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Infinite Jest

Started this 1000 page book on recommendation of Steve R.  A little wary--does anyone have 1000 pages worth to say?  But I'm seeing this as a 10 page a day read.

Can't quite tell what I'm in for.

YEAR OF GLAD: Felt like a short story. Tennis player, top-notch, at U of A meeting regarding athletic scholarship.  He says nothing but sees everything.  Very funny at times: He's appalled that one of the U of A people uses whomsoever as a subject, for example. Kid is silent, Uncle speaks for him.  They send Uncle out of room and try to speak directly to the boy.  He apparently explodes in some guttural, terrifying language. They wrestle him to the ground and out of the room.

 Liked it a lot. Great observation of details, of thinking, of group dynamics.  "Making it strange." A very typical meeting with the lens just a little out of typical focus and all the craziness is exposed.  The boy's craziness becomes a kind of sanity.

Also, great descriptions that aren't out of kilter. Mom trying to run a rototiller, for example. p 10

YEAR OF THE DEPEND ADULT UNDERGARMENT

Seems to be completely divorced from Chapter? One.

This story is about a guy--heavy marijuana user--waiting for a major delivery.  We go through all his self-deceptions, his ruses with other people, his panic.  Great series of observations of a bug coming out of a grate, disappearing, coming back. Much like him.

Wonderful moments:  "His refrigerator made its own ice in little cloudy crescent blocks."  . . . flipping movie cartridges on TV because he's afraid the next cartridge might be better than what he's watching . . .

didn't like the ending of this one.  Phone and doorbell ring at same time.  He's splayed--unable to decide which to go to so unable to answer either. Too literary/symbolic for me. Liked everything else.




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