Ian "Marvin" Graye's Reviews > Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest
by
by
Ian "Marvin" Graye's review
bookshelves: exert-yourself, read-2012, reviews-5-stars, reviews, dfw
Feb 23, 2011
bookshelves: exert-yourself, read-2012, reviews-5-stars, reviews, dfw
Read 3 times. Last read April 2, 2012 to April 15, 2012.
100 Words in Search of Precision
In the spirit of "Star Trek”, DFW boldly wanders through the darkness of the modern world, holding a candle, recording everything he witnesses in minute, almost helmet-cam detail.
He isn’t just preoccupied by or satisfied with the absurdity and comic potential of the world.
He wants to scrutinise it, diagnose it and cure it.
Out of the minutiae comes meaning and illumination.
It’s up to the reader to sift through the minutiae, to discard the mullock and the fool’s gold, and to find the gold that DFW has placed there for us to find.
His works are incandescent, deeply philosophical and deeply socio-political.
REVIEW:
Because, like the cast of "Ben Hur", my Review exceeds the permitted number of characters, you can find it in My Writings here:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...
Please visit if you're interested in reading some views about the political philosophy of the novel.
DJ IAN'S ONE STAR REVIEW:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
INFINITE HAIKU:
(Orin's Having) Too Much Fun
Horizontal eight.
Get the feeling you've been had?
What infinite jest!
[Sponsored by the Sex Pistols last gig, Winterland, January 14th, 1978]
The Sound of Young Boston
I can't see you, and
It's getting dark in my room.
God's not in the house.
[Apologies to Jonathan Richman and Paul Bryant]
The Secret's in the Service
Onward jesting servers,
Raise your ball and racquet more,
Don’t lob it to the fore.
Where Be Your Aces Now?
A lass for Yorick!
His backhand is as fancy
As his win/loss ratio.
P.G.O.A.T.
What became of the
Prettiest Girl of All Time?
Flawless 'neath her veil.
The Ghost of Jean-Paul Sartre Visits Boston AA
You know he is dead...
God as you understand him.
Can I bum a smoke?
Year of the Next Evolution in Vibrant Senior Living
I imagine us
Sharing some infinite jest,
Dignified and old.
[Apologies to Jonathan Richman and North Hill]
INFINITE BREAST:
----1----
---------
((((0))))
INFINITE TREKS:
Language, mind, time,
Space and fate:
The final frontier.
These are the voyages of the cartridge
"Entertainment".
Its five-year mission:
To explore strange new worlds,
To seek out new life in old civilizations,
To boldly show what
No man has been shown before.
WHAT A RACQUET, WHAT A F**KEN' RACQUET!
("Talking like a Moron, Walking like a Spiv"):
[Apologies to John Wade and The Libertines]
Oh, come all Good Readers tasteful,
Even if his words are wasteful,
It's not a crime to ignore him
Nor a folly to adore him.
Just because the author's famous
Doesn't mean we need disclaimers.
There's no need to involve the law
Nor your opinion to withdraw.
Just as long as you buy the book
From the website of Amazon.
READING NOTES:
My Reading Notes start here:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...
They are not intended to be comprehensive.
I used them to track themes that I was interested in.
INFINITE JEST VANITY PLATES:
Just for fun, I compiled a list of maxims and catchphrases used in the novel:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...
SOUNDTRACK:
Here are some songs I was thinking of:
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Astral Plane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVjmty...
The Modern Lovers - She Cracked [1972 demo]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4p3l...
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgRYnc...
The Modern Lovers - Girlfriend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veNzHk...
Nick Lowe / Rockpile - Cracking Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0moGR...
The Soft Boys - My Mind Is Connected to Your Dreams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5bEkI...
Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson - Hang On To Your Emotions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTAVBN...
Lou Reed - Hang On To Your Emotions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm934f...
Lou Reed - Who Am I (Tripitena's Song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYLj6G...
Lou Reed - Who Am I (Tripitena's Song) and "Perfect Day" (Live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iJa_n...
In the spirit of "Star Trek”, DFW boldly wanders through the darkness of the modern world, holding a candle, recording everything he witnesses in minute, almost helmet-cam detail.
