phishhook.com

Looks like enough interest. Let's do this.

Start date: Sept 1, although it sounds like we'll be all over the book on our own schedule, so start whenever.

I'm not sure how to do this, so let's make this thread SPOILER FREE. Tips, guides and other help can be offered throughout.

i was thinking Infinite Jest too. all the ppl posting it in that thread kind of got me motivated to read it, which might be why...

im really not feeling pickwick papers so far its kind of like reading a monty python sketch or something. but im gonig to stick it out for another 100 pages or so and maybe something will click.

I read IJ last summer, when there was a massive online IJ-reading club called Infinite Summer. The reading group is over, so the page isn't active anymore, but all the blog posts and forums are still up, so it's a great resource for whenever you start to read it.

http://infinitesummer.org/

It's an incredible book. You will probably want to give up on it every 200 pages or so, but finishing it was one of the most satisfying things I've ever done w/r/t books.

Yeah, I just started The Shining so that'll take a couple of weeks, but after that I'm ready to roll. We should try to get a Phook contingent, but it might just be the two of us (no homo)

theres gotta be a few more ppl here that havent read it that are nerdy enough to join a book club.

just saw this ad



maybe we could find some friends on that site

I'm in on IJ

*grits teeth*

I read a book about DFW's book tour following IJ, and he says that it takes at least 2 months to read well (in his opinion). I don't know what your experience was JL but both people I know who read it said it took them 1/2 a year.

Something to consider

Yeah, I've opened it and read little sections just to see what type of read it'll be. I don't think it's a book I'll fly through. I'm planning on it taking the rest of the year, minimum.

i've always wanted to tackle infinite jest.

I tried this book several years back but I couldnt do it. Maybe I'll try again. It's collecting dust somewhere in my house.

i really dont think i could take 2 months to read anything. its "only" 1000 pages or so right? (not that that's short). i know the pages are huge im my copy but i didnt think the font was very small.

I'm about 690 pages into IJ right now. Been taking it pretty slow, mainly enjoying it right after work with some Wild Turkey. It seems disjointed at first, but settles down after the first 80 pages or so. There's a lot more tennis then I expected, don't much care for that. Like it enough to certainly check out more DFW when I'm done, but doubt I'd ever reread it. Has the ambition of some of Pynchon's work, who I seem to connect with more. I took notes at first to keep time frames and characters straight, but didn't need to eventually.

Check out the footnotes to the footnotes.

it's really really dense though; i sometimes spent half an hour on one page. i was pretty dedicated to reading it and i think it took me 2 or 3 months. it's a true commitment, but well worth your time. you can't read it casually and get the full effect, IMO. you have to immerse yourself in it, and if it clicks you won't want to read or even do anything else. (which fits well with the primary theme, actually.)

god i loved that book. i doubt he would've ever bested IJ, but there's no telling what he could've done had be been able to keep his demons at bay. his next one was gonna be set in an IRS office and would've been right up my alley. depression is the worst.

wtf

yup, sometimes for content - you'll be constantly going back to the footnotes and flipping back to prior chapters, trying to follow the story (which is sprawling, there's no other word for it; there are so many things going on) - but more often just deconstructing the text and marveling at his ability with words. some "sentences" are like 3 pages long , but they're grammatically flawless, somehow. the whole book is a grammar and storytelling clinic. it's a lot of work, i won't lie, but the payoff was immense.

I think I remember you saying you've never read any DFW before, right? He's VERY dense, and his footnotes are absured, to put it mildly. He wrote some pieces for Harper's you can check out to get a sense of his complete writing style. Read the first one at least, it's short

http://www.badgerinternet.com/~bobkat/kafka.html
http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/D ... tense.html

You sure you're ready for this, OB?

man, i think so

(and i havent read DFW before)

I have a feeling you'll like the essay on Kafka, it's pretty brilliant

one last thing (i could go on about DFW and this book forever): his prose style is so unique and badass that it will affect the way you write (and even think). it pushes the boundaries of what you can fit into a sentence and how you can say it, and you can't help but emerge from it with a different perspective on both reading and writing. it's like watching a magician.

it showed me what's possible in a book, both in terms of the story itself and the way it's written. what he does in that book, i hadn't seen before and haven't since. haven't even come close, actually. the guy wrote on a different plane. (don't even bother trying to understand the math stuff. LOL)

you might not want to read it if you're an aspiring writer, though. you'll probably never pick up a pen again. (it almost derailed his own career, the prospect of following it up was so daunting.) and it will most likely ruin the books you read in the months following it. "genius" is tossed around pretty liberally, but he really was one. and IJ is his masterpiece.

sounds fun, and ya im a terrible writer and perfectly content with it

(thinks about mario; smiles)

favorite character ever. book, tv show, movie - mario incandenza tops them all. he makes owen meany seem plain and one-dimensional.

i'll stop now. read this, guys.

