this book is breaking my brain

[@tjd6449]

I am so glad I found this channel, as it brings back memories and observations I had when reading Infinite Jest for the first time 7 years ago. I found myself getting pretty frustrated with DFW on numerous occasions, but in the end, it was one of the most impactful books I have read in my life. Concerning the pedantic nature and downright slog of information provided in the godforsaken endnotes, I too thought perhaps the novel could be considered pretentious. However, I truly believe DFW used IJ to express the amazing concept of turning banal, everyday events into remarkable portrayals of the human experience. I recommend listening to the interview DFW did on the Leonard Lopate Show from WNYC in 1996. DFW gives a great explanation on why he made IJ so demanding for the reader. And but so…

[@CallosumBooks]

i’ll give it a listen, and your comment is encouraging! i’ve certainly picked up on that this book literally tests the reader with its own thesis haha. like how things are constantly competing for your attention and it’s so easy to give in, so he writes these super long and pedantic sections to kind of test the readers own attention and patience, and in those slogs are some of the best nuggets of info. it’s cool to be a part of the experiment lol but i’ll keep going! i was definitely too harsh on my video, im still quite enjoying the book, and im still way too early into it to definitely say how i feel.

[@tjd6449]

@@CallosumBooks I think your analysis is spot on there. It is like we are part of the experiment or a reflection of DFW’s general commentary on consumption of entertainment. Looking forward to your next update on IJ!

[@jonebiboh]

Watching your DFW mini rant was just fun for me and he's one of those capital A American authors that I think will give me a lot of work if I were to try and read him but I do have him in mind if I ever am able to see a physical copy here and if it's affordable because it seems like the kind of book I'd not like to read digitally. And I very much think that there are authors who write with the awareness of the talent they hold, whether as a result of what they'd been told or something else, and so it sometimes seeps into their writing. So very relatable feeling. Proust, another famous one who I've heard so much of from the internet but would also like to own physically. I am glad you are enjoying that. It was fun spending the time of this video hearing your thoughts and goodluck on preparing for the dissertation.

[@CallosumBooks]

i definitely think this would be a tough book to read digitally, especially if you’re someone who takes a lot of notes while reading. it’s doable though! i hope you can find a copy where you’re located!

[@Pollymacho]

I've also been reading though Infinite Jest while watching this and find myself agreeing with a lot of what you mentioned. Like the book is a mix of some really good stuff (The section where a dad is trying to teach his son Tennis had me cackling) mixed with this limitless style that seems to expand on so many different parts that I find myself really lost or unengaged. I appreciate your down to earth discussion, its engaging how you can talk about these interesting ideas in a way that's easy to understand and isn't trying to do a mental one upmanship. You're doing great stuff, thanks for making this!

[@CallosumBooks]

hey thanks so much for such a nice comment! i also loved the scene with James and his dad, it was so hectic and anxious haha. if you’re still going, it gets soooo much better so stick with it! i’m much further into the book now than i was when i made the video haha

[@Pollymacho]

@@CallosumBooks Thanks for the encouragement, I think I'll keep going!

[@musicroom7185]

A couple of thoughts...I will NEVER be reading this book! There are people that are wired to enjoy the challenge of this sort of book, and those who are wired to ask "why would I put myself through this?" I am one of the latter. 🤷‍♂Watching your videos sometimes, it reminds me of a girl (front row flute player) in my class back in the '90's. When I would go off on a passionate rant, she would sweetly raise her hand and say, "Mr. *****, I think you need to take a deep breath and count to 10," 🙂 I say that with a smile, because I think you are great, but you sure do give a lot of thought to things! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I look forward to your videos.

[@CallosumBooks]

hahahaha my girlfriend says almost the same exact thing to me when i start going off on a rant i edited out like 10 minutes of me ranting in this video! i then realized it was giving way too much of the impression that i wasn't enjoying this book, which isn't true, i'm still very much enjoying it. as far as challenging reads, as long as i feel the challenge is worth it, i absolutely love them. and that's still how i feel for now, and i do not blame people for not wanting to continue haha. so glad you're enjoying the videos! always love reading your comments. thanks again for stopping by :)

[@marcocurci7110]

I picked this up for my summer read as well after watching your summer reading video and man, I feel the same way! I’m only like 70 pages in but man… I keep going back and forth on whether I want to drop it. So many scenes have amazing prose and really human characters. And then another scene is so dry and verbose for no reason. Only reason I still haven’t dropped it is because I keep thinking about it throughout the day (and how it’s unlike anything I’ve ever read. Whether a good way or bad way)

[@CallosumBooks]

stick with it! we'll get through it haha. i think it'll be worth it. i think it's also worth remembering that one of the the themes in this book is that people actively try to get away from discomfort, and are always searching for something else to take their intention. which he is quite literally testing your patience and attention with the writing style of the book hahaha. so it's cool because it sort of proves its own point and tests the reader with its own thesis. we got this! also FWIW it gets sooo much better in the mid 80's and on

[@marcocurci7110]

Agreed, I’m about 180 pages in now. There’s definitely some really awesome scenes and prose but some of the low points are defeating me 😂

[@CallosumBooks]

@@marcocurci7110 the madame psychosis part 💀

[@HeyThereDude0011]

I got 100 pgs in years ago and gave up. Few years later, i tried again and finished it and loved it so much! (Same story with Gravity’s Rainbow) Keep going!

