# How do I read Infinite Jest? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214 "2013-01-24T11:59:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oedipus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/1 "2013-01-24T11:59:15Z")
I’ve been meaning to read this book for so long. The furthest I’ve gotten in where the dude randomly has an episode in the middle of his tennis interview at the college. I’ve been deterred by how complex the book supposedly is. I don’t wanna get halfway through and have no idea where I’m at. If you guys could give me some words of wisdoms or something on this book, that’d be great. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/2 "2013-01-24T12:23:13Z")
> [@Oedipus](#): > > I don’t wanna get halfway through and have no idea where I’m at. That is an essential part of the _IJ_ experience. Do not fear it. ---
**Author:** ![Oedipus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/3 "2013-01-24T13:03:15Z")
So am I expected to plow through unknowing of what is actually going on the whole book and hope it all makes sense in the end…or…at least hope I get some sort of satisfaction at the end? I mean, this isn’t House of Leaves or Ulysses here. I understood what I’ve read of IJ, but I only had a kindle sample of the book, sadly, so I didn’t keep going with the book. Since then I’ve actually read about reading the book (what a totally IJ thought) and now…well lets be honest, I’m afraid to keep going because I don’t wanna invest the time to turn up with nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Oedipus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/4 "2013-01-24T13:13:29Z")
darn edit window… btw, I have read a lot of DFW essays and I have the general idea of how the man’s brain ticks (which is absolutely riveting). I just haven’t tacked his magnum opus yet. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/5 "2013-01-24T13:18:52Z")
I don’t think there are any tricks. His writing is a big sprawl, while also engaging. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/6 "2013-01-24T14:17:53Z")
Two bookmarks, one for the main part, one for the end notes. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/7 "2013-01-24T14:46:44Z")
I’ve been reading _Time’s Arrow_ by **Martin Amis** on the recommendation of a friend. I’m about 1/4 into it and considering stopping. Any reason to go on? Was my friend’s recommending it a gotcha? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/8 "2013-01-24T14:55:04Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve been reading _Time’s Arrow_ by **Martin Amis** on the recommendation of a friend. I’m about 1/4 into it and considering stopping. Any reason to go on? Was my friend’s recommending it a gotcha? I love that book; I found it worth it. Heck, it’s short, but if you’re not into it… ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/9 "2013-01-24T15:00:48Z")
To start, open _ **Infinite Jest** _ to any page you want…read around in a circle until you have read the whole book…I also like the “two bookmark” suggestion. tsfr ---
**Author:** ![Oedipus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/10 "2013-01-24T15:52:03Z")
So, I mean, it is somewhat coherent, correct? Its not like Ulysses where I have to analyze every fucking sentence, right? I read the first part, like I said, but I just wanna read something at least coherent and lucid. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/11 "2013-01-24T15:56:20Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I love that book; I found it worth it. Heck, it’s short, but if you’re not into it… OK, I’ll finish it. Just wanted to hear from someone who enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/12 "2013-01-24T16:06:59Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Two bookmarks, one for the main part, one for the end notes. This. Definitely this. Two things that I wish I had done on first reading: 1. Create a timeline, at least so I would have had easy reference to determine the relative chronological order of the activity. You can find this online, but part of the fun is deducing it yourself. 1. List major characters and basic interrelations. It’s frustratingly easy for me to lose track of who is who. I find the Eschaton to be the highlight of the book. You may want to brush up on your calculus before getting there. 🙂 (And I think I discovered this here, but if you’ve read the book and haven’t seen the [related Decemberists video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJpfK7l404I), it’s worth it) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/13 "2013-01-24T16:59:56Z")
I tried to read the book once, but I didn’t get very far. I may try again some day, when I have a lot of time on my hands; I have liked some of his non-fiction. We have had some old threads about the book ([And but so I’m reading INFINITE JEST…](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=295194); [Your thoughts on David Foster Wallace and Infinite Jest](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=240218); [“infinite Jest” anyone](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=141075)) that provide further evidence that some people love the book and some find it unreadable. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/14 "2013-01-24T17:01:12Z")
