Infinite Summer 2014 discussion

Why is footnote 24 so important?

Yay - more Mario!I'm loving the relationship between him and Schtitt. I was struck by the conversation (with Schtitt doing all the talking, of course)on pages 80/81. "...they assume here always the most efficient way is to plow in straight, go! The story that the shortest way between two places is the straight line, yes?...But what then when something is in the way when you go between places, no? Plow ahead: go: collide: kabong...And how many two places are there without there is something in the way between them, if you go?...When I am boyish, training to compete for best, our training facilities on a sign, very largely painted, stated 'WE ARE WHAT WE WALK BETWEEN'."

I thought this was such a great way of describing life - there is never a straight line to get from here to whereever (at least, I've never found one). The journey is all about detours, choices, retracings, wandering in circles, etc. And, at the end, what we are made of is the sum total of all the experiences born of all those choices we made every step along the way.

"We are what we walk between". I highlighted and bookmarked that one.

Troy wrote: "Why is footnote 24 so important?"

At first, I was annoyed with this footnote, but I realized it helps with the general chronology of the book, but it also seems to contain information about the father's life and personality. His film, It Was a Great Marvel That He Was in the Fathe Without Knowing him, seems similar to the scene we read earlier with Hal and his father disguised as a conversationalist. Spiders pop up in a few, and it is the first time the film, Infinite Jest is mentioned. I was wondering what the incessant super script "1" led to and why on page contains overlapped text...

Meghan wrote: "(I just started on this section, but do you guys suppose the Infinite Summer site intended page 95, not page 94, as the stopping point for this one?)"

Yeah, definitely. The Pg. 168 marker also works best as pg. 169, :P

Still on board, a little behind (loc 1614), but close to catching up. I'm having a lot of fun but having trouble keeping the years straight. I take it the chronology is listed in the back of the physical book, but it's difficult to get to on the Kindle. I found one online, though, that I refer to.

In addition to reoccurring themes, Footnote 24 is also hilarious.

I look forward to (hopefully) getting a glimpse into what is in the unfinished Infinite Jest films.

from the Kate Gompert section: "sarcasm and jokes were often the bottle in which clinical depressives sent out their most plangent screams for someone to care and help them."

It's difficult not to read that in relation to the title of the book and Wallace's clinical depression.

Also, it looks like Kate Gompert is a real tennis player?

John wrote: "from the Kate Gompert section: "sarcasm and jokes were often the bottle in which clinical depressives sent out their most plangent screams for someone to care and help them."

It's difficult not t..."

Gompert is my favorite character so far. Her passages are magic.

The Gompert passages are lovely.

I'm having a hard time getting into the international intrigue / wheelchair assassin sections--someone please tell me that those get better...

Meagan wrote: "The Gompert passages are lovely.

I'm having a hard time getting into the international intrigue / wheelchair assassin sections--someone please tell me that those get better..."

Same here. All that stuff is so difficult to keep straight.

The story about the thieves and the toothbrushes was one that kids used to tell as a scary/gross story when I was a kid, so it was kind of fun to see it emerging from the collective unconscious here.

I'm having trouble seeing how the wheelchair assassin stuff relates to everything else, but I also kind of like their conversations. They're just very, uh, odd...I guess.

I think that Steeply, an ONAN agent, is meeting with Marathe in an effort to discern whether the Wheelchair Assassins were responsible for sending the cartridge (assumably Infinite Jest V)to the attache.

Geographic evidence seems to implicate them, but Marathe is insistent that individual, politically low level targets hold no interest for his organization. It is also unclear whether the Assassins have access to the cartridge at all. It would appear as though the target was singled out by another entity with motives that were more personal than political in nature.

The Steeply/Marathe sections repeatedly address the overlaps between the personal and political and how one can have profound impact on the other.

Meghan wrote: "The Steeply/Marathe sections repeatedly address the overlaps between the personal and political and how one can have profound impact on the other."

Very interesting. How is it addressing the personal/political overlap? Are you referencing Steeply's disguise?

I was thinking more about the Luria P/Rod the God discussion about love and loyalties. And the fact that Marathe is betraying his organization (political)in an attempt to acquire medical care for his wife (personal).

These two also discuss the idea of political freedom and of personal choice. In the case of America, Marathe describes people who are politically free to choose, but personally unable to resist temptation (in this case, the entertainment). He asserts that a person who is unable to resist is unable to choose. Since he/she is then without choice, he/she is also without freedom.

Hmmm. Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Cool.

re: endnote 24: Yeah, I was tempted to skip the filmography, but I'm glad I powered through. It gave me a sense of when Year of the Whopper through Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar were. Also helped make sense of the "1 April - Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad" chapter. Basically, I feel like the James Incandenza filmography footnote was something of a Rosetta Stone, containing clues that help to make sense of many of the other parts of the book.

Did you just get frustrated with this Everest, Walter? You just got a little cold is all.

Also, this is a reading group for discussing the book, not for posting your review of an unfinished read and boasting about your reading speed...

Jeesh. This book was actually quite good. If you consider it again down the road, you have to trek through at least the first 250 pages until you will settle into the characters and the disconnected plot(s). And I wouldn't say footnotes are part of the institutionalization of novels. I can name many other novels that use footnotes that are quite popular and read often, which are far from anything "academic". This book just might not be for you, just saying to post a review on the book's main page.

You have excellent manners! Enjoy reading sir!

It is not surprising you don't understand sarcasm.