He isn’t just preoccupied by or satisfied with the absurdity and comic potential of the world.
He wants to scrutinise it, diagnose it and cure it.
Out of the minutiae comes meaning and illumination.
It’s up to the reader to sift through the minutiae, to discard the mullock and the fool’s gold, and to find the gold that DFW has placed there for us to find.
His works are incandescent, deeply philosophical and deeply socio-political.
REVIEW:
Because, like the cast of "Ben Hur", my Review exceeds the permitted number of characters, you can find it in My Writings here:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...
Please visit if you're interested in reading some views about the political philosophy of the novel.
DJ IAN'S ONE STAR REVIEW:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
INFINITE HAIKU:
(Orin's Having) Too Much Fun
Horizontal eight.
Get the feeling you've been had?
What infinite jest!
[Sponsored by the Sex Pistols last gig, Winterland, January 14th, 1978]
The Sound of Young Boston
I can't see you, and
It's getting dark in my room.
God's not in the house.
[Apologies to Jonathan Richman and Paul Bryant]
The Secret's in the Service
Onward jesting servers,
Raise your ball and racquet more,
Don’t lob it to the fore.
Where Be Your Aces Now?
A lass for Yorick!
His backhand is as fancy
As his win/loss ratio.
P.G.O.A.T.
What became of the
Prettiest Girl of All Time?
Flawless 'neath her veil.
The Ghost of Jean-Paul Sartre Visits Boston AA
You know he is dead...
God as you understand him.
Can I bum a smoke?
Year of the Next Evolution in Vibrant Senior Living
I imagine us
Sharing some infinite jest,
Dignified and old.
[Apologies to Jonathan Richman and North Hill]
INFINITE BREAST:
----1----
---------
((((0))))
INFINITE TREKS:
Language, mind, time,
Space and fate:
The final frontier.
These are the voyages of the cartridge
"Entertainment".
Its five-year mission:
To explore strange new worlds,
To seek out new life in old civilizations,
To boldly show what
No man has been shown before.
WHAT A RACQUET, WHAT A F**KEN' RACQUET!
("Talking like a Moron, Walking like a Spiv"):
[Apologies to John Wade and The Libertines]
Oh, come all Good Readers tasteful,
Even if his words are wasteful,
It's not a crime to ignore him
Nor a folly to adore him.
Just because the author's famous
Doesn't mean we need disclaimers.
There's no need to involve the law
Nor your opinion to withdraw.
Just as long as you buy the book
From the website of Amazon.
READING NOTES:
My Reading Notes start here:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...
They are not intended to be comprehensive.
I used them to track themes that I was interested in.
INFINITE JEST VANITY PLATES:
Just for fun, I compiled a list of maxims and catchphrases used in the novel:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...
SOUNDTRACK:
Here are some songs I was thinking of:
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Astral Plane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVjmty...
The Modern Lovers - She Cracked [1972 demo]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4p3l...
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgRYnc...
The Modern Lovers - Girlfriend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veNzHk...
Nick Lowe / Rockpile - Cracking Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0moGR...
The Soft Boys - My Mind Is Connected to Your Dreams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5bEkI...
Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson - Hang On To Your Emotions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTAVBN...
Lou Reed - Hang On To Your Emotions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm934f...
Lou Reed - Who Am I (Tripitena's Song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYLj6G...
Lou Reed - Who Am I (Tripitena's Song) and "Perfect Day" (Live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iJa_n...
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Infinite Jest.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Finished Reading
(Hardcover Edition)
February 23, 2011
– Shelved
October 25, 2011
– Shelved as:
exert-yourself
April 2, 2012
–
Started Reading
April 8, 2012
–
39.61%
"This is like heroin to me. "Infinite Jest" [the novel] is The Entertainment. Will I ever get out of it? It's like my first experience of "Bladerunner" or "The Matrix"."
page
431
April 9, 2012
–
55.15%
"Well, Easter is over, and I have 400 pages to go. It was a good way to crash through any road-bumps and slow sections, get a feel for it and then really get into it. Still, what is left is a good-sized 400 page novel. I hope I can keep up the pace."