[@Metafictional.meathead]

If you were not a fan of the first chapter or so, I highly recommend you go back and reread them (really the first 40-60 pages) after you finish. It will read so differently

[@EduardoHenrique-nd1ro]

Another amazing video, Matt! Thanks for sharing! Lovely week ahead! Cheers from Brazil!

[@CallosumBooks]

thank you! have a great week!

[@bookstalgic]

Very cool that you’re reading this! In all honesty, I don’t think I ever will, but it’s interesting hear others talk about it. It sounds both incredibly fascinating and challenging. Funny he predicted FaceTiming and filters lol. Character attachments while reading is also really important to me too. I definitely need to feel like they could be real people having these experiences. Ok, so as I’m watching this, now I kind of want to read it 😂. If I do, I’m going to read it along with some study guide or explanation though, haha. Frustrating about the mistakes with the sections about neuroanatomy; I’m a nurse and feel the same way during some hospital or healthcare scenes in books that portray a wacky unrealistic situation 😂. Awesome breakdown and discussion! I hope more people that have read this can find this video to chat with you about it (the nice people at least) haha 😊

[@CallosumBooks]

thanks so much! give it a shot haha, the writing itself isn’t super challenging it’s just wordy and information heavy at times 😅 but it’s also hilarious and the story is compelling. and thank you! thankfully everyone’s been nice 😂

[@RJRobertson-fd8xy]

Your honesty in discussing IJ is why I keep watching your channel. I feel as if I am with a cool friend bouncing ideas off of each other in a non-threatening discussion where intellectualism is not paramount, but understanding is a primary part of the literary journey. Personally, though, I will stick with reading East of Eden...less intimidating. Someday, maybe I will be ready for DFW. Stay salty Matt!

[@CallosumBooks]

i’m glad you feel that way, that’s definitely the vibe i’m going for in these videos! thanks for such a nice comment. this book will be there whenever you’re ready for it, there’s no pressure! east of eden is a big feat in an of itself. there is so much amazing literature out there that there is plenty of stuff to prime yourself on before you’re ready for this one.

[@lilibethestrada6633]

Just finished bingeing all your videos while at work and I felt the “just being in academia and how many ppl there are obsessed with being the smartest person in the room I get the same vibes from this book.” Exhausting, but anyways really enjoy your commentary and aura so glad I found this channel

[@michaelguzman5497]

Hi! This was the first video of yours that I've seen. It's *so great* that you're reading Infinite Jest, and commenting on it as you're reading it. I think it took me four months, and read every endnote. It does definitely test your endurance, but if you think you're going to get lost, don't go into the forest in the first place. While I was reading it, I didn't worry about how many pages were left in the book; the author had gone to the trouble to design this magnificently huge work, and I was going to get through it. Sure there will be difficult sections, but if you stay with it, you will find passages that will resonate with you forever. I understand that you're still early in the book, and the vast cerebral circus is pretty new to you, but reading this particular tome is sort of like a hiker going on what may possibly be the most demanding hike of his life. It draws resources out of you of which you were previously unaware. So...yeah. I wish I knew the Latin phrase for "happy reading", it could be the way that fellow readers of IJ say goodbye when we meet on the street 😊😁😂

[@CallosumBooks]

thanks for your comment! i’m much further in the book now than when i initially recorded this and am enjoying it much much more. also just want to say that “vast cerebral circus” is such a great phrase haha.

[@CoanBread751]

Not trying to be a douche, but I recently watched your video about books you want to read in the future and works like Gravity's Rainbow or Ulysses make Infinite Jest feel like YA lit. That encyclopedic style that you talk about is a cornerstone of many modernists and post-modernists and if you think Wallace comes across as pretentious, you are in for some real eye rolling when you move on to Pynchon....or especially Gaddis. I personally find that Infinite Jest is overflowing with heart, empathy, wit, and pathos and is the definitive novel exploring the concept of addiction in all of it's forms. Hang in there...I promise it is worth it.

