Infinite Jest: In the Zone (David Foster Wallace Lecture II) (Patreon)

Today our journey through David Foster Wallace's complex novel continues, with us covering the events of pages 233-489. 

We're discussing flow states, the illusory world, coddling culture, wisdom in clichés, ecstatic religious experience, addiction, games, ambition, freedom, fanatical devotion, 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 resonance of Infinite Jest

3:00 fatal film as return to the womb

6:00 coddling in contemporary culture

9:00 symbolism of Joelle’s veil

12:00 reality beneath the illusory show

15:00 existing in the phenomenal world

18:00 freedom, fatalism, will, history

21:00 what is the meaning of life?

24:00 Joelle, Infinite Jim & fatal film

27:00 Joelle overdoses on Too Much Fun

29:00 the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

32:00 markers of religious experience

34:00 spiritual pleasure is painful

37:00 the films of James Incandenza

41:00 DFW’s concern of pretension

44:00 communicating over the phone

47:00 flow states & being in the zone

50:00 why did DFW end his life?

52:00 the subjective relativity of time

55:00 superstitious belief & exformation

58:00 subject, object, & gaze of the other

1:00:00 DFW goes for the gross-out

1:02:00 on the death of James Incandenza

1:04:00 Hal Incandenza flunks grief therapy

1:06:00 Whitmanian substance in Infinite Jest

1:09:00 Oedipus complex & feminine archetypes

1:13:00 destiny, determinism, freedom to choose

1:15:00 playing as loving communication

1:17:00 sporting pursuits as religious experience

1:21:00 ‘I came to learn to live by clichés’

1:24:00 giving it away & paying it forward

1:28:00 the wisdom of the Lord’s prayer

1:30:00 the benefit of hitting rock bottom

1:32:00 identifying/empathising with others

1:34:00 DFW’s descriptions of addiction

1:37:00 how to look after yourself properly

1:39:00 recovery as inverse of drug addiction

1:42:00 how to pray to a God you don’t believe in?

1:44:00 on thoughts following on from actions

1:46:00 treading the line between faith & nihilism

1:49:00 Rémy and Steeply discuss freedom

1:51:00 if there are no limits, there is no freedom

1:53:00 good for the individual vs the group

1:54:00 what does the word freedom even mean?

1:58:00 delayed gratification/enlightened self-interest

2:00:00 fanatically devoted to the game of Eschaton

2:05:00 on the anxiety of nuclear annihilation

2:07:00 a parody of geopolitical absurdity

2:10:00 self-destruction of Eric Clipperton

2:14:00 what are you making of Infinite Jest?

Resources to Explore:

• Flow States: The psychology of flow states, or being 'in the zone,' is fascinating to explore parallel to one's reading of Infinite Jest. If you haven't checked out Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's classic work on optimal performance and peak experience, then I highly recommend it. He also has an incredible Ted Talk in which he discusses flow as the secret to happiness and explores what makes life worth living.

• Sculpture Appreciation: If you can't make it to the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome just yet, you can still view and appreciate Bernini's exquisite rendering of religious ecstatic experience online. This video is particularly wonderful and comes with an enlightening commentary.

• Eschaton: Many readers have said that the Eschaton passage is responsible for breaking the book open for them (many have also said quite the opposite). For an incredible depiction of what the game would look like, check out this music video for The Decembrist's 'Calamity Song.'

• Short Stories: David Foster Wallace has three short story collections: Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Girl with Curious Hair. They all have great short stories, but I'd recommend starting with Oblivion. Layering a writer's short stories into your big read is a great way to deepen your appreciation of them.

• Film Follow Up: Many directors and films are named dropped in the novel. You might find it a fun exercise to choose the next film you watch from the directors DFW mentions. Here are some choice cartridges for your viewing pleasure: Peterson/ Broughton, Dali/ Buñuel, Deren/Hammid, Antonioni, Tarkovsky, Ozu, Bresson, Fellini, Peckinpah, De Palma, Tarantino.

• Road Trip with DFW: If you enjoyed the film 'The End of the Tour,' you might like the transcripts of Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky's discussions with David Foster Wallace in this book: Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself.

Reading Assignment:

A huge congratulations on making it this far into Infinite Jest. Our next discussion will cover up to page 795 of the novel. You can identify it by the paragraph break and the line, 'The most distant and obscure Tuesday P.M. Meeting'.

Questions for You:

1) What can books do that films cannot? And vice versa? Do your favourite films and books have anything in common?

2) What is your personal experience with flow states? How do you get in the zone?

3) How are you finding the reading experience this far into the novel?

4) Do you identify with any of David Foster Wallace's characters?

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 this part of the story.

Happy reading, everybody!