> [@Oedipus](#): > > So am I expected to plow through unknowing of what is actually going on the whole book and hope it all makes sense in the end…or…at least hope I get some sort of satisfaction at the end? It is coherent, but don’t expect a satisfying ending. It’s not a story that builds to a traditional climax and denouement. It’s more about the journey than the destination. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/15 "2013-01-24T18:55:53Z")
I found the first third or so to be really hard to get thru. Just all of a sudden everything seemed to click and I just raced thru the last two thirds. Overall I found it very enjoyable once I got a grasp on the rythems and vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![DeweyDecibel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DeweyDecibel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeweyDecibel)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/16 "2013-01-24T22:35:29Z")
I love the book, but all the hype about how complex it is and whatnot just isn’t true. It is long and there are parts that will be confusing, but just plow through them and something brilliant will be next. 90% of it is downright easy reading, this isn’t Ulysses. Pay attention, read the footnotes no matter what, and just go with it. Use at least 2 bookmarks - one for where you are in the book, and one for where you are in the footnotes. Otherwise, just read it as you would anything else. Pay attention to the dates given (“year of the whatever”). The section early on with Wardine, written in what is supposed to be a poor, urban, African-American dialect, puts a lot of people off. Just read it, don’t try too hard to decipher every little piece, it ends up flowing and making sense even though you don’t think it will. Plus, it ends and very, very little of the book is like that. D I read it with a highlighter, post it notes, a guidebook, and followed the Infinite Summer blog. That’s a blog in which the group read the book on a schedule and had weekly discussions of their current place in the book. I read the book a few years after the blog finished, but I found reading the discussions very interesting. But really not necessary if you don’t want to. Get your bookmarks and read, it’s a rewarding experience with or without all the supplemental materials. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/17 "2013-01-24T22:55:04Z")
Yeah, the two bookmark thing is good. You can’t skip the endnotes. They’re important. Also a piece of paper or an online dictionary nearby to write down or look up words you don’t know, and find out if they’re real or made up. And just be OK with being confused a lot. And if you do all that, and read the whole thing, then you have permission to decide if it’s genius or if you’ve been trolled to waste 60 hours of your life. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/18 "2013-01-25T22:07:32Z")
I’m about 1/3 in right now. It’s really not very difficult if you’ve read, well, any difficult books. DFW’s writing has an occasional air of verbosity for verbosity’s sake, but it’s not too too bad. He occasionally gets into pointlessly specific diatribes that remind me a bit too much of Tom Clancy rambling about some new gun or whatnot. There’s a hard-to-put-a-finger-on degree of smarminess that’s smeared over the whole thing, but it’s not nearly as pretentious as I expected. The oddest thing I’ve found so far is how dated it feels – it’s set in the “near future” as envisioned from the early 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Oedipus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/19 "2013-01-28T15:14:35Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > I’m about 1/3 in right now. > > It’s really not very difficult if you’ve read, well, any difficult books. DFW’s writing has an occasional air of verbosity for verbosity’s sake, but it’s not too too bad. He occasionally gets into pointlessly specific diatribes that remind me a bit too much of Tom Clancy rambling about some new gun or whatnot. There’s a hard-to-put-a-finger-on degree of smarminess that’s smeared over the whole thing, but it’s not nearly as pretentious as I expected. > > The oddest thing I’ve found so far is how dated it feels – it’s set in the “near future” as envisioned from the early 90s. Maybe the “near future” is Portland… ---
**Author:** ![btgmofo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@btgmofo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btgmofo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214/20 "2014-04-05T03:02:17Z")
It’s about substance addiction and American society’s necessity for entertainment. Sub-themes are depression, poverty, and criminal instinct. It was written around 1996, so it’s way ahead of it’s time in terms of technological infatuation (no smart phones, lap tops, or tablets). Just like in the Eggers foreward, you can read it un-chronologically and still enjoy yourself, but if you read it cover to cover, it’s much more enjoyable. I read a review where some dude said that it didn’t matter the order you read Infinite Jest in… that the chapters are mutually exclusive. this is wrong. It’s a great story. Read it, Asshole. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-read-infinite-jest/648214.md?page=2)