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surdiablo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
So DFW was undoubtedly a genius and an extremely talented writer, no argument there. This sprawling interconnected narrative takes a lot of chops to pull off and that's what impressed me the most, along with his realistic depiction of addiction and mental health crises. Various characters with their distinct voices develop throughout the scrambled timeline of the story. It explores several themes and concepts like what it means to be truly free, the advancement of technology, the influence of media in society, and so forth, which for the most part was well-executed. The way he switches between different POVs was impressive and occasionally jarring, alongside his footnotes within footnotes, which ranged from significant to superfluous. The chapters featuring Marathe and Steeply were among my favorite sections since they involved lots of philosophical musings, and the AFR plot in general was fantastic. The humor, often dark, got plenty of random chuckles from me at the most unexpected times. Several passages left me awestruck thinking to myself "Damn, this man can write!". Regardless of the cons I am about to list, I can see why this book is revered and there are moments of brilliance I simply can't deny the existence of.
But I'm afraid that's where my praises end. Infinite Jest, despite all its merits, is ultimately too bloated and self-indulgent for me to fully appreciate. A lot of people seem to mention how the experience felt rewarding to piece info together from footnotes and random tangents, but I found it to be a chore for the majority. ( I don't care much about drugs or tennis, so that was always gonna be difficult tbh, so your mileage may vary ). There were moments it worked well, the filmography list for example, but all the pharmaceutical descriptions and meandering did nothing to serve the overall narrative or pacing. ( No, I don't care if switching back and forth between footnotes emulates a tennis match! ). The difficulty felt purely artificial, things were often complicated just for the sake of it, and almost half of the novel is DFW just flexing himself, entire sections existing solely to showcase his intellectual prowess which I found pretentious. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with the occasional self-indulgent writing, but in this case, it became annoying after the first half. While being realistic, there's plenty of repetition regarding addiction which did not need to be hammered down as it was. I did enjoy the overall story, although it would have been preferable to get a more conclusive ending for other characters besides Hal and Gately. Many might disagree, but I concur with the sentiment that there's an amazing 300 to 500-page book in there somewhere. Ultimately, it was a journey with peaks of brilliance and valleys of frustration. I do not regret reading it, it just didn't blow me away like I thought it would. I'm not the biggest fan of post-modernism anyway so if the themes strike your fancy, certainly go ahead. The experience is certainly one of a kind, for better or worse.
P.S. It didn't bother me, but there's plenty of disturbing imagery as well if you are planning to read it but wasn't aware. Enough to make me add this at the end. 😄
Graphic: Physical abuse, Addiction, Mental illness, Drug abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Incest, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, and Racial slurs
alexandramillar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Sexual content, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Incest, Death, Drug use, and Alcohol
evetoi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
greenrequiem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Pedophilia, Violence, and Ableism
lichtwelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Addiction, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Sexual violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Torture
oliverd65f5's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction
metweedle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
monahed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, and Drug abuse
kclark's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I, however, loved it. A lot of the prose is surprisingly accessible, and at times incredibly engrossing to read. The bizarre world that the characters inhabit is like a bizarre shadow universe of our own where just enough feels similar or is eerily reminiscent of our own world while at other times being a bizarrely funny caricature of life as we know it.
I enjoyed moving through the various threads of characters and plotlines in the book, and how they all came together to give different viewpoints of motifs like addiction, entertainment, and a sense of purpose in life. There were certainly times when the plot seemed to meander, and swathes I felt I could have done without, but ultimately they were not long enough for me to want to put it down. I also enjoyed the ambiguity of the plot, and I had a lot of "fun" while I was reading it and afterwards reading blogs and reddit posts to parse through some of the ambiguity. So I guess if you are someone who likes really clear, cut-and-dry plot clarity, I can see why you would not have a good time reading this book.
The one criticism that I can totally agree with is the sometimes bro-iness of the prose thoughtout the book. It is clearly a product of its time, i.e. the '90s. While, yes, a lot of the cruder language of the book comes through the perspectives of characters who are not meant to be totally likeable, Wallace does not seem completely interested in interrogating that line of thought, or if a moral judgment is made it is along the lines of "It's Gately's way of seeing things, not mine," which is hard to take at face value in a book where the whole time it seems to be telling you "THIS IS A BOOK. THIS IS FICTION." Also that interjection in fake-AAVE is so deeply cringey. I know it is the oldest part of the book, and all that, but it is so clearly not actual AAVE and just how a white guy thinks AAVE sounds that it feels like it could have come from a pre-internet era.
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
emmareadseverything's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Hell, the footnotes alone make it worth the read.
If you want a slow-paced epic to make yourself seem cooler than you really are, pick up this book. It worked for me, and I actually liked it.
Graphic: Drug abuse and Addiction