Okay okay, I'll read 1Q84 not 'Infinite Jest' already.

[MadJohnShaft]

Yowsa, taking the plunge with the well loved Infinite Jest.

Goodbye rest of the literary world until I can slog through it.  I expect a lot of Tennis.   Poor David Foster Wallace should have stuck it out.  

http://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Jest-0-ebook/dp/B000S1M9LY/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_3

Today, March 2, 2012 he would have turned 50 - why, Lord, why?

[Jor el]

Good Luck

[MadJohnShaft]

It's great!  I skipped over the burroughs-esque ghetto junky chapter - cause it's been done - but the rest is fucking 'awesome'

[Jor el]

I bought it quite a few years ago, but never got up & running.

[MadJohnShaft]

If you haven't read any of his essays or other stuff.... I found that good wind-up to take the plunge here.

13% done

[MadJohnShaft]

And abandoned for a bunch of other stuff - 1Q84 is a big fucking thing and it has grabbed me.


Yes! I read the Mindy Kalib book then right back to 1Q84 (which is great) then back to I.J.

Poor David Foster Wallace is dead and his best book is so long people can only pretend they read it.

[MadJohnShaft]

1Q84 was on hold.

But not now, got it up to 60% on vacation last week, thanks to some flying.  


White Teeth by Zadie Smith seems to be in the same bucket as 1Q84, amazing adventures of kavalier and clay, Infinite Jest, and The Corrections so I may try that as my big old read next.


http://www.amazon.com/White-Teeth-Vintage-International-ebook/dp/B000FBFM9S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325769783&sr=1-1

[Mr Neutron]

so, mjs, what's the verdict on the Murakami book?

I read, and enjoyed Hard boiled wonderland...., this might be worth checking out.

[MadJohnShaft]

79%

It's got issues per the reviews - I'm not feeling the length works with the plot and vice versa. I am enjoying reading it but it feels like there is a more reasonable sized novel inside it trying to break free.

I hope it ends well

[MadJohnShaft]

I finished 1Q84 and fuck yeah! I read me a big assed long book.  Now I miss it.  I give it a solid B+, figure our man wanted to write one really long book.


They all do.


Now, for my main long assed fiction book, I'm picking between resuming Infinte Jest, Zadie Smith's White Teeth, or this 50s masterpiece by  William Gass  called The Recognitions that sounds interesting .

http://www.amazon.com/Recognitions-American-Literature-Dalkey-Archive/dp/1564786919/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_t_1

[MadJohnShaft]

The Recognitions might be the winner, it's crazy long and not messing around. I read the first couple of pages a few times, cause it is like that.

But I started White Teeth instead, a well loved novel.

[MadJohnShaft]

Hey - the book people have some necrophilia for poor David Foster Wallace.  Let the man be, he was sad.


Look at this handwritten page from this novel

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/assets_c/2010/03/InfiniteJestDraft-28121.html

[Dylan Thomas]

Definitely a long book.  One of these days I will also read it.

[rayinreverse]

Use the 3 bookmark method.
one for the page youre on. One for the index of footnotes, and one for the timeline.
I know it seems ridiculous, but it makes it a little easier to read.
read all of the footnotes!

[MadJohnShaft]

You know, the footnotes on Ipad are not that bad - the only thing is if you leave off reading while on a footnote it is jarring and confusing to remember to click back to the main text - I almost wish you could put the footnotes in-line.