Infinite Jest in small steps

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I have completed the first week’s worth of reading in the Infinite Summer read-a-thon of Infinite Jest. I must confess that I have a small bit of a problem getting myself connected to any of the characters in it, with the possible exception of Mario Incandenza. I was never any good at either tennis or recreational drugs, so personal experience is not much of a help here.

The constant switching of voices — and these voices are very different from one another — also adds a bit of choppiness to the reading experience. It is a very well-done switching, I want to emphasize, but distracting to me in this process of reading the first part of an admittedly difficult novel.

I have gotten through the notorious footnote #24 and the introductory Erdedy chapter. Now I head off in expectation of soon encountering a character referred to in all the blogs as “Madame Psychosis.” This should be good.

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2 thoughts on “Infinite Jest in small steps”

  1. Saw your posts about Infinite Jest, became intrigued and downloaded a sample onto my Kindle. Not sure if I will have the power of concentration or time to read it, but I’d like to.

  2. So far, it seems to me to be worth the effort. Over at the InfiniteSummer.org website, there are several helpful suggestions to help readers deal with the various complexities of the book.

    It is a book that repays devotion and attention.

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