Some materials I intend to peruse in the coming weeks (some of which I think may have been mentioned in earlier posts or in links), and which some of you may also find helpful, if anyone else is torn up, include:
- Elegant Complexity: A Study of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest by Greg Carlilse. According to reviews, this book includes an outline of the 28 "chapters" in the book, derived from the total 192 sections, and a description of how to read the book in chronological order, as well as other little details like character lists and a map of ETA and the surrounding area.
- David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest: A Reader's Guide by Stephen Burn. Cheaper and significantly shorter than the aforementioned study. According to reviews on Amazon it sounds appealing for its restraint and avoidance of an exhaustive analysis, while nonetheless providing an enlightening perspective on the more difficult aspects of the book.
- Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace by David Lipsky. A lengthy interview from the final leg of DFW's promotional tour for IJ, as well as commentary on his life and death by the celebrated Rolling Stone contributing editor. This appeals for its personal approach and apparent sensitivity to DFW's concerns about the dangers of biography.
(Sidenote: What's the deal with A Reader's Companion to Infinite Jest by William Dowling and Robert Bell? It doesn't sound very elucidating, and the only copy for sale on Amazon is going for $2,499.99... plus $3.99 shipping. Also includes a disconcerting picture of Shakespeare as an orchid or some other exotic flower on the cover.)
Finally, I'm currently borrowing from a friend This Is Water--a transcript of DFW's 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College. I haven't read the whole thing in its proper order but if my memory serves me, the joke at the beginning is also included in IJ (albeit more vulgar in the latter):
There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning boys. How's the water?"
And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is water?"
The end of the speech is really moving but I'll refrain from including it here because it's surely less impressive in isolation. But I will say if you haven't read the speech, it is definitely worth it (and probably somewhere easily accessible online). As far as its relevance to Infinite Jest: even though we've already recognized the dangers of equating an author's fiction with some key element of his own soul, it's not hard to see in this speech's plea (for us to appreciate and familiarize ourselves with our analogue to a fish's water) a more personal and didactic version of IJ.
Thanks Emily for the suggestions! I will look into those. Also if you don't feel like purchasing a copy of your own, try looking them up in the library. I am sure there will be a copy.
ReplyDelete"As far as its relevance to Infinite Jest: even though we've already recognized the dangers of equating an author's fiction with some key element of his own soul, it's not hard to see in this speech's plea (for us to appreciate and familiarize ourselves with our analogue to a fish's water) a more personal and didactic version of IJ."
You took the words right out of my mouth when you said about equating an authors fiction to his life. But you worded it better than me. By the way I really like the quote you mention.
Here is an adaptation of DFW's speech at Kenyon college:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/20/fiction
I read that quite a while ago and didn't realize that it existed in a longer form (although I guess "adapted from" at the bottom of the page should have tipped me off).
Reading those IJ guides does sound like a worthwhile summer pursuit to me, so much so that I may join you in it :). The only problem I have with all of these guides and interpretations of the novel is that I was thinking, re-reading the brief plot guide to the end of the novel that I posted a few days ago, how much someone else's interpretation of the often confusing events in IJ influence our own perception of those events in such a way that we close ourselves off the possibility of other interpretations. For instance the idea that the mold is what left Hal unable to feel comes from the placement the brief section where Hal eats the mold, as well as the explicit unfolding in the last couple hundred pages of the fact that Hal has not felt anything in a long time (p. 852). But does that really mean that there was a connection? (There may be something more that I missed the first time around and will catch as I finish up reading the second time around, if so I'll post it). Because as I looked at the sequence of events it seemed more likely that the cessation of Hal's reliance on marijuana, and his forced honesty about the situation with Mario and himself, that marijuana had become nearly the only meaningful thing Hal felt had had in his life, probably had a lot to do with his renewal of feeling. While in so many situations it is really valuable to understand someone else's opinion of a piece of literature, and understanding someone else's perspective or clarify insight can open all kinds of doors to our own thoughts and insights, at the same time it can be dangerous if it is taken for granted that someone other than DFW really had any idea of what DFW was trying to do in IJ. (This was not meant to be a discouragement of reading review-explanatory literature, but rather something I have been thinking about a lot as I do some reading of the reviewign-explanatory nature myself, and wonder about how it effects our perceptions of the novel)
Additionally I feel that in my desire to make sure I knew what was happening, really what happened, tie up all the loose and ambiguous parts of the novel- I realized I ignored some of the more important issues. For instance, what does the ending MEAN, as in how does it contribute to or make the point that DFW was trying to make with IJ? Is there a hero? Who is the hero? And if there is a "hero" and an "ending" is this some kind of traditional narrative, only made to seem non-traditional by mixing it up like some kind of linear puzzle pieces as of yet unassembled? If the narrative truly was traditional, what was the point of having the non-linear time-line? Why do we or don't we want traditional narratives? (I may have gotten derailed in the last couple questions). But you get the point. Maybe Orin was sending the copies of the entertainment out as revenge from Tuscon, but if he were, what would that mean to the novel? And if he weren't, what would that mean?
Another idea for reading this summer: Delillo's White Noise. I read it this fall and it is really good in a different and yet similar way to IJ. It's not that long and actually (at least I found it) a really fast and enjoyable read.
ReplyDeleteAlso: Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49.
ReplyDeleteI have the same concern as you that grazing the interpretations of others can easily mar one's own perceptions of a work irrevocably, and for that reason I'm nervous about delving too deep into any analyses of IJ. But at the same time my own intellect tends to be limited, leaving me with an itching curiosity. I hope we'll find a happy medium somewhere out there to explore without jeopardizing whatever fresh take we have on the thing. I compromised and bought a copy of Lipsky's recently published book (see above). It looks like it's mostly a transcript of their exchanges, and just flipping through I noticed mentions of details from IJ, which may be enlightening or at least fun. Maybe I'll bring it on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, I've been planning to read White Noise for a while now, and I also happened to look at The Crying of Lot 49 on the same trip to Elliott Bay when I picked up Lipsky's book. For some reason the synopsis on the back always sounds unappealing to me but like I told you before I'm determined to read some Pynchon. And I'm all for summer reading clubs, whatever the subject. Another reading of IJ perhaps in chronological order? (Just kidding. Mostly.) I'm gonna borrow Oblivion from a friend soon, incidentally.
By the by, there are plenty more references listed on the Wikipedia page, and also a link to this interview with DFW. I haven't listened to all of it yet but hearing him talk about anything seems enlightening, even if it's not directly about IJ. He doesn't seem to use words or even self-expression lightly.
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