[@CallosumBooks]

you don't sound like a douche at all! i appreciate your comment and the heads up and i hope you enjoyed the videos you watched. and it's hard to articulate - it's not necessarily the encyclopedic style that bothers me per se... some of the encyclopedic moments are highlights for me and pretty fun to read. i also did really enjoy the contrasts between like the big rambling detailed moments and the other moments that are a bit more intimate/passionate (like when he's talking about tennis and competition, which you can really tell he loved and was passionate about). i think something about just the tone rubbed me the wrong way, and at points seemed at odds with some of the messaging in the book, you know? and absolutely will hang in there, i'm still enjoying the book a lot! just at the time of recording i was rubbed the wrong way at what i had just read haha.

[@dellh86]

So the first 250ish pages are generally considered one of the most difficult chunks of IJ. The book is cyclical and assumes it will be reread(what an assumption right lol), so there are things going on that you won't understand simply because you haven't read the whole book all the way through yet. I definitely found the overintellectualization a little frontloaded. I considered much of the difficulty as him mocking the reader's own desire to get to the Show, seeing how this book is such trophy book to brag about lol. I think much of the point of Lyle(who I don't think is encountered until much later) as a character is to ground the moral judgements that DFW is passing on about not seeing life as a competition and instead "being like water" or some other Daoist type thing. Also, I do think he was quite legitimately some eccentric genius type that maybe couldn't have written this without footnotes. He also uses footnotes in The Pale King. You seemed to be picking up on much of the metafictional elements of this novel, which I only started to really "get" when I was almost finished with the book. The narrator is a character and he/she changes throughout the novel just as much as the characters within the narrative. Nice to know his neuroscience doesn't quite hold up to the scruttiny of an expert in that field. His math(which is what my degree is in) seemed to check out to me throughout the novel. Your back and forth attitude to how you feel about the book is too real. I think everyone feels that way while reading the book and the end is going to make you mad lol.

[@CallosumBooks]

hey this is an excellent - thanks so much for dropping by and sharing such a thoughtful comment. this comment makes me wanna go and read the book right now haha. also i've met lyle so far twice in the book, hilarious fkn character hahaha

[@eskybakzu712]

Wallace dual-majored in English lit and philosophy, and I'm pretty sure his subfocus in philosophy was modal logic and mathematics, so not surprising it holds up. Was even admitted to Harvard for a PhD in philosophy, though, of course, barely even started it.

[@AndriusReadsBooksSometimes]

I think I have that exact same edition of Labyrinths haha! Borges isn't the type of writing I normally gravitate towards, but I still really liked it when I read it maybe 10 years ago? With him there's a lot of passion and heart behind the dry-ish intellectual 'what if' games. I've never read Infinite Jest and so far have no intention of doing so, but your thoughts are pretty much totally in line with the impression I have of it based on other people's commentary. Which just makes me more certain about not wanting to read it lmao.

[@CallosumBooks]

labyrinths has been great so far, and i definitely agree that you can feel his passion behind his often wordy and dense writing

[@Ecostash-organization]

Your video is so clear and the explanation is very clear, we like it very much!

[@CoolcatzCorner]

200 pages in is when I started to get headaches (I read those 200 pages in one weekend so that may be why) Keep going! lol. My personal definition of a love / hate relationship with a book I switched to audio around 500 pages in and listened to it while going for walks and drives and it made it such a memorable experience. I went back and read the footnotes after, which some say is cheating but I could give a fuck (I didn’t even notice the footnotes upon reading the first 50 pages so I definitely missed some things anyway) but to me there’s multiple books in here and one of them is the footnotes I’d like to do a full proper re-read (and I’ve tried multiple times)

[@CallosumBooks]

the first 200 pages in one weekend is diabolical hahaha

[@muratisik6956]

The audiobook really helps. Would have been amazing if DFW himself had narrated it.

[@CallosumBooks]

it would be great to hear DFW narrate it. when he reads his own writing you can really tell how smoothly his writing style flows in his own voice

[@CoolcatzCorner]

He does have a really relaxing voice. I’d recommend his Consider the Lobster essays, some of which, if not all, he read in an audiobook format

[@JKC1138]

I don't think your response to Wallace or Infinite Jest are unfounded. I think the author has such an outsized reputation that it's difficult not to let it affect the reading experience. I also think it can be tempting to engage in an intellectual dick measuring contest with DFW for similar reasons. I read the book not to challenge him, but to challenge myself; to see if I could even do it, and I was ultimately surprised by how earnest and empathetic the novel was. It can definitely be frustrating/pretentious/tedious, and I too found his depiction of race baffling, but I thought its exploration of emptiness and addiction was moving, and worth the time it demanded of me. I will say that past the 250/300 page mark you start to acclimate to the novel's structure and it becomes more satisfying. Did for me at least. Good luck!

