I just finished reading Wallace’s Infinite Jest. I get that the first chapter of the book is the ending of the story. But it isn’t really clear to me what the connection is between the “end” of the book (Chapter 1) and the rest of the book. How did Hal get to the point where he can’t even function?
It’s been such a long time I can’t remember the specifics, but it might help to know that the novel structurally resembles the Sierpinski triangle.
And before you ask, no, I do not know what that’s supposed to mean. 
There are different theories. One possibility is that Pemulis dosed Hal’s toothbrush with DMZ, or that it was an effect brought on by a mold that Hal ate in childhood, or a combination of the two. My own theory is that the Entertainment is a short movie created by James Incandenza (Hal’s dad) for the purpose of bringing Hal out of his shell and making him more outgoing. It has the side effect of making anyone else who views it catatonic. Somewhere in Hal’s stream-of-consciousness ramblings in the first couple chapters (the chronologically last events in the book), I think there’s mention that he and Don Gately (whom Hal had not even met by the “end” of the book) traveled to the Great Concavity, unearthed James’ casket, and got their copy of the Entertainment that way. Hal viewed it and it worked too well, causing him to spew out lengthy streams of gibberish.
One of these days I’ll re-read it and find the quotes that support my interpretation.
So it wasn’t brought on by Hal’s marijuana withdrawal? That’s the only thing I could think of, but it didn’t seem proportional.
I should probably re-read the 1st couple of chapters.
Another question: Did Marate ever find the master copy of the cartridge? I thought that he was on the verge of discovering it at that half-way house, but it seemed like that plot point never went anywhere.
That actually makes sense, in a way, except that the book would presumably be linear / 1-D and the triangle is 2-D. But certainly one could write a fractal-like book.
I just reread the first part of the book, and I can see evidence for the mold possibility (otherwise inserting that story about eating mold doesn’t make much sense) and I can also see your point–Jim mentions that he has a cartridge in his head, and Hal mentions digging up his father’s head. But I think Jim called it a “priapism-inducing cartridge” which doesn’t match the rest of the book–was he lying in the hopes that it would pique Hal’s curiosity, thus tricking Hal into trying to retake it after his death?
Could you explain what that would mean about the structure of the book?
What happened to Hal is a source of great speculation. Some say it’s a result of watching the ‘entertainment’ - which had a different effect on him than on others because it was designed for him by his father.
Search around on the net for competing ideas. (Fore example, here http://www.thehowlingfantods.com/dfw/ij-notes-and-speculations.html)
Also, for reference, a visual map to characters:
The reference to James making a movie to make Hal more outgoing is somewhere in the middle of the book (I think). (Probably not in James’ filmography (which is in one of the endnotes[sup]1[/sup]), though.) I don’t remember if we’re told precisely which film it is. For that matter, is it ever explicitly stated that the Entertainment is one of James’ (Himself’s) films?
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Which my spellchecker[sup]2[/sup] would prefer I write as “end notes”.
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“Spellchecker” is, however, AOK.
I was thinking in terms of the scenes switching around. For example:
A = scene of Hal in childhood, say age 10
B = scene of Hal at the academy, say age 16
Then one could write scenes that would alternate:
A for 50 pages
B for 10, A for 10, B for 10, A for 10, B for 10
A again for 50 pages
This would be 1-D version of a fractal like the Sierpinksi triangle.
Of course, in practice there are more layers and more scenes, but that’s the sort of thing I was imagining.
The prototypical example of such a fractal is the Cantor set.
This thread has given me a lot to think about. Now I’m not sure if I should start on the Pale King or reread Infinite Jest.
Thank you; I was trying to think of the name of that and it was eluding me. Googling fractals didn’t help.
I haven’t read any other Wallace books but maybe I should! IJ gave me a lot to think about.
I just started The Pale King. This is my first Wallace book. I am completely enthralled.