This is more important to modern American culture than any other novel, prove me wrong

this is more important to modern American culture than any other novel, prove me wrong

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nah, senpai.

>infinite jest

more like endless jape

It's too early to tell

>American culture
Solid bait.

>self-righteous delusion leading to suicide
Yep, that's modern American culture for you

I feel like biting.

1. I don't think the issues in this novel are strictly prevalent to Americans - I think these issues are present in a majority of first and second world countries.
2. I think the characters within this novel are caricatures, meaning they are exaggerations of different types of people. Things becoming quite this negative seems unlikely, but anything is possible. I feel the caricatures were derived to merely make a point about the plausible direction of humanity, not be an exact replica of humanity.
3. While I will say Infinite Jest is important (for many countries), many authors have critized human behavior throughout the ages. Infinite Jest depicts a group of young people losing their ability to care or strive for success (because what is taught as success does not bring them joy as the American Dream overtime became problematic. It teaches there is only one true path to happiness; however, there are multiple ways one can experience success, none of which are driven by monetary means or material possessions), and an everlasting desire to be entertained using various vices to try and fill the void. This is not an uncommon theme throughout literature - two major movements, The Lost Generation and The Beat Generation, already contributed to this conversation. Hell, think of what this book is loosely based on - Hamlet also discusses these problems because part of Hamlet's unmitigated paranoia stems from his privilege and influx of dispensible time. Infinite Jest is just another book thrown into the pile, in my opinion.
4. Lastly, saying any work of literature is the most important anything is ridiculous, especially in a post-modern age. Many novels work together to give meaningful (or meaningless, depending on how you look at it) commentary on modern culture. To put it into perspective, think of how people hold the Bible in such high regards as the most important. Ridiculous, isn't it? Don't be like that.

exactly

Better than Europe, land of the effeminate Stepford men

At least the yanks have some blood still running through their veins. Europeans have turned all their men into gay little women who are totally dependent on state socialism for everything, down to their opinions.

tldr

Very nice post

I think it does a lot that those other works don't though. So IMO, IJ (the film) uses the neo-natal lens to and holographics to make the viewer think they are a child again and then has the Mother figure apologise because, and I think this is Winnicot, there's supposedly a point at which the child realises it is not its mother and so effectively undergoes a type of death ( at like month 3 or something ). And I think Wallace included this to make the point that...in entertainment we do die, that's what escapism means, and we love it for that reason...because it's almost like a promise that we can reconnect with the Mother, which is why mothers and fathers are so much featured in IJ. And so with love, as in the whole what you love will kill you thing like Himself killing himself with light, his first love. I think IJ is unique in bringing the way our profoundest experience of love is linked to death into talking about entertainment.

Could someone PLEASE help me. I've been lurking Veeky Forums for months, I'm not a newfag.
I've worked out all the inside jokes and memes of Veeky Forums except this one. Is Infinite Jest the best novel in history, or is it John Green tier?

Dude, I've been on Veeky Forums a while two hours. I'm not a newfag.

If you're reading this, hi Griffin!

defs this would take at least 40 years

samefag

your post was shit and lmao at your life for thinking it was good and expecting praise for high school tier drivel analysis and "insight"

>youtube.com/watch?v=sXvAd7COpJY

(OP) (You)
There's one thing and one thing only that the mods could do to immensely improve the board, instantly, overnight, and that's facilitate more threads about David Foster Wallace. Create them, nurture the ones that exist, guide the discussions, and make sure they stay on track. If we're here to discuss literature, ultimately, we are here to discuss David Foster Wallace. There is no way for a person to grasp the full implications of Infinite Jest and not realize this. We're talking about the smartest man who ever lived. You must realize this. It's not a joke anymore. We're seeing the world degenerate further and further into chaos, and we're standing by and watching it happen. You want to fix this board? You want to fix the world? You want to fix your life? You need only take one step: read Infinite Jest. There is no substitute for hard work, and that's what Wallace requires of you if you are to understand him. If you are to understand not just him, but the world. We're not talking about escapist literature, fan fiction, genre nonsense. We're talking about saving our lives. We're talking about meditating on God. We're talking about communing with the primary presence. This is not an issue to be treated lightly.

