Holy. Fucking. Shit

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

This was piercing and so relevant to me.

The entirety of IJ didn't resonate like this.

Would Veeky Forums allow a discussion?

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welcome to the water

I think it's great and piercing is an accurate description, but you probably can't discuss it much here without a bunch of faggots that've never read DFW like making quirky reddit-tier references

I'm just glad there's someone else to discuss

So you've read it recently user or you've known it for some time?

What really struck me was how one of the central themes were the limitations of language when trying to connect and understand one another and emotion is only fully understandable by the one who experiences it, and yet this short story, which consists purely of language, text in sequence, touched me and perfectly painted the idea that your inner multitudes shouldn't make you feel like a fraud, I can't explain it well enough because again, language fails, but it did it for me, and it's beautiful and uplifting.

How was your experience with it?

Not the OP, but I've read this story a couple ones. I thought it was long winded when he talkted recursively about his think or fraudulence. Now I'm just sad he didn't do it more. It's amazing how he captures things that can't be communicated, but somehow communicates them. This story is why DFW is the literary genius of our time.

this is literally one of his worst

try the Octet

It's a victory of 21st century prose. Don't listen to people like

lol so much the worse for the 21st century

OP here and the guy you replied to,

That's great man, in many ways I think "what is the main reason for literature if not that? Showing you that those thoughts and feelings that you judged so intricate and particular to you are experienced by others, and they too are trying to make sense out of it, and sometimes they are far beyond the line you never got to cross, and from there they shout back at you: it makes perfect sense, and here is why. We were just overcomplicating it the whole time"

The segment near the end with the keyhole allegory drove it home for me

I read it about six months ago, I think. There are times you read something and get the incredibly uncomfortable feeling that the author is describing EXACTLY how you think, and the narrator describing how artificial he felt about his own personality is quite possibly the strongest I've ever experienced that.

It's funny, I remember the first time I read it I had never been more melancholic. The second reasding gave me totally different feeling, and I think in the end it was all DFW tried to convey, which was this idea of humans being giant emotional reactors. Such as the infantallization of character in all of his big works, and how even this has the narrator doing the most childish things whilst he was the most analytical as a toddler.

This story is probably my favourite of DFW's since it's a clear showcase of his narcissism. It's beautifully recursive: the narrator mentions how admitting his concern for appearances doesn't get him out of the game of appearing a certain way, and it doesn't seem far-fetched to draw parallels from there to Wallace'a writing GON. (Sorry if this sentence is hard to parse, it's my fault, I'm hastily typing on a phone)

If you deeply relate to this story then you may have narcissistic traits, perhaps full blown narcissistic disorder. Now that you have a name to diagnose 'living your life as a desperate quest for the fleeting validation of others', you'll be able to slap it on everyone you know who seems overly concerned with coming across as cool/learned/unique. Quick tip: pretty much every artist or creative has narcissistic tendencies (though theatre kids are by far the worst, in my experience) so if you hate people like that (even though, or perhaps *because* they are just like you), you may want to steel yourself before you start your MFA.

Honestly I could just talk about narcissism. Here goes: it wasn't until I read GON and showed it to my friend that I realized not everyone lived for external validation (I wish there was a less cliché pair of words but alas I am a Quebecker and I do not know the words but I digress) yes not everyone does or at least it suddenly seemed so to me since my friend did not relate in any way to the narrator.
You may say my friend was narcissistically concerned with hiding his narcissism, but I knew said friend too well and her complete lack of self-aggrandizing in everyday life coupled with a wonderful ability to take criticism without the slightest resistance (let's be honest it was my girl I tried to hide it because it's always a faux-pas on here but I really need to illustrate that I knew her well which) made me realize that she did not have a hundredth of the need for outside approval that I had. What luck!

Thankfully my narcissism has got me convinced that I will be a great artist so I'm not too fearful of the no-approval timeline, but if I get old without success: will I feel horrible? Is this why people need anti-depressants? Foiled narcissism?

