The audio book club on david foster wallaces infinite jest. The lack of physicality is a bummer, but i feel its vastly compensated by having access to everything id like to. I wasnt necessarily going to answer this but your question got the juices flowing. David foster wallaces infinite jest, is, without question, the best book i ve ever read. Written by david foster wallace, audiobook narrated by sean pratt. Infinite jest is a gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america. Not certain if this is the right place for this, let me know if theres another place to post something like this.
What its like to record the audiobook version of infinite jest. This index is based on tim wares infinite jest index pregnant pause fact it is wares index except for a few ads i ve added and i post it here because the old url at indeed itself has gone to a better place. How extraordinary people become that way audiobook full. In infinite jest conjunctions often appear in chains of length three or greater. In 1998, actor and audiobook narrator steven carpenter recorded his version of infinite jest, thoughyou are unlikely to ever hear it. Written by david foster wallace, audiobook narrated by robert petkoff, david foster wallace, sally foster wallace, sean pratt, kristine hvam, ben shenkman, bobby cannavale. Aug 25, 2015 still, infinite jest isnt the most difficult audiobook carpenter has ever recorded. While i cant read the book not even the end notes for you. Set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwedup family to come along in recent fiction, infinite jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our.
On reading the first chapter of infinite jest sally allen. But, in a move that might give some fans a case of the howling fantods, hachette decided. As a college english major, i ve read my fair share of great literature, and very few authors even approach wallaces ability to entertain, enlighten, mystify or infuriate. Download and keep this book for free with a 30 day trial.
Events mentioned or described in infinite jest 1996. There is stuff that happens in the opening pages that explains events at the end of the book, albeit over pages and hundreds of footnotes away. Set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwedup family to come along in recent fiction, infinite jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives. Apr 09, 2009 i began reading infinite jest by david foster wallace around october 2008. Infinite jest in the age of addiction the millions. The novel is widely noted for its unconventional narrative structure and its experimental use of endnotes there are a total of 388 endnotes, some with footnotes of their own.
A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and. To satisfy joelles condition for starring in infinite jest, jim quits drinking. Do you want to improve your audio while taping, or do you want to edit the audio in post. If youve never read it, starting infinite jest can be a little intimidating. Unquestionably, infinite jest required great ambition and focus to write, and requires a bit of ambition and focus to read as well. My students cant get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof. The lack of physicality is a bummer, but i feel its vastly compensated by having access to everything id like to read in seconds.
Infinite jest by david foster wallace overdrive rakuten. The novel is widely noted for its unconventional narrative structure and its experimental use of endnotes there are a total of 388. It was made for the national library service for the blind and. Having only read the first extremely exhausting chapter, i cant tell you whether i would feel this way after two or more. I feel that the biggest thing to be said about the color blue in the novel is that blue is. But then a tall heavy afroamerican fellow with a gold incisor and perfect vertical cylinder of afroamerican hairstyle peeled away from a sort of grouphug nearby, he d spotted erdedy, and the fellow came over and established himself right in front of erdedy, spreading the arms of his fatigue jacket for a hug, stooping slightly and leaning in toward erdedys fersonal trunk region. The best place to do the audio is during taping and that usually. In infinite jest, uhid union of the hideously and improbably deformed is a society of people who wear veils in their everyday lives. Still, infinite jest isnt the most difficult audiobook carpenter has ever recorded. The length of infinite jest should not be an obstacle to finding pleasure in it. In short, if finnegans wake was a rancid fart that was proudly left to rip, infinite jest is a weak one, lacking sound and odor. Beyond the ease with which one can lookup footnotes, consider the following. Find books like infinite jest from the worlds largest community of readers. As stephen burns emphasized in his book a readers guide to infinite jest, one of the first academic treatments of the novel, infinite jest may basically be a religious book.
Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Infinite jest displays a wider range of styles from the subliterate monologue of a povertystricken abused woman to technical explications of the properties of various pharmaceuticals but the main narrative style is both casual and complex, slangy and erudite, a kind of slacker mandarin with comically manic specificity of detail. An ambitious and frequently brilliant fictional exploration of the pursuit of pleasure and its ramifying consequences, by the antic author of girl with curious hair 1989, etc. Diving into the riches of infinite jest is an exhilarating, breathtaking experience. It is an exuberant, uniquely american exploration of the passions that make us human and one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do. David foster wallaces infinite jest, is, without question, the best book ive ever read. Why i cannot recommend the infinite jest audio book infinite jest i guess this is a first for me and ill get straight to the point. Infinite jest audiobook by david foster wallace, read by. The final joke of infinite jest is that the book is intended to be almost as endless and mirthful as the addictions it depicts. Pamphile, quebec avril mondragons grandfather decides to invest in delawarebrand punch instead of cocacola. I had ordered the book from after hearing of david foster wallaces death. I cant recommend the purchase of the what at first appears to. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwedup family to come along in recent fiction, infinite jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it. Apr 02, 2011 fifteen years after infinite jest was first published, and three years after i interviewed author david foster wallace shortly before his suicide, i ve finally decided to finish his most.
Infinite jest david foster wallace somewhere in the notsodistant future, the screwedup residents of ennet house, a boston halfway house for recovering addicts, and students at the enfield. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwedup family to come along in. Infinite jest is both sad, depressed and funny and even 25 years after it was published in 1994 remains relevant to the modern age. I was in france at the time, and when i got back to the u. The novel infinite jest is the story of this addictive entertainment, and in particular how it affects a boston halfway house for recovering addicts and a nearby tennis academy, whose students have many budding addictions of their own. Why i cannot recommend the infinite jest audio book. As a college english major, ive read my fair share of great literature, and very few authors even approach wallaces ability.
