's Fly By Night super loud*
Posted by kiala on June 19, 2009 at 3:22 PM · Report
12
*specifically By-Tor and the Snowdog*
Posted by kiala on June 19, 2009 at 3:24 PM · Report
13
I picked it up a few years ago and haven't read it yet, but I totally want to. I blame college.

The only book I haven't been able to get through is DeLillo's "Underworld." God, that thing is dense. Blissfully poetic, but dense.
Posted by Broseph Goebbels on June 19, 2009 at 3:46 PM · Report
14
There're big catapult things that shoot all our garbage out to space. And there are wheelchair-bound assassins. Intrigued??!
Posted by ROM on June 19, 2009 at 3:46 PM · Report
15
Okay, we're gonna do it. Stick to the schedule on the infinite summer site, and I'll try to remember to post weekly open threads here so we can talk about it. Sound good? ROM, no spoilers.
Posted by Alison Hallett on June 19, 2009 at 3:48 PM · Report
16
kiss ma butt
Posted by ROM on June 19, 2009 at 3:54 PM · Report
17
But, at the same time, great!

Okay, I'm calibrating my schedule.
(was that a spoiler, too??*)





*no
Posted by ROM on June 19, 2009 at 3:55 PM · Report
18
I feel like I need to get a running start to actually crack Infinite Jest. I love DFW, and Confederacy of Dunces is in my top 5, so this thread may be the thing that finally gets the damn thing off my shelf and into my hands. I've said that about other things before. I'm not sure I've ever physically met anyone who has finished it, DFW-lover or no (we all know it's far more common to meet those who tried and failed).
Posted by Commenty Colin on June 19, 2009 at 4:00 PM · Report
19
Colin, I'd recommend GWCH as a warm up if you need one. Brief, multitudinous, and fun. Also, a good primer in how to deal with DFW influences/affectations. BotS is good (esp the ending, which blew my little highschool brain), but not perfect, and could put you off IJ unnecessarily.

That was way to many acronyms.
Posted by A CAT, probably on June 19, 2009 at 7:20 PM · Report
20
Anyone read the New Yorker article about the unfinished DFW novel that they are publishing posthumously? The article ran, like, two months ago or so?

Unfortunately I lent my copy of IJ out to a good friend who is slowly destroying the paperback as he reads. Wish I could join in the book club fun.
Posted by Patrick A. Coleman on June 20, 2009 at 12:48 AM · Report
21
Patrick, I've got an extra copy you can borrow if you want.
Posted by Erik Henriksen on June 20, 2009 at 11:27 AM · Report
22
I read the whole thing about a decade ago. I think there was a wonderful 300-page novel somewhere within those 1,000 pages.
Posted by Brian Libby on June 20, 2009 at 1:09 PM · Report

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