jacksontibet 's review for:

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

4.0

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Well, I'm done. Ok, so some slightly stream-of-conscious thoughts and ramblings: This book is much longer than it's 1,079 pages make it out to be with the smaller than average font and spacing; the first five hundred pages are a bit of a slog with really interesting cool parts mixed in with really boring unnecessary parts; the ending and the way it winds down (especially the last 80 or so pages) are thoroughly disappointing and really let the novel fall by the wayside when it was finally ramping up and telling a good story; DFW is a genius who needs an editor for his novels, or at least a better editor. Seriously, I don't know how great this book would have been with some choice editing. The length isn't really an issue, I don't mind long books at all, but Jesus there's no excuse for some of the stuff that fills these pages and simply detracts from what could have been one of the greatest American novels of all time. I love hearing DFW give interviews and watching stuff like his chat with Charlie Rose because he comes across so clear and fluid, massively intelligent but on topic. This feels like he spent three years throwing every idea he had into a giant blender and trying to churn out a single story. It's backwards to the point where some major character development occurs when the book is 95% done and the character's have no chance to advance beyond us finally knowing who they are, a little bit. I could go on, but the most frustrating thing as a reader who's invested some major time into this thing is that NOTHING IS GIVEN AN ENDING. Infinite Jest? I think so.