I said that I'd read Infinite Jest if/when a copy got donated to the thrift store, which one did today. An apparently unread paperback copy.
I can't remember--did someone (Michael?) recommend a reading guide or some such thing to go along with this book?
I can't remember--did someone (Michael?) recommend a reading guide or some such thing to go along with this book?
UPDATE: oh please
Aw jeez — all I had to see was “1,079” to know what this post was going to be about.
ReplyDeleteMy tips: Use two Post-its, one for the notes. Read all the notes, as they come up, including any note referenced in a note. Do not skip the notes. Be prepared to be in the dark for quite some time. The first big payoff comes about 200 pages in. Good luck! Or as autocorrect wants me to say, Good Lucy!
Thanks, Michael! That's helpful. I have lots of Post-its at work. I've always loved footnotes, so I look forward to reading these famous ones.
ReplyDeleteGood Lucy! And Good Nancy too!
P.S. I thought anyone who'd read this book would probably recognize the page count. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you did!
if you're not squeamish you can break/tear it into two 'volumes', the book itself and the notes part. if necessary use a bit of gaff to do some repairs. it makes it easier to handle and reading a footnote makes for a welcome break from handling the whole monster. :D
ReplyDeleteI'm old fashioned. I don't think that reading a book should be such hard work. And that writers shouldn't have to resort to gimmicks like footnotes to tell their story. But a promise is a promise, so good luck reading.
ReplyDeleteI promised myself that if a copy of In Cold Blood ever came back into my used book store here on the north shore of Long Island, that I wouldn't sell it for $1.00 until I made sure it wasn't a first edition. It was one of the first books I sold when I took over this used book store a year ago, and I didn't know enough about our inventory, and the lax management of my predecessor, to go into the shelves and check every title for value.
JOHANNES: Great idea~thanks!!! I'm going to read a bit before I do that, (so I can donate the book if I can't get far), and if I like it, I'm definitely cutting it in half!
ReplyDeleteThe only time I've done that is on a long-distance biking trip, when I ripped off and threw away chapters of "The Name of the Rose" as I read them--to lighten my load.
VIVIAN: LOL--right--"I have to have assistive devices to read this book?!?!?"
What really concerns me, though, is the weight of DFW's sadness--not sure I can bear it. Sometimes I've enjoyed his elaborate brain anyway, and sometimes his burden has just been too much for me, esp knowing how it turned out for him.
P.S. VIVIAN: I've had some close calls with valuable volumes at the thrift store too. At least you caught the copy of the Bell Jar!
ReplyDeleteLOL -- nearly all the copies of this book I've ever seen have been "apparently unread" like this one!
ReplyDeleteSTEVE: I hear it's a very popular volume to have on one's bookshelf... but to take it down and read it is something else.
ReplyDeleteI haven't started yet, so who knows if I'll ever get far enough to crack the spine and dog ear a few pages...
@Frex : I hear you. Yes. What makes the darkness bearable is that Infinite Jest is also at various times fall on the floor laughing funny. Keep us updated how you go with it?!
ReplyDeleteJOHANNES: Thanks, a friend of mine who loves DFW said the same thing: hold on for the humor.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely post about how IJ and I get along.