Cum să citești Infinite Jest de David Foster Wallace

42 thoughts on “Cum să citești Infinite Jest de David Foster Wallace”

1. I don't find it anywhere near as difficult as say Ulysses, or Gravity's Rainbow, or even Genji that we just read.

2. Read IJ in college and aftwr finishing it, realized everything I was writing was a poor imitation of DFW's style. The older I get, the more profound effect I realize this book and his essays has had on my own writing and life philosophy.

   This video reminds me just how funny the book is.

3. The secret, I discovered, is to slow down and be patient. Also, bookmark the Infinite Jest Wiki. I found it very helpful.

4. I've been addicted to reading classic literature for two years, and I wonder when the harm of it and in what form shows.

5. Haven't watched this yet but is there spoilers for the book in the video?

6. Ben, this is great, thank you for this video – made me want to try it!
   Your comments on Infinite Jest somehow reminded me of Byung-Chul Han's The Burnout Society, have you read it? If you did, what are your thoughts? If not, I think you will enjoy it!

7. Thank you for this. I am an active member of the Hardcore Literature Book Club and I am planning to take this journey with you and fellow readers. Can you address-now or sometime during the book discussion-Bloom's issues, concerns, sentiments about IJ and DFW? From previous videos, I know you respect Bloom and his literary criticisms; I would really appreciate your take.

8. AdSense has been really quiet since this video dropped. 😄

   I bought IJ years ago when the german translation came out but never finished it.
   They sold it including two book marks which was quite nice. 🙂
   I just checked my copy and one bookmark is placed at page 157 and the other at footnote 45. 🙃

9. DFW was truly ahead of his time. One of the tortured artists of our generation. Even in his videos, you can see a sort of pain and grappling behind his words

10. Been reading this about five to ten pages at a time for two years. It’s a journey.

11. Good stuff. Thank you. Personally I've distrusted the paradigms of addictology. When everything is addictive, nothing is. That's my only quibble.

12. Read it in rehab. Great stuff. 2 years sober, not even an issue anymore

13. Please, can you tell us more about the poetry collection of the poet John Keats?

14. I laughed out loud reading parts of Infinite Jest. I love it.

15. I wonder if a version of Infinite Jest will ever be released with ALL the endnotes DFW wrote.

16. Saw the title of the video but didnt get the chance to watch it till now but when I passed by a bookshop and bought it immediately. All your fault. 😂

17. Somebody may well have already mentioned this – use kindle to allow a quick back and forth between text and end notes. Hard to do marginalia but …

18. I appreciate you making this very helpful video. Picking this book up this week. Thank you!

19. Maybe, Wallace wrote Infinite Jest the way he did, so it would HAVE to be reread. And, maybe, for some, it will be like the film and become an obsession that can't be put down.
    I approached IJ as I did Middlemarch, like it was serialized. I decided to read 3 pages per day, beginning January 19th and projected a completion date of January 11, 2025. I'm way ahead on page 910, with 1 1/2 pages of endnotes. I love this book. I plan on beginning a reread as soon as I complete it. Wonderful video. Thanks

20. If there is one book that was probably made for the Kindle, Infinite Jest is it. That may not be a popular opinion. I originally bought the paperback when it came out and I was flipping back and forth so much that I bought another copy and sliced it with an exacto knife to have the endnotes to read separately. However, I never finished it. Having it on a Kindle was how I finally read it all because I could touch a button and go to the end note and read and go back. Also, I didn't have to carry a doorstop with me everywhere. So I would recommend reading Infinite Jest on a Kindle as the best way to anyone who asked me.

21. Good day Mr. McEvoy, I have been following you for quite some time. I have a long list of books to read based on your Channel. I am currently reading Proust, In Search of Lost Time, along with Austen's, Pride and Prejudice. Infinite Jest has caught my attention. I am interested in reading Infinite Jest someday. I consider myself fortunate to watch your Channel. Its almost as getting a Oxford Literature education without attending Oxford. I hope you will continue to educate me in the future. You are infinitely appreciated.

22. My favorite book! Thank you Benjamin!

23. I wanted to read one of David 's books after he died, but I was preoccupied with other things. Now, I feel like I can take on his work 😊

24. I love your channel. And you are so handsome. 😍

25. Benjamin, you have done a great service with this video. 🎉

26. In my world, you doing a video on Infinite Jest is a big deal. Nobody in my life around me cares, but I am comforted by the thousands here with me. Kertwang, my friends.

27. anytime i need help getting back into reading i know i could always come back to your channel. thank you for all that you do

28. Benjamin love your videos! 2 quick questions, one is have you read Canterbury Tales in original Middle English, I think I’m going to try it and see if I pick up the language after 20-30 pages. Secondly would you read a book with someone else’s marginalia, I returned a used book I bought when I realized all the notes and underlining as I want to get my own experience. Thanks and Cheers from Philadelphia USA!

29. A few days ago I watched The end of the tour. The film deeply moved me and enticed me to watch Wallace’s interviews. Those showed me a very conscientious, sensitive and all too human person. It was almost like a mask that covers most of us was not there. He was expressing himself in his fullest. Coincidentally this came out a day after and now I’m really considering reading this and maybe even purchasing the audiobook version. But the only problem I have is maybe I’m not too mature too read it. I’m only turning 18 and I’ve previously read Blood Meridian of which a lot of it flew over my head. Any recommendations?

