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lizburny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Ableism, Bullying, Grief, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Addiction, Animal death, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Cursing, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Medical trauma
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
svspirium's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Incest, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Drug abuse, Violence, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
rue_knee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Ableism, Abortion, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence
viksquires's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence
adriennne's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Vomit, Violence, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Body shaming and Transphobia
Minor: Homophobia and Incest