[@CallosumBooks]

yeah absolutely, i think that’s why i love the characters so much, i think he communicated super well through them, and communicates that emptiness you mentioned. and i shoulda talked a little more about what i liked tbh, i am still enjoying the book quite a bit haha. and i am definitely not actively reading to challenge him you know? i try to suspend my disbelief, and like with areas i don’t know much about i just take his word for it. but like, when he’s using complex ideas and is just totally wrong, it just makes me question his motives in adding all the extra complexities i guess. but still so much reading left and i appreciate your thoughtful comment!

[@CallosumBooks]

also just wanted to throw out there that comments like yours are the reason i started this channel… i really appreciate that even though you have different thoughts about the book so far you were able to explain your own thoughts and open up a cool discussion about the book. i will definitely keep your thoughts in mind while i continue reading! just cool that i get to read other people’s thoughtful opinions. booktube is the best lol

[@JKC1138]

@@CallosumBooks Oh hey, I'm glad you liked my comment. You're one of the more thoughtful channels on here and we have similar literary interests, so I love hearing your perspective as well.

[@CallosumBooks]

@@JKC1138 thank you so much!

[@ladylovesteadreads]

I work in academia and I hear you on the bloated egos that shine through in some writing. Ooof.

[@vjpublisher]

Please finish reading it. Would love to hear more of your observations/opinions about it.

[@CallosumBooks]

absolutely! i’ll finish it and will probably have 1 or 2 more check in videos with it updating my current thoughts

[@vjpublisher]

Thanks so much! Really looking forward to it!

[@ThomasVanderWal]

I really like David Foster Wallace writing, but the best thing I did with IJ is stop reading it. IJ is challenging ready to be challenging reading and really doesn’t have much else to offer. If looking for Eastern philosophy take a look at Thomas Merton who was a Catholic monk who lived in Asia and picked up meditation and writes about the intersections of western and eastern philosophy. Find a bookstore with a few of his books and see what connects. I went to a Catholic college and the head of the college put me onto Moore and I just keep going.

[@bradykelso8682]

You’ve got Proust over your right shoulder. It’s all good. 😀✌️

[@medusamoons]

good luck with your dissertation!

[@ralphjenkins1507]

❤ your channel. I'm also tackling many of the same novels you presented. Keep up the good work.

[@CallosumBooks]

thank you!! which ones are you reading?

[@ralphjenkins1507]

@@CallosumBooks Infinite Jest, and À la recherche du temps perdu.

[@jackwalter5970]

I tried to get into it twice and couldn't. Wallace is all intellect and almost devoid of emotion. Not sure if I will ever go back to it.

[@CallosumBooks]

i dunno. i think there is a lot of emotion in this book, i think it might just get bogged down by the information surrounding it. what comes to mind are the sections where DFW is writing about tennis and competition. those are filled with emotion and passion, and you can really tell it was something he really loved at some point. the first 100 pages or so were particularly rough though so i don’t blame you

[@heathereads]

Appreciate the part where you question Foster's neuroanatomy knowledge. It would be easy for a non-specialist to be "wowed" by Foster. You made him human just then.

[@jamesbaird1342]

I could write a book in responce. Im a therapist when im amonst my friends who are real estate salesmen and muscicians and accountants ... I impress them without trying when im with other therapists i often feel stupid. I took the book as an autobiography weitten as a novel . He divided his life in those characters. I under stand when you read him trying to be what you know and you being picky but its a novel have fun. BTW I left out a lot of punctuation to shorten but still went to long.

[@CallosumBooks]

i like this idea, i for sure have picked up on the notion that each character is a part of himself - and i definitely like that about the novel, the characters are probably my favorite part. i think it's more the way he writes about the various topics within the book that rubs me the wrong way. i still have a lot to go through! 800 pages left haha, my opinion could totally change by the end

[@lisaowens7304]

When you read Ulysses, you'll see the huge influence Joyce had on DFW. PS, if you want to join a reading group for Ulysses, reply to me and I'll send you a link. We read it together every summer. together.

[@CallosumBooks]

that sounds fun! i might take you up on that

[@cobaltcrusader9841]

I can promise you that the last quarter is peak fiction

[@katlamb4606]

Call me shallow but this man's beauty was what made me click. This doesn't usually happen. He's majestic!🤩

[@hildaivo7246]

Nice review

[@marcelhidalgo1076]

(DNF)W

[@CallosumBooks]

LMAOO ok this one got me i'm still enjoying the book!! i'll finish it, it still feels absolutely worth the effort so far

[@steventregilgas5016]

This book is crap

[@wayneparris3243]

Just finished listening to this lecture on IJ and found it fascinating and helpful. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d52YlGmnaqZ8n7ssi=c_D20s3kYzLGGq_f He says to get at least past the first 200 pages…you’ve conquered that so keep going! I’m starting IJ this evening!

[@CallosumBooks]

oh bejamin mcevoy! he’s got a bunch of great videos. and yes! i’m around pg 350 and can confirm it is so much better now haha. i hope you enjoy it!! let me know what you think