30. Well, you did the impossible – this video convinced me to give post-modernism another try. I'm almost 200 pages in and it's going well so far!

31. I just wanted to express my deep appreciation, Benjamin, for your video on “Infinite Jest.” It’s rare for me to commit to watching such a long video about that very novel, but your insightful analysis and engaging presentation made it absolutely worth it. Your video stands out as one of the few (on that novel) that managed to capture my attention for such an extended period. I thought: Benjamin sheds light on this complex novel – I am bound to watch it.

32. I enjoy McEvoy's How to read videos. However, with Infinite Jest I have suffered the proverbial over dose in this heap of meaningless details.

33. I first read Infinite Jest when I was suffering from a horrific mental breakdown. I was an avid reader but I had never read anything postmodern and for some reason when my mind was rebelling against me and I was going through some of the darkest days of my life I decided to pick this book up and read it. I didn't read any guides, I didn't refer to any internet articles – I just read it all the way through. As I read it I was medicated and I healed – but when I think about it – this was the last challenging book I read for over a decade. I loved it but I was unable to attempt anything close to this ambitious again. My medication made it impossible for me to focus for a prolonged period of time and my relationship with reading felt brittle, a little like walking on thin ice.
    I am off meds now, reading again ( East of Eden) and spending my free time listening to your videos on Youtube. It is an absolutely wonderful treat to be able to read again and I am hoping to pick up Infinite Jest once more in the future.
    I would like to thank you and your videos for inspiring me to keep reading – it is a true balm for a troubled mind. Cheers!

34. I read Infinite Jest, The Pale King and A David Foster Wallace Reader (he did not care much for Harold Bloom, ha).😂

35. Thanks for this wonderful introduction. Infinite Jest was my introduction to Wallace and I found it baffling, hilarious, moving, profound, frustrating, and heartbreaking. I also realize I had an incomplete reading of it, as I listened to it in audiobook format and didn't realized that I missed all of the endnotes which were included as a separate PDF. I'm ready for a second reading now on paper. My biggest takeaway was that the structure mimicked the feeling of being addicted and not being able to reach that ultimate high: so many scenes build to a crescendo of maximum tension (I'm thinking of the street fight outside of the halfway house) but they never give you the resolution or release of dopamine that your body is crying out for. It is like Wallace is training you to be comfortable living without closure, which is something we only get in stories (whether literature, TV or movies) and rarely in real life.

36. Benjamin have you red kafka on the shore.

37. This is an amazing summary – makes this book very approachable. Thank you!

38. I used pages out of my copy to start the fire every day last winter and I’ve still 3/4 of the book to get through.

39. The amount of work and effort you put into this video is stupendous! I finished reading Infinite Jest back in March (it took me just over 3 months to read) and watching this and reviewing the content was such a treat. You nailed the aspects of the novel without being pedantic and boring.

    Infinite Jest was one of the coolest and most unique reading experiences I've ever had in my life. I also read it the year I decided to get sober (I have a history of on and off meeting attendance so related a ton to all of the AA and NA material and humour). This book helped me stay clean during the early months of my recovery. I'll be one year sober in just under three weeks!

    "It occurred to him to him that he would disappear into a hole in a girder inside him that supported something else inside him” is the most accurate description of weed addiction I've ever read. IJ had me legit laughing out loud multiple times throughout the narrative, it took my head for a spin, it made me feel disturbed, and sad and even at times angry with its subject matter. It's hard to wrap into a few words what reading this behemoth and master piece is truly like.

    Being an obsessive type person with an "addict" brain, I was the type to consume this thing through and through, looking words and concepts up, re-reading sections, flipping back and forth between the front and End-notes, it was a true self-absorption experience. Another amazing line was here “You can’t induce a moral sensibility the same way you’d train a rat. The kid has to learn by his own experience how to learn to balance the short- and long-term pursuit of what he wants" p. 429

    And just for fun this line had me cracking up "she eventually started telling Gately she couldn’t come close to coming unless he burned her with a cigarette, which marked the first time Gately seriously tried to quit smoking.” p.891.

    the NA chapter where Hal visits the remote NA meeting is the funniest things I've ever read in any context, I was legit near howling at aspects of that chapter, it was so cleverly and funnily written. Bravo on this video! Thank you for this!

40. By far the best exploration of IJ on this platform. Outstanding work Ben.

41. I surrendered completely to this book and loved every page.

42. Many thanks for this richly rewarding analysis of Infinite Jest, one of my favourite books. I've read it a couple of times, including all the endnotes, but I haven't done the work of piecing all the parts together. Mostly, I experienced the novel as a rollicking and rough ride over a vast human landscape. In light of your insights, I fear I've twisted my reading into more entertainment than edification, although the shades of sorrow, madcap extremism, heartbreak etc. inevitably seep into the experience of cruising the IJ mountains, valleys, alleys and plains. I'll reread and re-listen to you.

Comments are closed.