do u lyk diks?

no u

It's not a shitty book, but it's definitely a meme around here. Look at how /mu/ treats In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, that's basically their IJ equivalent, except they actually like it.

for you

Seeing this on a literature board is ironic

Ur cute user ;*

Pathetic attempt by OP to discretely bump the thread

I like some of your points on The Entertainment, but not sure if I agree with your interpretation of why parents are so heavily featured. I think the one you've made is interesting and plausible, but none of the parents in Infinite Jest are good parents. It's implied that Avril is the reason why Madame Psychosis now has a deformed face - at Thanksgiving dinner, Himself confesses that he is in love MP, and as such, Avril throws acid onto MP's face. Orin was in love with MP, but once she became deformed, he wasn't able to love her the same. Because of this, Orin is bitter as he was never able to love another woman that way again and uses sex to fill the void within him - he views these women as "subjects" and purposely seeks out mothers so that he may objectify them. You could see this as Orin wanting to go back to his mother, but it can also be viewed as Orin showing his disdain for his mother (and Hal points out the latter). Furthermore, he experiences self-loathing because he must accept he lost love due to his own shallow nature. This is where The Entertainment becomes prevalent once again, as part of our obsession with the entertainment industry rests in our infatuation with beauty and perfection. Once that perfection is gone, we have no qualms with rejecting people. Orin is left with this bitter truth, so he sleeps with women as part of his own self-loathing. Himself was also not a good father figure - he imposed ample pressure onto his children to follow in his footsteps. The only one who truly tries to follow is Hal, while Orin rejects him completely. Unfortunately, his children are following in his footsteps whether they accept or reject. Himself commits suicide with a microwave (a sad and comical commentary on modernity) because he was empty. His children are the same, except Mario, who is too slow and deformed to fully understand the negativity that surrounds him. He is already born imperfect with no chance of reaching anything better, so those expectations and messages of socialization aren't as heavily imposed on him - therefore, he can live in bliss. Perhaps the tape, along with the Incandeza narrative, means to say we should return to a simpler aspect of parenting, that perhaps we should merely love our children rather than raise them to be better versions of ourselves. Because there comes a point where one can not possibly do better and in falling short, they will consistently be empty. Love is only linked to death when there is an absense of it. Maybe that's what he means to say. As for what you love will kill you - this is only true if you let it become an addiction and overtake you. Hopefully, few people are that stupid.

I'm not entirely sure though how we would use entertainment to reconnect with our parents. Can you clarify your point in that regard?

>It's implied that Avril is the reason why Madame Psychosis now has a deformed face - at Thanksgiving dinner, Himself confesses that he is in love MP, and as such, Avril throws acid onto MP's face
It was at Thanksgiving dinner, but it was at Joelle's parent's, not Orin's. The Southern incestuous bit and the shame, etc.

It points at only problems within society and leaves no room for understanding the solution. The book is bereft of real insight and filled with the musings of an overwhelmed mind. DFW makes good analysis and evaluation of our society, however, if I asked any of you what can we do to fix it? Why did it come about? How did it come about? Why is our current situation here? Where do we go from here? You would not be able to answer any of these questions from this book. To solidify these serious lackings in the book we can see in even basic novels like "Le Pere Goriot," a historical context to the problems and musings at a possible solution. In Ulysses these ideas are almost fully flushed out. IJ captures a time period but even uses one of a futuristic society to make a veiled prediction of the future that only manifests itself to significance once. Where DFW predicts us having an aversion to video calls, which in many business settings is completely wrong.

The book captures America in a single time period, in 1000 pages. It is egregiously ineffective and weak. Also, DFW's prose is weak and he isn't funny.