“I think that sometimes almost the bigger tragedy in a weird way is all of the future imagined creative projects that could have happened that didn't. I feel the same way about lots of brilliant people who die young.” ― Chris Cornell
Reading through the pages of Infinite Jest one always wonders how much of the characters’ sadness is related to what David Foster Wallace was feeling at the time of writing the novel.
Was he feeling some great sadness like some of the protagonists? Was he too struggling with some addiction? Or maybe he felt that he was misunderstood like some of the characters… Perhaps we will never have the answers to these questions but regardless, we can at least appreciate this well-crafted piece of art that he left us with.
Death by Entertainment
Infinite Jest takes place in different timelines, this chapter in particular transpires in a fictional futuristic era where entertainment has become the chore element around the which most of society has based its entire existence.
Wallace goes to great lengths to caricaturize the degree to which the need for entertainment has become a necessity, so much so that you at times you feel like being stuck inside Nirvana’s timeless Smells Like Teen Spirit song,
What’s spectacular about the whole thing is the way DFW creates a story with so many shifts in momentum that one second he has you worrying about the future, or empathizing with a certain character and then all of the sudden he has you bursting in laughter at a totally unexpected scene that took you by surprise.
Ridiculous scenes, like the man who was found dead in his couch and the cause of death is too much entertainment.
That’s basically the main theme in chapter eleven where our protagonists are met with a dilemma, the right to choose, or the right to be entertained.
Which one will they chose?
“I have always been willing to put myself at great personal risk for the sake of entertainment.” ― George Carlin
For more details, here’s the recording to the entire session Last week’s meeting:
https://soundcloud.com/user-655948001/infinite-jest-session-11-of-the-steemit-book-club
Details for the next meeting:
Book: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Reading Assignment: Chapter Eleven “YEAR OF THE DEPEND ADULT UNDER-GARMENT” (pages 418-450)
Date: Monday, May 29th
Start Time: 6:00 p.m. PST / 9 p.m. EST / 2 a.m. GMT
Call Length: One hour.
Phone Access: (800) 719-6100 or (218) 339-7800, access code 629-1831#
Web Audio Access (sound quality isn't generally as good as phone): https://hello.freeconference.com/conf/call/6291831
P.S. You can these links to help guide you as you read Infinite Jest:
http://faculty.sunydutchess.edu/oneill/Infinite.htm (THIS LINK HAS SPOILERS)
http://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Main_Page#Page_by_Page_Annotations (No spoilers)
Best,
