Infinite Jest: To Be, or Not to Be (David Foster Wallace Lecture I) (Patreon)

Today we are discussing the first part of David Foster Wallace's complex novel, covering pages 1-233. We are meeting his characters together, wrangling with some profound themes, and immersing ourselves in the vivid world of Infinite Jest.

We're discussing existential philosophy, anxiety of influence, spiritual crisis, addiction, alienation, circularity, postmodernism, authentic living, choosing your worship, beauty in chaos, interconnection, the human condition, the meaning of life, and much more.

Please do feel free to enjoy the discussion even if you haven't read up to these pages yet. I'm continuing to be mindful of staying away from spoilers for things that are explained later in the narrative.

Timestamps:

0:00 the difficulties of Infinite Jest

2:00 breaking into the novel’s beginning

4:00 defamiliarisation & refreshed perception

6:00 analysing the first lines of the novel

8:00 where do we locate our real self?

10:00 Dostoevsky’s influence on DFW

12:00 a kafkaesque reading experience

14:00 the character of Hal Incandenza

16:00 ‘I cannot make myself understood’

18:00 ‘I am not what you see and hear’

20:00 we are strangers in a strange land

22:00 Shakespeare’s ‘all the world’s a stage’

24:00 existential philosophy in Infinite Jest

26:00 Infinite Jest vs Finnegans Wake

27:00 advice for reading difficult books

28:00 subsidised time in DFW’s dystopia

30:00 the son does not know Himself

32:00 influence of Joyce’s Ulysses on DFW

34:00 Hal’s conversation with his father

37:00 theological discourse on nature of God

39:00 is God interested in our sense of belief?

41:00 ‘administrative bones to pick with God’

43:00 substance addiction & American experience

45:00 our unlimited need to give ourselves away

47:00 Don Gately at Ennet House Rehab Centre

48:00 dystopian technology in Infinite Jest

50:00 the medical attache views the Entertainment

52:00 circularity, recursive loops, Kekulean knots

53:00 annular fusion as metaphor for rebirth

55:00 Harold Bloom vs David Foster Wallace

56:00 meditating upon the anxiety of influence

58:00 James Joyce is our modern aesthetic father

1:00:00 metempsychosis/transmigration of souls

1:02:00 complexes, recurring dreams & trauma

1:04:00 influence of Thomas Pynchon on DFW

1:06:00 great novels pose problems to explore

1:08:00 does a great work need a hopeful message?

1:10:00 on the topic of suicide in Infinite Jest

1:12:00 existential feeling of dread, anxiety, nausea

1:14:00 living authentically & affirming ourselves

1:15:00 he who has a why to live can bear any how

1:17:00 on needing a sense of hope in order to live

1:18:00 human experience as together whilst alone

1:19:00 how to live life whilst being true to yourself

1:20:00 the human spirit takes its form in action

1:22:00 how to harness the power of your anxiety

1:24:00 alienation, anguish & the look of the other

1:25:00 tennis analogies that apply to all of life

1:27:00 on play as inward expansion of self

1:28:00 chaos theory, beauty & infinite patterns

1:29:00 everything is meaningful & connected

1:30:00 how to know you’re in the wrong field

1:31:00 the importance of designing your meaning

1:33:00 the true opponent is actually yourself

1:35:00 why we are what we repeatedly do

1:36:00 the postmodern hero of non-action

1:38:00 Rémy Marathe & Hugh Steeply

1:40:00 on choosing what you worship

1:43:00 paternal dialogue as solipsistic monologue

1:44:00 the illusion of authenticity in film

1:45:00 learning what it means to be a body

1:46:00 shadows, spectres & fatherly influence

1:47:00 coming to terms with parental mortality

1:40:00 DMZ, flow of time & ontological disruption

1:55:00 midnight radio show of Madame Psychosis

1:58:00 what are you making of Infinite Jest?

Resources to Explore:

• Mental Health: If you or someone you know struggle with addiction and would like to read into the philosophy of the twelve-step recovery programme, then you might enjoy comedian Russell Brand's take on it with his book Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions.

• Getting into Your Body: I have spoken before about the Wim Hof Method, but I think it's worth recommending again. I have followed this breathing, cold water exposure, and mindfulness approach for a decade now and have found it to be life-saving, healing, and a real aid in the battle against depression. Wim (a.k.a. 'the Ice Man') is one of my favourite public figures, and you can listen to his powerful story in this recent interview.

• Difficult Books: Where does Infinite Jest rank on the difficulty scale for you? You might fancy checking out some audio recordings of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake and taking heart that, whilst DFW is challenging, the difficulty could definitely be higher. Here's Antony Burgess reading, and here's Joyce himself reading.

• Influence: As we spoke about David Foster Wallace vs Harold Bloom in our discussion, you might be interested in listening to our show on the Anxiety of Influence. If you're a writer yourself, who are your literary influences? Which writers, and works, have the greatest influence upon the tradition? And why?

• Essay Pairing : You might find it interesting to read David Foster Wallace's 2006 essay in the New York Times, 'Roger Federer as Religious Experience.'  DFW was a truly phenomenal sports writer and his meditations on tennis are profound. Supplement your reading, with a viewing of 'Tennis Shots that Defied Science.'

• Documentary & Article: It's been wonderful to see so many readers found the film, The End of the Tour, recommended in our previous discussion to have been so rewarding. For more posthumous tributes to the writer, you might enjoy this BBC Radio documentary. The New Yorker also has a good piece, which published the year after his death and discusses his mental health struggles.

• Entertaining Ourselves to Death: Neil Postman wrote a powerfully prophetic book on media and public discourse in the age of show business in 1985 that applies to our social media generation today. This work explores what happens when politics, journalism, education, religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. Then, just for fun, treat yourself to some episodes of Hawaii Five-0 and Hill Street Blues.

Reading Assignment:

Our next discussion will cover up to page 489 of the novel. You can identify this page by the paragraph break and the chapter subheading '❍ Pre-Dawn, 1 May Y.D.A.U. Outcropping Northwest of Tucson AZ U.S.A., Still.'

Questions for You:

1) What are your impressions of Infinite Jest thus far?

2) What do you make of David Foster Wallace's characters?

3) How are you finding the reading experience for this narrative style?

4) Where do you choose to put your sense of meaning in life?

If this is your first reading of Infinite Jest, I would love to know how the story is meeting your expectations. If this is a reread for you, what is it like returning to the story? And please do share with us your favourite passage from the first part of the story.

Happy reading, everybody!