God I wish I was raised differently (oh needless to say both my parents have profound narcissistic tendencies, but not enough to do the crazy abusive shit you read about on 'narcissistic parents 101' websites) but I feel like I can get this under control if I just read enough. AND YET I'm still going to try for a career in the spotlight. What is wrong with me? How does one become content with a regular job, a rented apartment, a good book and cinema on the weekends?

Who made us like this? How many of the greats were like this?

even this post has the obnoxious pining for external validation, from anonymous internet strangers no less.
good job faggot.

>Would Veeky Forums allow a discussion?

No, fuck off.

this was a great story but Forever Overhead is my favorite short story of his.

This reads like someone who spent too much time growing up in a sheltered environment and has never prepared himself for a world full of other humans.

You'll probably write a bunch of books with the delusion that you understand other human beings simply because you think about them too much, when in actuality you don't. Eventually, all you'll be able to write about are stereotypes and banal 'quirky' observations without being able to get at any single human core. You won't even be able to get at your own.

Thread theme: youtube.com/watch?v=t1lWdZtf9Pw

>stereotypes and banal 'quirky' observations
why does Foster Wallace steep his novels in this kind of crap while he's clearly a philosophical type who knows all of it is bullshit?

I can't stand all the shitty proclamations he makes as narrator in IJ. The funny thing about this is... the thing about this is...

what to do if I relate to Good Old Neon and this user's post and am exactly what this post suggests I am like a DFW character horrified at the thought of being a narcissist and vain about being vain so I project a false humbleness and plainness, I try to act completely average. I think narcissism is unhealthy and pathetic but I think I am also a narcissist.

This is a pretty common Quirk, to be really philosophical but still have less informed opinions that you seriously believe in regular life. People compartmentalize different facets of their life.

you just demonstrated that "quirk" idiot

Didn't read past the first sentence. DFW is not Neon, but you probably are for thinking so. No one who has the self-awareness to write Neon as a character could themselves be Neon.

I love when people pull shit out of their asses like this. 'Clearly this cannot be true because xyz' how the fuck can you be so sure you unreflecting douche.

You are literally recreating the situation in the shrink'/ office where he tells Neon he can't be so vain if he can admit to feeling vain.

I love when people pull shit out of their asses like this. 'Clearly this cannot be true because xyz' how the fuck can you be so sure you unreflecting douche.

You are literally recreating the situation in the shrink'/ office where he tells Neon he can't be so vain since he can admit to feeling vanity.

Compound that with Wallace's tendency to write from his life and your argument looks even weaker in comparison.

I'm the guy you're replying to. I don't write books, I'm a filmmaker. You probably haven't seen my films if you're not into the international scene (I'm in the throes of my first English film though, you'll watch me soon I'm sure) but I'm the most successful writer in my neck of the woods.

The narcissism I have isn't telling me that I should have success and fame: I have them. The issue is that I believe I have the potential to be the greatest filmmaker of my generation. I don't even remember if that was my goal at the start.

In any case: you're projecting your foibles and lack of talent onto me, which is sad but not unusual. I always liked this place because of the accidental confessional nature of the insults.

At this point I'm expecting grinding teeth and anger because I have 1) self-aggrandized and 2) made unverifiable claims about my real-life success.
Which are two things that always irk me; I'm guessing the other narcissists on the board will be pissed too.

Weak b8

>Who made us like this?
You did.
>How many of the greats were like this?
Who cares.

I came across an interesting fact the other day, apparently the majority of psychiatric cases that achieve a correct diagnosis still don't see any improvement. Isn't that interesting?

I suppose it has less to do with the revelation of what one is, and more with how that revelation is received and internalized. In Wallace's case I'd guess a cessation of fourth wall breaking wacky post modern confessions of the soul would have been helpful.

is that u xavier dolan

I thought so too but Dolan is gay and this guy has a girl. Is Dolan bi?

You sound angry. And insecure.