it doesn’t have to be your favorite book or anything. It can be any book that you find yourself thinking of with a sense of pride for having read it.
Personally, I am really proud of myself for not DNFing A Little Life and pushing forward. I read a very good chunk of that book with tears running down my face–mind you, I was reading it on my phone during lectures for the entirety of my first semester last year–and I was always on the verge of putting it down just because of the horrible content. Also, it was pretty long; too long, actually. So when I was done, I was simultaneously Heartbroken, broken (just like in general), and relieved. It was truly a feat.
An honorable mention is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, because I swear to God I did not understand a single thing about it even 10 chapters in. Charles Dickens is too much.
Infinite Jest. Twice. I enjoyed it enough to want to read it again but I’m proud of it because I’ve been in dozens of homes where that book is laying around and no one else has read it
Me! I came here to write that I’ve read it! The first 300 pages were a slog, but once I hit the Eschaton Debacle, it was smooth sailing.
Don’t get me wrong, I truly admire you dedication, but the idea of having to get through 300 pages of slog in order to reach the good bits is so insane to me. I’ve been meaning to pick up Infinite Jest for years now, but every time I hear something about it from people who’ve actually finished it–even if they liked it–just makes me so discouraged, lol.
That’s totally fair and I get that. What I’ll add is that “the slog” is well-written and interesting, it’s just that none of it appears cohesive for a long time. You find yourself thinking, “What does any of this have to do with a larger narrative?” It does have a larger narrative, but my memory is that it takes approximately 300 pages for you to get it.
Agree wholeheartedly - it may be a slog from a perspective of understanding how everything is connected, but the writing is electric the whole way through
Me too. Also i read the pale King about 4 times, the boring little sister of infenest jest.
I couldn’t finish Pale King - maybe I will try again, but I have the sense that it doesn’t come to the same amount of closure like Infinite Jest.
It’s interesting that you mention closure being a facet of Infinite Jest, because it leaves so many threads unresolved. It’s not traditional closure, but I do agree that the ending is… enough? Satisfying? Amazing that he was able to write an ending that obtuse and have it feel conclusive
Its Kind of a good joke by dfw. It feels like an ending because he stages it that way. It s a Never ending search for the holy grail (of laughing).
It doesnt, it cant…
This was mine, too. That book has become a bit of a “didn’t finish” joke which is sad.
Anyone who’s a David Foster Wallace fan should check out the article he wrote about a late 90s AVN awards weekend.
I had no idea who David Foster Wallace was, but I read a collection of his essays one day on a plane and the ones about the AVN awards and grammar/snootiness have always stuck with me.
I’ve read infinite jest and really liked it. Or at least told myself I did.
What I really loved, though, is his article for Gourmet, “Consider The Lobster”
In which he turns what was supposed to be a journalistic coverage of a lobster festival into a philosophical debate on the ability for simpler organisms to feel pain and fear.
Same!! I’ve read it cover to cover, footnotes and all, three times. All of those times were when I was in my early 20s - none of them were when I was a fully fledged adult and parent.
I also read Infinite Jest twice. I’m feel proud, but I also feel like a chump.
I knew I couldn’t be the only one! It was a beast, but I did enjoy it