Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace is a vast and sprawling novel that delves into themes of addiction, recovery, popular entertainment, and tennis. The book's 981 pages, along with extensive endnotes, present a labyrinthine mass of plot lines that intersect in intricate ways, revealing linguistic complexities and stylistic experimentation for which Wallace is renowned. The narrative threads, though disjointed at times, come together towards the end, offering a fictional DSM IV of American malaise and serving as a deep reflection on communication and human nature.

Characters:

The characters are deeply developed and represent various aspects of addiction and the human condition.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is complex and demanding, requiring careful attention and often using humor to address darker themes.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot explores themes of addiction and the relentless pursuit of entertainment, featuring intertwined narratives from various characters.

Setting:

The setting combines a dystopian future with specific locales that reflect themes of addiction and entertainment.

Pacing:

Pacing varies significantly; some parts may feel slow and tedious, while others are engaging and fast-paced.

3 E.T.A. is laid out as a cardioid, with the four main inward-facing bldgs. convexly rounded at the back and sides to yield a cardioid's curve, with the tennis courts and pavilions at the center and t...

Notes:

Infinite Jest is a long novel, over 1,000 pages including extensive footnotes.

The narrative is non-linear and includes multiple plots intertwined with various themes.

It explores deep issues like addiction, depression, entertainment, and the human condition.

David Foster Wallace's writing style includes a mix of complex vocabulary and stream of consciousness.

The book was published in 1996 and has since gained significant literary acclaim.

Many readers find the book both rewarding and challenging, often requiring multiple readings to fully grasp.

The title refers to a play on the Hamlet quote about Yorick, connecting entertainment and deeper existential questions.

A notable plot point involves a film that is so entertaining that viewers lose their will to do anything else, a satire on media consumption.

The characters are depicted with remarkable depth, often facing themes of isolation and existential dread.

Infinite Jest has been compared to works by authors like Pynchon, DeLillo, and Joyce, in terms of complexity and style.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings include themes of addiction, substance abuse, mental illness, suicide, violence, and detailed depictions of drug withdrawal and abuse.

From The Publisher:

A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. It is an exuberant, uniquely American exploration of the passions that make us human - and one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do.

Ratings (58)

Incredible (23)
Loved It (12)
Liked It (7)
It Was OK (5)
Did Not Like (7)
Hated It (4)

Reader Stats (259):

Read It (56)
Currently Reading (3)
Want To Read (120)
Did Not Finish (17)
Not Interested (63)

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Infinite Jest

David Foster Wallace