Out-of-the-Blue Question Thread: In which Infinite Jest's Themes are mined obliquely
DiscussionsInfinite Jesters
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1absurdeist
{note: the official start date of the "collective" read, sponsored by Heroic Stasis Entertainment™, still does not begin until 01.01.2013, but due to a recent message I received, it's clear some group members (who won't be named; i.e., "Ganeshaka"), have already begun reading the book, Infinite Jest, and I'd be naive, wouldn't I, believing others hadn't prematurely begun as well, and since I'm chomping to get started too anyway -- not with my own start-to-finish re-reading; no, but with questions, why not ask some questions I've been meaning to ask and, maybe if others have wondered about the same things too, a preliminary discussion might ensue. If not, these are then merely questions I'm asking myself now and noting down to later more fully explore.}
2absurdeist
Was Hal Incandenza a genius?
Reading the first chapter, "Year of Glad," seems to indicate it. Check out those ultra-academic sample essay titles of his. Listen to his syntactical confidence when he speaks.
But, after "seeing some details for the first time" (happens to me all the time w/this book) in chapter 3 ("1 April -- Year of the Tuck's Medicated Pad", beginning on p. 27), I'm looking at Hal in a different light. It's not automatic in my reading of IJ anymore that Hal was this natural child prodigy genius. If anybody didn't read him that way already, I'm very curious to hear why.
Reading the first chapter, "Year of Glad," seems to indicate it. Check out those ultra-academic sample essay titles of his. Listen to his syntactical confidence when he speaks.
But, after "seeing some details for the first time" (happens to me all the time w/this book) in chapter 3 ("1 April -- Year of the Tuck's Medicated Pad", beginning on p. 27), I'm looking at Hal in a different light. It's not automatic in my reading of IJ anymore that Hal was this natural child prodigy genius. If anybody didn't read him that way already, I'm very curious to hear why.
3absurdeist
Why did James Orin Incandenza* make Infinite Jest?
The question seems an obvious one to ask, but can get lost, confused and blurred oftentimes, with the title of the book, which are two distinct types of entertainments, and that's probably by design. I hadn't thought of the question much until preparing for this re-read. The answer(s), assuming they exist, aren't as obvious next to why we'd ask the question in the first place.
(*Hal's father, the experimental auteur, whom I'll refer to from this point forward either as "Himself" -- the manner in which Hal and his two brothers typically referenced him -- or as J.O.I.)
The question seems an obvious one to ask, but can get lost, confused and blurred oftentimes, with the title of the book, which are two distinct types of entertainments, and that's probably by design. I hadn't thought of the question much until preparing for this re-read. The answer(s), assuming they exist, aren't as obvious next to why we'd ask the question in the first place.
(*Hal's father, the experimental auteur, whom I'll refer to from this point forward either as "Himself" -- the manner in which Hal and his two brothers typically referenced him -- or as J.O.I.)
