Infinite Jest

You know why I think that Infinite Jest is a brilliant book? Because it’s 1,079 pages and I didn’t skim it at all. Not a single word. I can’t read five pages of a Stephen King novel without skimming.

It’s not often that I comment on books here, my site of things vaguely related to my life. I read a fair bit, as much as my grad student career allows and demands in terms of I read lots of technical material; I tend to not talk about books near enough, on this site or in the real world of face-to-face, person interaction. I just finished reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and I must say it’s one of the best things I’ve read in a long time.

Infinite Jest (IJ) is a massive tome, sprawling to near 1,100 pages, though it never bores; oh no, IJ is enormously addictive, and this may be its true brilliance. Addiction is a major theme of IJ, and it seems that this novel is Wallace’s new piece of “Entertainment,” that we, as Americans at the turn of the millennium, are addicted to. Whether it be drugs, sex, tennis, lying, killing small animals, or revenge, we’re all addicted to something, at least everyone in IJ is addicted to something.

Wallace’s prose is gorgeous, loquacious, and expensive while always eminently readable. IJ contains high- and low-brow humor and words, and it’s bloody wonderful to see arcane and highly esoteric terms mixed with lowbrow slang. Wallace uses most techniques one would expect from a serious novel written in the last 50 years, i.e., changes of perspective, unreliable narration, relativity, and a non-chronological narrative to mention a few of its postmodern traits. It’s certainly a postmodern novel, but not an impossible to read postmodern novel, nor a dry, no-fun piece of serious literature. To me, this is Wallace’s true brilliance. He pushes the definition of postmodern forward, just a bit by authoring a book that competes for our attention in a world where a one minute long shot is too long for a Hollywood movie (no no, change that camera angle every 30 sec please).

Now as far as the story of IJ. Let me say this, plot has never mattered to me; not that IJ’s plot is boring, and it is certainly unique. Many have complained about the ending of IJ. Let me just say this: in almost 1,100 pages, Wallace brings us to a point where a Hollywood-esque would being, if he didn’t end the story just in the nick of time.

Overall, Infinite Jest is highly rated by this reader and blog author.