Rarely do we ever come across a novel that is so mind-stretching and enigmatic as Infinite Jest. Some people love it, some hate it, but one thing is sure, no one is left indifferent.
There’s a host of reasons why that happens. For instance, imagine reading a book that is so complex and so multi-layered that all events occur at different time frames and you’re constantly trying to figure out which events belong to which timeline.
While navigating this great labyrinth called Infinite Jest chances are that you’ll left puzzled more than once, questions will never stop pouring in your head, it could be as simple as “Wait, when did this person get married?” or “Is this a view from the future of what is to come?”
The reason behind that is that the chapters of the book are shuffled in what looks like an arbitrary way. So you may be reading in chapter forteen, then chapter five, then chapter twenty six, then back to the second chapter.
All while having you constantly trying to guess how each event is connected to each other, and what precedes what.
And then all of the sudden when you’re 700 pages in, you find the code with the which you can decrypt the timeline and figure out the how the storyline actually goes.
(Hint: The secret lies in the moon.)
It’s only then that you realize that it’s one of these books that you need to read twice, not because of the literary mastery, but because you need to see how it’s presented ‘formally’ to not miss out on all the clues and foreshadowing.
And then you have read it one more time to read the scenes as they play out.
Now, I know. It’s an extremely dense book to read twice so the advice we give for book readers is to constantly take notes of the important event of Infinite Jest.
In our weekly meetings we’ve realized more than once just how common it is to forget a character or an event that happened 500 pages ago and that seemed insignificant back then.
But in reality, that event could have taken place just the previous scene, only that the chapters were shuffled.
If we could describe Infinite Jest in a one word, that would be Multidimensional because you almost never find a book which story you have to read in totally different and opposing manners, in two vectors of time so to speak.
Without further ado, here’s the recording to the entire session Last week’s meeting:
https://soundcloud.com/user-655948001/infinite-jest-session-16-of-the-steemit-book-club
Details for the next meeting:
Book: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Reading Assignment: Chapter Seventeen “YEAR OF THE DEPEND ADULT UNDER-GARMENT” (pages 627-682)
Date: Monday, July 24th
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,
