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I would like your chin please, it’s perfect.

Hmm. Casual sexism. That's nice.

They probably just don't like the theme of the book that much.

I am glad I did not read this book until I was almost 67. I cannot imagine it having any impact on my high school brain. What an incredible book.

Try THE SOUL GENE Any one of us could have been any other one of us.

Infinite Jest is one of my top ten books and I have read a lot in my 70ish years. Yes, right up there with Dickens because it lives on in memory. By the way, I am female.

Interesting how much America has changed since this book. Democrats are now the pro-war Wall Street party, and Minnesota is no longer the state it was then it’s now a mini Middle East! It was only written what 15 years ago?

20 more, Cass 😎

Read "Valis" by Philip K Dick.

I love Infinite Jest. I don't talk about it incessantly, but I love it. I think it's brilliant.

David Foster Wallace paints the bleakest picture of the world we exist in. I found it unsettling, but honest and funny, without any filters.

It was a random find at the Goodwill about a month or so ago. Forasmuch as I've liked to read novels during my 58 years in this realm, I had only HEARD of Pynchon, and after a cursory flipping through, and reading the blurbs about it on the back cover, decided to buy it (the HarperPerennial reprint). It took me a while to get through it, after reading 3/4 of it and putting it aside for a week or two, and then starting afresh... it was a tough one.. and I've read stuff like the Beckett trilogy, the KJV bible.. but for some reason I got lost in the thread of it, and the many characters. The Spark notes were of help.. Your description wrt the depiction of paranoia is spot-on.. and yes, I know I will reread it someday, if possible.

I can relate I attended very small liberal arts college in Virginia for two years, in the eighties.

Infinite Book

i can't count how many times I've read this book. If you're like me and find it that enjoyable, you might try Isabelle Allende's The House of the Spirits or Louis de Bernieres' Latin Trilogy - The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, Senor Vevo and the Coca Lord, and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. Allende has taken Solitude's blueprint and used it to write her own family's history for a few generation with all the superstition left in as matter of fact facts. De Bernieres tells three more stories that seem to take place in the same enchanted region where Macondo had crumbled. De Bernieres even called himself a parasite for so closely following Solitude's influence. Though none of the books are as deep and powerful as Solitude, they all contain the same wry absurdity and all are enjoyable and more accessible. In fact, if you find Solitude difficult, any or all of these other four books might serve as a lead in leaving One Hundred Years of Solitude as a crowning glory. I wish I had done it that way.

WASTE

Nice review!

ROGER MEXICO LIVES!!!

Good review.

this video helped me IMMENSELY in understanding the text. thank you thank you thank you I hope you're out there teaching right now!

People who love infinite jest also think God-Emperor of Dune is better than Dune.

great review

i spend all my life reading authors that died hundreds of years ago, i was under the impression that everything that is new su$# , e read a lot , once i thought i would be my job , that said out of nowhere i started to read some modern American writhers , DFW was the first , and i was , omg , wtf , that is great . So i as an addict personality do i gorge in it , not just David but , the fast food David - bret easton ellis, the perv David - chuck palahniuk. Im calling then that way because to me a Brazilian , they have a similar flavour , like some kind of strange exotic non local Doritos that i never tasted here or something, ofc David is a 100 bucks steak with that Doritos flavour sprinkled on top . Today i can say i read most of DFW books , most of BEE books , most of CP books , did i finish infinite jests , no . Why? Because the broom of the system is kinda my favorite book , and wen i gave up infinite jest about 300 pages deep , to me the other smaller books were similar but i got to finish then . Now i have a problem , i want to finish dune (the series) , i want to get into three body problem , i want to finish infinite jest , so much to read, so little time. Maybe one day. I just don't understand why they say the book is hard... i didn't find it hard at all, i find it hilarious , i find it good , i find it long , im old , the letters are so small , sure one can say its a accomplish to finish it , so maybe thats why so many people get annoying wen they do. we like to celebrate our achievements ...

I didnt love this book. I liked reading it but the story is just not good.

Ryan i dont know who you are big dawg but ive watched so many of your videos at this point i think of you as like, a cousin. Thanks for keeping me company

“Infinite Jest” is the “Ulysses” of our day.

My life sounds exactly like this book in terms of its depth and uniqueness. Probably more interesting connections in my story though, and it's real. Just need to write it all out, and I should have a best selling book then.

I've never read it and not sure I ever will. I did, however, watch a video this morning from a guy providing 10 books that he felt people didn't need to read and Infinite Jest was one of them. He liked it and has read it more than once but he also said it wasn't a necessary work...probably knowing many people would find it too difficult.

Ill never forget that last race. So this is how it happens..

I read it over 2 years. At some point I was doing it so as not to be beaten. In retrospect it was torture almost the entire time.

I own 4 copies of Ulysses and 3 copies of Finnegan's Wake... A reading copy of both, and then some very rare and collectable versions from various sources.

dude explained my life at the beginning

Border line erotic novel?? As erotic as Crime and Punishment.

Update??

It's interesting, I own over 20 copies of Ulysses.

Makes sense to me! I have a couple of books that are now held together, literally, with string to hold them together. A book that you have to open so often that it falls apart is a special memory.

30% in, the book is just unreadable… all reviewers are/seem to be smart that they understand all of this… this is a kind of book that makes me wanna give up reading 😔

What's hilarious is that this just got recommended to me lol

This book had such mystic when I was running in college. It was so hard to find and one copy was truly passed around the team. When I finally got to own a copy, I was so excited. I just absolutely love Parker's writing style. So eloquent and high brow.

Are u ever gonna do another update?

wouldn't touch it with a stick

It sucks. People pretend to like it because big brain.

Retired English teacher running a book club at Oasis. I am going to use your review of White Noise to whet members appetites for this book. Great review, in fact great postmodern review. I have been struggling to find a way to stir up interest for this book and your video is the answer. Thank you, Ryan. I love this book: so much going on and he predicted the Toxic Event that happened last year in Ohio? The train derailment with the toxic chemicals. I am hooked on your channel. Cathleen

Sir, I have been in education for 50 years. If you applied for a teaching position I would hire you in the first minute. That’s all I need to see your knowledge, skills and humor. So glad I found your reviews today. Looking forward to watching the rest. Catty on.

Oi, I feel like I had some of my time wasted here. And I think you should go and investigate and reflect more on what EXACTLY the word "irony" means. ...and while you're at it, cynical irony.

I have 1- chapters left as of this comment. So glad I am reading it.

I think DFW would get a big (ironic?) laugh that the guy from "How I Met Your Mother" portrayed him in a move alongside a guy that looks like Mark Zuckerberg.

This is not accurate. You aren’t enthusiastic.

its about the author too -- the bandana'd, depressed, druggy writer who you can see suicide coming from miles away is kind of annoying. its sad to say, but obvious.

"Ryan turns a page" some segments of that book go faster than others, haha. That chapter about metafiction is one of my favorite things he wrote...but it's all so good, haha, so who's to say?