Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace discussion

This thread is for discussion of pgs. 601-682 in Infinite Jest. Page 682 → Kindle location 16,280 (63%)

p601-619.
Gately gets to play the hero & takes a bullet from the Nucks & for whom- that rat Randy Lenz! So much tension is created around the prosaic subject of car parking that you know something bad is going to happen- when Gately could take Pat's car out for a drive,couldn't he also park the residents' cars?

Steeply recalls his dad's pathetic obsession with the tv serial M.A.S.H. to Marathe (P.638-48),after this sad episode,some comic relief is provided in Hal v. Stice exibition match,played out for the benefit of Moment magzine's soft profiler Helen Steeply where deLint's diplomatic explanation of the tennis action is blown apart by Troeltsch's enthusiastic commentary of the same!

Further laughs come from the sub-14 male Eschatonites' exploration of the tunnels- Wallace's writing here moves so effortessly,the scene just comes alive.(P.666-73).

NMC wrote: "I'm nearly at the finished line, and I must say DFW has a way with descriptions. The whole seen with the engineer and the Le Assassins' was both humorous and outrageous.

I'm still trying to find ..."

I'm not sure about the M.A.S.H. connection... but maybe it's something to do with Steeply's cross-dressing and that M.A.S.H. character who pretended to be a 'girl' to get out of the military? What was that character's name? Hawkeye, maybe?

The M.A.S.H. episode shows the extreme state of what 'addiction' to entertainment can do- it naturally segues into the long conversation that Marathe & Steeply had been having abt the fatal impact of the IJ cartridge on the US audience,given as they are to passive spectation.
Secondly,it shows the sad family background that Steeply comes from- like most IJ characters,his too is a sad back story.

This morning I came to vent again about how I hate this book (the long, dull scene in the mess hall where NOTHING. FUCKING. HAPPENS) and then I read more at lunch and I'm back to loving it again. I do not understand 5-star reviews of this book because I find it so uneven.

For me, unless a scene DOES SOMETHING (i.e. furthers the plot, draws out a character, builds suspense, foreshadows something, or otherwise presents a plot device), it is useless. That whole mess hall scene was useless.

And then you get the Steeply–Marathe M*A*S*H scene which beautiful exemplifies IJ's theme of entertainment-addiction (among other addictions) and his father's "curiosity struggle" which leaves him feeling lost. I loved that. (And thanks for answering that question for NMC, Mala. I agree with your take completely.)

obfuscations wrote: "An element of IJ that I appreciate tremendously is the wide & even distibrution of meticulously rendered physical descriptions of urban landscapes. I have spent virtually no time in Boston so can't..."

Also, I'm from Boston, and I think most of the city descriptions (i.e. the Duck Pond, the Green Line split at Brighton & Comm. Aves., etc.) are accurate; but I've never heard anybody call it the Greenie.

Jason wrote: "This morning I came to vent again about how I hate this book (the long, dull scene in the mess hall where NOTHING. FUCKING. HAPPENS) and then I read more at lunch and I'm back to loving it again. I..."

But that scene lasts only ten pages! There was some conspiracy going around abt the milk powder & it was discussed somewhere on the net that made the mess scene not seem so messy! But dang it,I can't locate it now. Do check the end notes. This is what happens when you read IJ all alone!
Hope Garima will find out the relevant portion.
And thanks for your thanks!

On page 675, one of the paragraphs starts "Steeply was adjusting the long peasant skirt and crossing legs so he was inclined away from deLint..."

To whom does the pronoun "he" refer exactly?

To Steeply obviously who's in drags but Mike Puma is far more qualified to answer this as he really gave a lot of thought to the grammar in IJ- thanks to him,I'm scared of using compound possessives now !

Oh my god, I am so stupid. Ignore message 10, please.

Just finished the 20 page scene where Gately is trying to get the residents to move their cars and lands up getting shot. Wow! The tension, the humour, the ridiculousness of it all, the taking a bullet for that psycho Lenz and I swear I could smell the PGOAT as she was slowly falling in love with The Don.

Jason wrote: "Oh my god, I am so stupid. Ignore message 10, please."

Too Late! hehe!

@Shmuli: There,you got your luv story– happy now? :-)

@Mala - I'm happy but tense. I'm concerned for Gately and worried for PGOAT. My wife is worried about me becoming consumed by this novel, one could say 'addicted' ala MASH (thankfully I have the ability to put the book down after 10 pages at a time).

What worries you about PGOAT?

Shmuli wrote: "@Mala - I'm happy but tense. I'm concerned for Gately and worried for PGOAT. My wife is worried about me becoming consumed by this novel, one could say 'addicted' ala MASH (thankfully I have the ab..."

Your wife sounds like a smart lady. I finished reading it a month ago (it took me month to finish it!) but I still think about it and spend a lot of time reading reviews-and this thread-on GR.

@Jason - I find PGOAT brittle, delicate and charming. The incident with Gately (being shot) and her attempted suicide leads me to think she may not have the internal fortitude to deal with the Knucks when they finally find her. If this is in the spirit of a Hamletian tragedy, is it Gately who dies? Or/and PGOAT who is de-mapped. Either way I'm riveted to the action at 12.50am WMT (Australia) on the morning of my 39th bday.

Shmuli,I signed in just to wish you A Very Happy B'day!
See how nice IJ group people are!
Btw,you can leave the book alone today & go out & enjoy with your wife :-)

Happy birthday, Shmuli! I love this concept of being "de-mapped." I might try to insert that into my daily lexicon.

(And in Hamlet, pretty much everybody dies.)

Happy B-day Shmuli! How many times have you been 39? (An old Jack Benny gag...probably nobody reading this even knows who he was)!

Got the Elegant Complexity IJ guide book for me birthday. Booyaa!

Shmuli wrote: "Got the Elegant Complexity IJ guide book for me birthday. Booyaa!"

And a happy birthday to you, my good fellow. Considering you're not answering the phone, I thought this would be the next best place to leave a message.

Umm.. Beep?

Shmuli wrote: "@Mala - I'm happy but tense. I'm concerned for Gately and worried for PGOAT. My wife is worried about me becoming consumed by this novel, one could say 'addicted' ala MASH (thankfully I have the ab..."

I'm on my 3rd read of it in less than a year... subsequent readings are even more revealing!