Writers on Wallace

[@paul_cockburn]

I really loved this, made me sad, but also motivated. TLDR you'll never be David Foster Wallace, but you can love his writing and try to do something for yourself.

[@Blake_.Dryden]

Good Old Neon is the best short story I've ever read. It's a great introduction to Foster Wallace's work.

[@MartianManhunter1987]

It is great but Soul is not a smithy is arguably same tier stuff. More intimate than Good Old Neon I think which rubs off on me more. The section where the protagonist imagines what his Dad does at work is some of the best stuff I've ever read.

[@pvrunner8]

There’s something so direct and straightforward about it that really makes it intimate. The portrait he lays out is horrifying because the inescapable despair that the narrator feels is only too relatable for me. Thankfully I’ve found that story instructive because while I can relate to the narrator and can follow the persuasive, logical argument that he makes, I feel like there’s a subconscious undercurrent of shame in that story that the narrator is incapable of addressing. I’m grateful to at least be able to acknowledge my own sense of shame and how powerful it can be. Getting out from underneath it is no mean feat and can probably never happen completely, but I do think it can get better. But yeah I agree with you-there’s something really special and singular about Good Old Neon.

[@Smoochy44]

What a pleasure. Thank you for uploading this discussion, it's fantastic!

[@Blake_.Dryden]

Pain & torment aren't a necessity for great work, but can inspire great work. At the same time, pain has completely disabled me at points.

[@paul_cockburn]

Very true, I loved the music of "Badly Drawn Boy" until he found fame and life became stable. It seemed to me that his music resonated from a fragile place. I think the same can be said for DFW

[@Mfbxjma3]

What's not to like? Just one of many fascinating talks/recordings that can be found on KZbin to do with David Foster Wallace. I wonder if the one dislike is from a Mr Ellis or Easton Ellis? Can't be troubled to check if I've spelled that correctly. Surely, DFW will go down as one of the most important writers ever - trouble is, people sometimes confuse the man with the work.

[@christinacascadilla4473]

That man was wrong. Wallace never said he used the Fraytag Triangle for the format of Infinite Jest. He said it was a Sierpinski Gasket. I hate when I watch a video hoping I’ll learn something new, and I know more than the people talking.

[@lordbunbury]

It’s weird, because “that man” is Michael Pietsch. Who edited most of his work, including Infinite Jest. DFW always said that MP made his work better. Plus a Freytag Pyramid is the most basic dramatic structure. It’s probably used in 99% of movies, shows and books. It’s probably taught in all 101 drama writing classes. It seems suspiciously weird that MP doesn’t know this. He seems pretty nervous and I think he just accidentally messed that up by mixing up Freytag and Sierpinski.

[@tedpedersen123]

Can you kindly explain? Does it have to do with the shapes, or that the shapes can get divided infinitely and they remain? Or something greater? You seem to have great insight into this concept and I am excited to understand. ✌️

[@lucasbleyle5015]

@@lordbunbury This was comedy for me

[@onecentnickel]

one of the few good discussions on him :P

[@kate9341]

Более точная формулировка Франзена была такой "У меня были птицы, мне было куда уйти от себя, а Дэвиду нет" Я помню, однажды Роберт Смит, лидер группы The Cure, сказал: "Счастье - это когда ты забываешь о собственном существовании". Вот он говорил ровно о том же самом.

[@travisfitzwater8093]

Read Sagan's The Dragons of Eden tonight. First. Before reading anything else. This book ought to be split into 11 versions appropriate for gradiating learning stages and required for everyone in each gradiant at its earliest moment.

[@Jimalax11]

fretagian triangle? I thought he said it was modelled after a serpinski gasket.

[@tedpedersen123]

I think it’s pretty obvious he does *not quite remember and he says he doesn’t understand. Maybe you can elaborate. Triangles within triangles within triangles that can be constantly reduced. That is my layman’s deduction. What’s yours?

[@489Acresofwheat]

@@tedpedersen123 Fractals

[@Tweston3ny]

Yup

[@KeithHansen-ll5dm]

As a trans female I found myself envying these women.

[@KeithHansen-ll5dm]

The woman on the right in particular rouses an intense envy in me.

[@darien8080]

His reputation has suffered since this was posted. Domestic violence against his partner & inappropriate relationships with his female students. Misogynistic attitudes in his writing, there’s quite a few articles that address his behaviour in well researched, articles & essays.

[@kkhushkkhush9892]

Does anybody here think that Foster was gay?

[@kkhushkkhush9892]

@Philip Walsh ARE YOU?

[@kate9341]

I don't think so