2016 addition:
On re-reading Infinite Jest, I can say that it is an infinite grower. Six years ago, I didn't think I'd have any nostalgia for the characters or the writing, but somehow it all got stuck in some corner of my mind that wouldn't let go until I gave it the full amount of attention it deserved. This time it was far funnier than I found on the first read. The humor has more of a satirical, dark edge that I suppose made me uneasy in my "purple prose" phase. David Lynch's influence was a lot more transparent as well, as DFW sought to reconcile "the incredibly mundane with the incredibly odd" (quoting him in an interview when asked about Lynch... exact wording is imprecise). I have no doubt that I will return to this book many times, for all its strange stories and reflections on the modern age. The novel's overarching message seems to be that there is something very wrong with the world and our role in it, but we choose not to face that problem by distracting ourselves with drugs and entertainment.
2010 original:
It's better to approach this as a series of interrelated short stories rather than a novel with a linear direction. The dystopian concept was interesting, and there is no shortage of phenomenal writing, but I'm not sure it has the type of progression to make it one of the all-time greats, as many people are claiming. The novel digresses too much to make the core series of events appropriately clear, and many parts could have been edited to make it shorter and more accessible. I can see how this might be one of the best books of the last 30 years because so many people can relate to all the characters suffering from addiction and depression. I didn't find it overwhelmingly funny like so many others, and on this point, I think DFW is largely misunderstood- this is a deeply sad (there are about 10 suicides or attempted suicides in the book) and pessimistic book that illuminates the psychology of addiction. On the phenomenal writing I've compiled a list of favorite or most memorable parts:
Truly amazing passages that leave you in a dumbfounded trance:
227-240 Joelle’s overdose
321-342 Eschaton chaos
380-386 Mario’s film interpretation of the rise of president Gentle
692-698 Hal's anhedonic depression vs. Kate Gompert's psychotic depression
787-795 Thanksgiving @ Joelle's parents' house
Other great parts worth reading:
27-31 Hal’s visit to the “conversation doctor” (his father)
55-60 Gately accidentally murders a Canadian VIP
68-78 Kate Gompert explains marijuana to a young doctor
138-140 The bricklayer’s bizarre accident
157-168 Jame’s Incandenza’s father narrates life in the 60’s
367-375 Young girl’s foster father sexually abuses her sister
395-398 The joke
601-619 The fight
701-714 Hal watches Blood Sister: One Tough Nun
775-782 Maranthe & Kate at the bar
827-845 Gately’s visitation from the ghost of James Incandenza
846-851 Gately’s vision of the angel of death as Joelle
958-960 Mikey’s story
967-971 Barry Loach homeless
972-981 Drug binge chaos
fn 269 A friend of Orin’s relates Avril’s creepiness
fn 324 Pemulis’ eccentric, hilarious dialogue in the locker room
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