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Posts Tagged ‘david foster wallace’

In Which Some Books

Today I split my time between the two next books in the Craft Sequence.  All morning I drafted the third novel, which is taking shaky shape, and in the afternoon, after a brief period of recovery, I dove back into reviewing my publisher’s copy edits for Two Serpents.  I don’t want the copy edit review process to slow down proper writing, and it hasn’t so far.  I wrote as much as usual today, and edited as much as I needed to, and I hope I can keep up that pace.  We Shall See.  One day is hardly a pattern.

I’ve been avoiding reading fiction for the last week or so as I get deeper into the new book, which is an interesting experience, and might not be helpful.  I find myself salivating for new worlds.  I linger over descriptions of books, and run my hands down spines as I pass them.  Sometimes I peek, just a little line from somewhere in the middle.  I already have my Christmas reading list, which I plan to dive into once I put the next book to bed for the holidays.  Shall I share?

Wallace isn’t fiction, sure, but he has such a strong voice I’m wary of reading his essays during the first-drafting process.  That’s what edits are for, I guess—belt-sanding away everyone else’s words from mine.

I noticed that the Wallace book has an essay on David Lynch.  I hope he’ll talk about the Dune movie.  I’m not all that optimistic, but who knows?  The spice may flow!

A Few Words on Infinite Jest

Infinite JestInfinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Infinite Jest is profound, challenging, hilarious, scary, beautifully digressive, a powerful blend of genres and ideas. Somehow, along with the tennis and the AA and the professional football and the pharmacopeia and the Eschaton and the science fiction and the looping narratives, this is also a compelling thriller, though if you’re looking for a classic thriller resolution you’ll be disappointed… I can’t remember the last time a book made me laugh, and wince, and recoil so much – pure physical response from words on a page. Wallace has written an anthology of America, right and wrong, and of all the ways we try and fail to live and be whole.

That said, IJ is a serious undertaking, and might not be for everyone – it’s long, and winding, and doesn’t pull many punches. This book can transform your vision of the world, but part of that power comes from the fact that it’s so big its gravitational field actually bends light.