page
600
April 15, 2012
–
Finished Reading
April 22, 2012
– Shelved as:
read-2012
April 22, 2012
– Shelved as:
reviews-5-stars
May 8, 2012
– Shelved as:
reviews
October 25, 2012
– Shelved as:
dfw
February 16, 2013
– Shelved
(Other Paperback Edition)
February 16, 2013
– Shelved as:
reviews-1-star
(Other Paperback Edition)
February 16, 2013
– Shelved as:
read-2013
(Other Paperback Edition)
February 16, 2013
– Shelved as:
reviews
(Other Paperback Edition)
February 17, 2013
–
Started Reading
(Other Paperback Edition)
February 17, 2013
–
Finished Reading
(Other Paperback Edition)
November 28, 2013
– Shelved as:
dfw
(Other Paperback Edition)
April 16, 2024
– Shelved
(Hardcover Edition)
April 16, 2024
– Shelved as:
dfw
(Hardcover Edition)
April 16, 2024
– Shelved as:
reviews-5-stars
(Hardcover Edition)
April 16, 2024
– Shelved as:
reviews
(Hardcover Edition)
Comments Showing 1-40 of 40 (40 new)
date
newest »
message 1:
by
[deleted user]
(new)
02 avr. 2012 12:10
So happy to see this.
reply
|
flag
Wait till the Kate Gompert scene around page 70. That's when I knew I was in for something special.
With a green screen on the other side, your imagination would be the only limit to what you saw.
She told me about a friend of hers who reads really large books when she travels around.
Except she likes to travel light, so when she read "Infinite Jest" on a European holiday, she bought a tatty old second hand paperback copy. (No, I've never seen one either.)
She then tore it into six segments down the spine.
She would leave all but one segment in her luggage and just carry around one segment at a time.
When she finished that, she would just throw it away.
I suppose publishers do this with any novels they can't remainder.
Maybe the new books we buy are made out of recycled pulp fiction?
Ha ha, it was either that or mention Nottingham.
Good to hear. Enjoy that final urine soaked scene.
I can't imagine being that far…maybe by the Summer if I am lucky. What a delight.
Sorry, I always leave the star rating until I roll over and have a smoke.
Or, should I read the book first?
never been interested somehow: I think it was the 'everyone does it', 'it's the macho thing to do' mentality that dominated t..."
Deciding not to get a drivers liscence was my first political decision, and a number of my friends also have turned their backs on car culture.Michael you are not so odd or alone....
But I find Ians's metaphor helpful,and I will keep it in mind when the time comes for me to tackle IJ, I will regard as a joyride :-)
Enemies, I've had a few. But then again, too few to mention.
Thanks, Moira. I did indeed.
Thanks, Cathleen, the great thing is that, apart from the package it comes in, the joy of language doesn't cost anything.
Thanks, Cathleen, the great thing is that, apart from the package it comes in, the joy of language doesn't cost anything."
And that makes it even more precious and wondrous :)
The Ghost of Jean-Paul Sartre Visits Boston AA
You know he is dead...
God as you understand him.
Can I bum a smoke?
I reply, in Paul Westerberg's words:
Jesus rides beside me--
He never has any smokes...
I reply, in Paul Westerberg's words"
Sorry I missed this comment, Tracy. Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm. I'll swap you one Wilco for a Replacement.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the book too.
Surely you're jesting, sir!
All I need now is a bottle of whisky and a free weekend, so I can hop over to you indepth notes and haikus and enjoy the novel all over again. (I tried to do it tonight, but there's not a drink available within 300 miles, and tomorrow morning I have to go to work)
Thanks for taking the time to write it all down for us.
Thanks, Algernon. My review is in My Writings. You might need a bottle in front of you or a frontal lobotomy when you read it. Your review is amazing!
Ian wrote; "I don’t want to denigrate novels that are preoccupied with how characters feel."
Why? How do you feel about that?
"Isn't this when someone brings in the violas?" I hate that kind of crap.
Why? How do you feel about that?
"Isn't this when someone brings in the violas?" I hate that kind of crap.