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David Foster Wallace RIP
- Thread starter Melmoth
- Start date
empty mirror
remember the jackalope
wow.
for future readers of infinite jest: as soon as you finish, read chapter one again.
wow.
for future readers of infinite jest: as soon as you finish, read chapter one again.
wow.
empty mirror
remember the jackalope
the DFW post-mortem continues (from the NY Times)
it is strange to grieve DFW having only read his work after his death
his suicide was my introduction to the man and now i am working backwards to learn about who he was in life
it is strange to grieve DFW having only read his work after his death
his suicide was my introduction to the man and now i am working backwards to learn about who he was in life
on David Foster Wallace
' consider ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/magazine/14wwln-Wallace-t.html
' consider ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/magazine/14wwln-Wallace-t.html
empty mirror
remember the jackalope
Can someone explain to me what this means?
“Let Φ (a physical possibility structure) be a set of distinct but intersecting paths ji–jn, each of which is a set of functions, L’s, on ordered pairs {t, w} ({time, world situation}), such that for any Ln, Lm in some ji, Ln R Lm, where R is a primitive accessibility relation corresponding to physical possibility understood in terms of diachronic physical compatibility.”
<does whooshing gesture of a plane flying over his head>
I'm about 1/3 of the way through IJ at the moment, finding it absolutely brilliant so far. i can't stop laughing to myself on the tube.
Thanks for this. just got around to listening to it. He was just how i kind of imagined him to be, very intelligent and articulate but also very humble and unassuming. i liked what he was saying about having a high estimation of the reader, it definitely comes through in infinite jest - there's a real humane quality to his writing. i'm halfway through IJ now (reading it pretty slowly, on trains and buses) but i'm enjoying it so much i'm dreading finishing it. The eschaton part and mario's puppet film are massive highlights so far.
IdleRich
IdleRich
I keep meaning to get around to DFW (especially Infinite Jest) and expect great things. However, the other day someone lent my girlfriend a book of essays he had written (something about a lobster I think the title was) and she told me about how bad the first one she had read was and how its arguments made no sense at all. I was surprised to say the least but when she read a few extracts I had to agree; it was an awful mess of conclusions that didn't follow from the premises, name-dropping and sophistry that, if submitted by an undergrad, she would have covered in red pen and crossings out - and ultimately handed a fail. Seems completely bizarre to me that someone with a background in rigorous thought could possibly believe that this stuff was worthwhile and could have the nerve to foist it on other people as a serious essay. I wondered if it was some kind of joke to be honest. What am I missing?
is that "consider the lobster"? i can't really comment as infinite jest is the first thing of his i've read, and i haven't even finished that yet, so one of the other persons of this thread will no doubt be able to respond to this better than i can. i hope you're wrong though!
Infinite Jest
This is definitely worth a listen... Be interested what others thought. An hour of discussion from Slate Book Club.
http://www.slate.com/id/2214324/
This is definitely worth a listen... Be interested what others thought. An hour of discussion from Slate Book Club.
http://www.slate.com/id/2214324/
I've only read the two collections of "essays" (i.e. magazine reprints) and I didn't find what he wrote illogical, in the sense of leaping to conclusions, in more than a couple of places. You and yr girlfriend may well just be a lot smarter than me, though.
The first article in Consider the Lobster is a Premiere magazine article about attending the Adult Video Awards. I don't remember many arguments laid out in that one, beyond that the porn industry is not very sexy and is very big. I do remember laughing a lot - it's the funniest of his articles I've read.
(Edit: oops, just re-read what you wrote - you wrote the first article your girlfriend had read, not the first one in the book.)
Definitely don't remember any name-dropping anywhere in what I've read.
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Hmm
Well, in a somewhat contrarian view to the enthusiasm shown here, and you and your g/f, the Slate readers (link above) thought that DFW's mind had an analytical rather than narrative brilliance and that his non-fiction was the really great stuff. With some interesting thoughts on why. DFW himself reportedly said he had trouble with concision when it came to fiction. Ha.
I blush to say I haven't read Infinite Jest nor felt terribly inclined to, but maybe after all the praise on this thread...
Well, in a somewhat contrarian view to the enthusiasm shown here, and you and your g/f, the Slate readers (link above) thought that DFW's mind had an analytical rather than narrative brilliance and that his non-fiction was the really great stuff. With some interesting thoughts on why. DFW himself reportedly said he had trouble with concision when it came to fiction. Ha.
I blush to say I haven't read Infinite Jest nor felt terribly inclined to, but maybe after all the praise on this thread...
IdleRich
IdleRich
I don't think so, I reckon she was just looking for something different from it and once I'd seen it through her eyes then so was I.
Yeah, the one she was reading was about language.
Sorry, should have been clearer, when she said "name-dropping" she meant in a philosophical sense eg his quoting names of theories or arguments to dismiss or back something up in lieu of actually making the argument himself or showing how it was relevant. ie trying to blind the reader with science.
Well that's certainly what you would expect considering his academic background. Although, having read the book, Louise thought I was winding her up when I told her that he came from an analytic tradition.
The sad thing for me is that i really want to be able to read and comprehend his more academic essays (eg, that one about 'structural modality' that was referenced in the new york times article polystyle linked to), but i think i'm gonna have to just make do with chuckling along with his essays on stuff like the films of arnold schwarzenegger.
empty mirror
remember the jackalope
i'd very much like to read some of his essays
haven't yet.
haven't yet.
Analysis
Further thoughts on DFW's analytic talent over narrative was that in fiction he tended to over-expound into a sort of flashy look-at-me. They (Slate) quote him making that very observation about himself. Whereas with the non-fiction essay form the subject he was writing about provided certain natural boundaries. Reigned him in as it were.
And he was something of a tragic figure, no doubt. The account of one of his course outlines for his students was that it went way past what any 'normal' person would provide in terms of detail and aim. And while evidence of his special brilliance it was also a sign of excessive sensitivity/over compulsion. A mind spinning and spinning, relentless dissecting. Hence 'analytic' , referring to his fantastic capacity to perceive and dissect, with not such a great ability to create a narrative to contain that fantastic flow of dissected experiences.
On a related note, DFW when asked why he wore his bandana, said, 'to keep my head from exploding'... no joke there, from a fundamentally very bleak man.
Further thoughts on DFW's analytic talent over narrative was that in fiction he tended to over-expound into a sort of flashy look-at-me. They (Slate) quote him making that very observation about himself. Whereas with the non-fiction essay form the subject he was writing about provided certain natural boundaries. Reigned him in as it were.
And he was something of a tragic figure, no doubt. The account of one of his course outlines for his students was that it went way past what any 'normal' person would provide in terms of detail and aim. And while evidence of his special brilliance it was also a sign of excessive sensitivity/over compulsion. A mind spinning and spinning, relentless dissecting. Hence 'analytic' , referring to his fantastic capacity to perceive and dissect, with not such a great ability to create a narrative to contain that fantastic flow of dissected experiences.
On a related note, DFW when asked why he wore his bandana, said, 'to keep my head from exploding'... no joke there, from a fundamentally very bleak man.
empty mirror
remember the jackalope
he curated a "best essays" collection in 200X and i noted that his intro (that i didn't read) had a ton of footnotes----will maybe take a look at that when i get home. i skimmed the table of contents and was dismayed to find a malcolm gladwell essay. what in the f?!
his taste can be sometimes... off.
his taste can be sometimes... off.