I felt compelled throughout to read it aloud, such was the almost poetic quality of it. David foster wallaces infinite jest is an audiobook, minus. The david foster wallace reader audiobook by david foster. Although this might seem unlikely, it is clear that, on one level, the novel is about belief 63. The book teems with so much life and death, so much hilarity and pain, so much gusto in the face of despair that one cheers for the future of our literature. There are 28 unnumbered chapter breaks signified by a little circle, similar to 28 days in a lunar continue reading matt bucher. Jun 02, 2009 also worth reading although possibly less timeconsuming than infinite jest is a great essay from that master of the weird china mieville. Max sets out to chart wallaces tormented, anguished, and often triumphant battle to succeed as a novelist as he fights off depression and addiction to emerge with his masterpiece, infinite jest.
As the novel unfolds, various individuals, organizations. On sunday, i named infinite jest as a book readers can benefit from dipping into, even if they never read it straight through to the end. What its like to record the audiobook version of infinite. Infinite jest by david foster wallace by ted gioia the new canon a failed entertainment. Fifteen years after infinite jest was first published, and three years after i interviewed author david foster wallace shortly before his suicide, ive finally decided to finish his most. You start the book having no clue when it is happening and who the various characters are. The good news is that it is not a thousandpage paragraph or even a thousandpage story. In fact, its take on the very nature of entertainment itself. Set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and. Sep 10, 2016 its been a bit of a journey on this one.
But if you are seeking something other, then this book will not disappoint. In a manner both reminiscent and imitative of thomas pynchons gravitys rainbow 1973, wallace traces the sometimes connected fortunes of two dozen or so addicted and obsessed souls variously involved with. Apr 12, 2012 why i cannot recommend the infinite jest audio book infinite jest i guess this is a first for me and ill get straight to the point. These are the endnotes to david foster wallaces infinite jest, a gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america. The audiobooks subreddit is a community of audiobibliophiles sharing and looking for their next great listen. Get the entire infinite jest litchart as a printable pdf. Thousands of socially networked bibliophiles have pledged to tackle david foster wallaces infinite jest over three months this summer, endnotes and all, as part of the infinite. Jul 11, 2016 the final joke of infinite jest is that the book is intended to be almost as endless and mirthful as the addictions it depicts. To miss the desperate worshipping hidden beneath the strange.
In a sprawling, wild, superhyped magnum opus, david foster wallace fulfills the promise of his precocious novel the broom of the system. Events mentioned or described in infinite jest 1996 are listed below in chronological order based on textual evidence 1920s, st. Infinite jest iv, zero gravity tea ceremony, the medusa v. To miss the desperate worshipping hidden beneath the strange, erudite, bellydeep joy of infinite jest is to fall prey to its pleasure. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. Steven asin infinite jest is the perfect book for the kindle paperwhite. Its due to a minor character, old mikey, standing at the boston aa podium. The ease of access to satisfaction in the digital age, from smart phone to. Mar 08, 2016 the first chapter of infinite jest is one of the best examples ive read in recent years. Need help with chapter 1 in david foster wallaces infinite jest. This index is based on tim wares infinite jest index pregnant pause fact it is wares index except for a few ads ive added and i post it here.
Feb 04, 2016 if one of your reading resolutions is to finally finish infinite jest, david foster wallaces mammoth novel, im here to help. Im not the one they are specifically mentioning in the email even going so far as to show the persons audible username and the 1star. Signin to download and listen to this audiobook today. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, infinite jest bends every rule of fiction, features a huge cast and multilevel narrative, and questions essential elements of american culture our entertainments, our addictions, our relationships, our. Im trying to pursue reading infinite jest, i was curious though because there are 4 editions of it including the iii. Here hung those lips that i have kissed i know not how oft. If one of your reading resolutions is to finally finish infinite jest, david foster wallaces mammoth novel, im here to help. Though published in 1996, david foster wallaces infinite jest appears to be the defining novel of the twentyfirst century, both in the questions it raises and in the way it attempts to answer them. What is the significance of the color blue in infinite jest. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy. Infinite jest has been listed as one of the top 100 all time greatest novels of 19232006. In fact, its take on the very nature of entertainment itself perhaps foresaw the age of vanity and social media, as seen through the prisms of tinder, facebook, twitter and instagram. I feel that the biggest thing to be said about the color blue in the novel is that blue is associated with a fair amount of ambiguityambivalence.
Infinite jest ist ein 1996 veroffentlichter roman des usamerikanischen schriftstellers david foster wallace. I bought the audiobook but i also bought the kindle version to help with the notes because they are an integral part of the story. How extraordinary people become that way audiobook. Incandenza filmography interpretations and other infinite jest inspired works online. Critic stephen burn, in his book on infinite jest, argues convincingly that y. I began reading infinite jest by david foster wallace around october 2008. I didnt know what i was getting into with that, he says. The best place to do the audio is during taping and that usually requires expensive mikes and mixers, but costs have rea. Infinite jest by david foster wallace free download. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, infinite jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. The david foster wallace reader audiobook by david. Jun 29, 2009 thousands of socially networked bibliophiles have pledged to tackle david foster wallaces infinite jest over three months this summer, endnotes and all, as part of the infinite summerchallenge.
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