I'm not comparing the two, but GRRM had this effect on me. It took about 3-4 books to really get back into reading once I was done with Feast.

I'm ready for this. It's official - once I'm done with The Shining onto this.

You'd have to be pretty dedicated to get through this book in 2 months. I took my time with it, even took some time off here and there, and it took me about 6 months. Most of that was the first 500 pages or so, though. Once I got to the half-way point, I got sucked in so much that it was all I could think about. I got through the last 400-500 pages in maybe a month.

There are a few things that make IJ such a challenging (and rewarding) read. Yes, the writing is extremely dense. It frequently reads like a philosophy text book, or an AA handbook, or a tennis play-by-play, or some other thing.

Another thing is that it's extremely non-linear. And I don't mean that in the Tarantino-esque, shuffling around the timeline sense. I mean it in the literal sense, that you will spend hours literally flipping back and forth between the text and the endnotes, and even the endnotes' footnotes.

You will also have to go back and re-read large sections of the book periodically. There are sections throughout the book that make little or no sense until you have read the whole thing. And I'm talking about crucial stuff, details that are absolutely essential to having any understanding of the story.

I think the thing that is the hardest for people is that there is no payoff at the end. I mean, everything you need to know is between the covers of the book, but DFW doesn't even pretend to try to put it together for you. IJ is like a puzzle, except finishing the book isn't like putting it together, it's more like just counting the pieces and trying to flip them all picture-side up. Putting the puzzle together is a whole different activity.

It's a challenge, but totally worth it. I've read a lot of books, but Infinite Jest is definitely one of the best. Maybe the best.

I think I'm in.
Yes, I will join this book club.
Sounds intriguing.

september 1 sounds good btw, ill have some books on my list finished by then

jake is gonna make the offical thread (i already have a wildly successful book thread *leans back in chair*)

tips on How to read it:
http://infinitesummer.org/archives/215

wiki:
http://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/dav ... =Main_Page

im kind of intimidated

that book seems like way too much for me

For real, should we have a Hamlet Cliffs notes thread before IJ?

Good lord, this is going to be insane; my gf might be on board with me too (probably not on phook though)

this is going to be intense.

Definitely go over Hamlet first. Some of the Hamlet references are extremely obvious, but there are a lot of subtle references and themes that you might miss if you're not pretty familiar with it.

ok, noted. i'll brush up on my hamlet.

I'm in. Let the countdown begin suckaz.

It took me two months of very dedicated reading to get through it, but it was a reading experience unlike any other I've ever had. The book is at once extremely complicated and totally engrossing and so it challenges and rewards the reader at every turn, which makes you feel like you're are the teacher's favorite student, which, in turn, makes the reading itself feel less daunting than it actually is. Reading IJ is like being in a very intimate relationship with someone who is brilliant, obsessed, hilarious, depressed and utterly humane. Here's (http://faculty.sunydutchess.edu/oneill/Infinite.htm) a site with very brief, but helpful summaries of every section, which really abetted my own reading.

Oh, and I will follow along with the book club because, well, it's that darn good.

Man, that IJ wiki page looks intense

This is going to be super fun. I'm excited!

yup. it's gonna be hard not to re-read it myself once i see everyone talking about it.

Just requested it through my school library.
It's been a long time (since ASoIaF, really) since I've found a non-philosophy book that is completely engrossing.

i'm thinking i need to buy it rather than go through the library. i'll want to make my own notes in the margin as i am prone to do. english major, ftw!

Yeah, you're gonna want to get your own copy.

http://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Jest-Dav ... 150&sr=8-1

I wish I could post this flow chart my friend made of the relationship between the characters. It's massive and detailed enough to include characters as minor as S. Johnson.

What type of time do we wanna set here? Everyone cool with 6 months?

The only tip you really need is to not stop reading when you get frustrated in the first 100 pages. Tone and setting can change drastically and frequently, especially in the beginning. But there are enough highly enjoyable (and readable) sections to get you through the tougher parts.

Also, don't worry about Hamlet. When you get done with Infinite Jest, literary references will be the last thing on your mind. (Eschaton will be first.)

Updated - this is the official thread since there is already some good stuff in here. I want to keep this spoiler free since we'll all be all over the book at our own pace. We can have seperate spoiler threads whenever we get to key points. Those who've read it - is there good natural breaks to set up spoiler discussion threads or how would you suggest doing it?

was wondering that too.

i kind of thought a bunch of spoiler threads would be annoying to dumbs; or i think we might have to do something like this:

i think i might give this book a try afterall
i'll look up online if there is a book club recommendation on how to easily break up the book for random discussions

Not a bad idea. I think if there are three or four main sections it wouldn't be too bad. Otherwise your method might be best. At some point people will have to try to keep up with thegeneral crowd, kind of like the grrm thread.

contemplating if i should join

can't find any info about good points to break for discussion
only thing i found is it's 194 chapters