Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace discussion

This thread is for discussion of pgs. 306-375 in Infinite Jest. Page 375 → Kindle location 5952 (35%)

In his essay 'Derivative Sport in Tornado Valley', Foster Wallace writes: "...the only part of Proust that really moved me in college was the early description of the kid's geometric relation to the distant church spire at Combray."(P22 of 47).
So yes he read Proust but here he was clearly writing abt something that he intimately knew- infact he seems to have taken that dictum very seriously- A writer shd only write abt things that he knows!
I'm dreading the Eschaton part but I understand that there is no IJ without Tennis!

A query abt Mario's birth: Is it possible for a woman to bleed "like clock work" & still be pregnant? (P312).
So far Foster Wallace's technical writing in IJ ( Physics,Chemistry) has been pretty impressive but this Biology detail made my jaw drop!
I love Mario,btw.

The Eschaton Game- Turns out it's not a tennis game at all rather kids playing grown ups & just like adults making a mess of everything!

A logically planned thermonuclear wargame on tennis court goes wrong cause "map" & "territory" get mixed- abstractions & symbols don't work when "reality" barges in.
Videogamers will love this section of the book- the obsessively minute details that go into creating this gaming event will appeal to them.
I had read somewhere to approach this as the Quidditch game in Harry Potter series & it worked to some extent but watching the Calamity Song by The Decemberists made it a fun read though I missed the snow & the green, advertisement-plastered car!
A geopolitical correction though- REDCHIN will never attack PAK cause they are pals & you never join INDIA & PAKISTAN in the same word without a hyphen- it shd've been IND-PAK- baggage of history,you see!
Which reminds me of a yoga teacher called Lyle who apparantly lives on licking sweat off ETA students!
I am from India & I've never heard of any such yogic practice. Unless that detail later serves some plot purpose,it struck me as really far-fetched & creepy.

Thank you for the explanation. I confess it is the first section so far that I found incomprehensible. I thought maybe I was exhausted from my own (Christmas) war games.

Gary aren't you also in the FFRedux group? Good to see you here!
Pay attention to this section cause it'll reverberate thematically & many of the participants will face the music in various ways.

I guess I'll have to read it again. It will be easier after having read your comments. Thanks. Must be another Gary in the group you mentioned.

Gary is everywhere, simultaneously.

Mala wrote: "A query abt Mario's birth: Is it possible for a woman to bleed "like clock work" & still be pregnant? (P312)."

Yes it is. Rare but possible.

So many Boomers named Gary. I blame Gary Cooper...and too many star-struck parents. Why couldn't they be more original? (Full disclosure, my daughter's name is Meryl!)

Jason & Gary: you guys are so funny! Keep spreading the humour throughout this read,God knows you'll need it!

And thanks,Mary!

NMC wrote: "Mala wrote: "The Eschaton Game- Turns out it's not a tennis game at all rather kids playing grown ups & just like adults making a mess of everything!

A logically planned thermonuclear wargame on ..."

Well,I'm glad you enjoyed this part cause most folks just grit their teeth & read on. As for Orin- for a lady killer,he is surprisingly naive! I won't spoil it for you but he has some shocks coming,later.

The three brothers in IJ are somewhat modelled after Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov- the similarities are there for those who have read the book. I hope to read this gem by Dostoyevsky soon.

Was anyone else struck by the passage on page 367 where it says,

"NNYC's harbor's Liberty Island's gigantic Lady has the sun for a crown and holds what looks like a huge photo album under one iron arm, and the other arm holds aloft a product. The product is changeed each 1 Jan. by brave men with pitons and cranes."

This really gave me a dark, sinking feeling reminiscent of the kind of feeling I get when reading dystopian fiction. The description really hit me hard, harder even than the renaming of the years. Definitely shows how much corporatism has consumed everything in the world of IJ. Eek.

Jazzmin wrote: "Was anyone else struck by the passage on page 367 where it says,

"NNYC's harbor's Liberty Island's gigantic Lady has the sun for a crown and holds what looks like a huge photo album under one iron..."

It's an interesting passage. And I agree with your point of corporatism too.

Here's how the comparison works out:
Dmitri aka Mitya,the sensualist= Orin
Ivan,the rationalist= Hal
Alyosha,the humanist,angelic= Mario
Later in the book,Wallace will directly refer to this book & you'll see the connection!

Now......Footnote 110. Oy! A 16.5 page footnote with its own footnotes!
This footnote kind of reads like it could be the crux of the novel. Separatism of Quebec/Orin from Canada/family, the concavity/family issues being a toxic sore spot for Canada/family while ONAN/?? keeps catapulting more toxic waste into it (and not letting it heal), talk of Quebec/Orin making the sacrifice to encompass the concavity/family issues as a payment for Quebec's/Orin's separation from the whole?
Making my head explode!!!

Wallace does make the reader over think and read between the lines if at all there is something to be read in between. I didn't take that note from that angle but that's an interesting point you made which can be cleared once the book ends but I'm not associating Quebec with Orin.

Garima wrote: "Wallace does make the reader over think and read between the lines if at all there is something to be read in between. I didn't take that note from that angle but that's an interesting point you ma..."

me either!!!!!

Petra wrote: "Now......Footnote 110. Oy! A 16.5 page footnote with its own footnotes!
This footnote kind of reads like it could be the crux of the novel. Separatism of Quebec/Orin from Canada/family, the concav..."

Ooh. Very nice analysis.

Petra wrote: "Now......Footnote 110. Oy! A 16.5 page footnote with its own footnotes!
This footnote kind of reads like it could be the crux of the novel. Separatism of Quebec/Orin from Canada/family, the concav..."

That endnote is indeed an important one as it gives details on the seperatism issue & prepares us for Mario's film show on inter-dependance day. Further it sheds light on Orin's conflicted relationship with the Moms & his close bond with Hal. The Incandenza family gets willy nilly involved cause of the 'samizdat',also someone else from the family may or may not be involved with the Québécois issue but its not Orin.

That footnote at 110. I feel like the addict about to bust, throw in the towel, give it up. Close the fucken book. A 16 page footnote! Seriously? Proust in the original French is more tolerable than this. I'm dying here. I can't handle the pain. I'm starting the Twilight series tonight.

Does anyone have at hand the definitions to the acronyms for the teams in the Escheton game?

What are the acronyms, Shmuli?

Shmuli wrote: "Does anyone have at hand the definitions to the acronyms for the teams in the Escheton game?"

http://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/d...

AMNAT
The United States of America and other NATO nations

SOVWAR
The Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations

REDCHI
The People's Republic of China

LIBSYR
Libya and Syria

IRLIBSYR
LIBSYR plus Iran

INDPAK
India and Pakistan

Oh, nice. Garima rules.

Jason wrote: "Oh, nice. Garima rules."

Te-hee

Thanks now I'm even more infinitely confused given current geo political pacts are somewhat misigned with those in the book. Anyways watched the Decembrists clip of the Eschaton game and I think I kind of understood what was going on.

Hey read Don Delillo's "Endzone" where football and nuclear war meet.