Comentarii la: Cum să citești Infinite Jest de David Foster Wallace

De: @stefashaler8340

@stefashaler8340 — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 19:33:23 +0000

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.

De: @marnasorensen988

@marnasorensen988 — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 17:24:30 +0000

I surrendered completely to this book and loved every page.

De: @voza-mj8hv

@voza-mj8hv — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 12:57:34 +0000

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

De: @ThaKid14

@ThaKid14 — Sat, 13 Jul 2024 04:28:08 +0000

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!

De: @t3br00k35

@t3br00k35 — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 21:51:15 +0000

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.

De: @darrengagliardi1540

@darrengagliardi1540 — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 19:37:01 +0000

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

De: @pcyorock

@pcyorock — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 02:19:26 +0000

Benjamin have you red kafka on the shore.

De: @CrypticMusic

@CrypticMusic — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 00:44:36 +0000

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.

De: @susprime7018

@susprime7018 — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 18:20:18 +0000

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

De: @pranavroh

@pranavroh — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 15:25:26 +0000

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!