David Foster Wallace Explains Infinite Jest 

There are some books that shouldn’t be read until you’ve lived life to understand their deeper meaning.

I don't know how you do it. Produce this much content with such enthusiasm while barely getting any sleep and teaching kids. You're a rare breed, and I'm glad I found your content.

Just picked up IJ after decades of hearing about it. Getting my context from YT. This is becoming my life now. This contemplation of the topics of the book. Thank you so much for having the conversation I would never statistically have had the luck to have in the bar on the off chance I'd get a Lit Prof sitting next to me. You're doing the Good Work.

I am working my way through Infinite Jest, about half way through it now, and thus far the entertainment aspect reminds me of not “entertainment” that we as a society seem obsessed with today, but more so with “(a)musement” and the lack of thoughtfulness within our consumption of entertainment, and how we now so rarely get quality work like that of David Lynch, that which causes deep intellectual participation by the viewer (I am not sure that the masses even want Lynchean art anymore these days, as it would cause them to feel, think, and examine themselves.) It is also very Hegelian to me thus far regarding the sports aspect, how tennis is one of the quintessential individual sports, but how you still train as a team, and yet the glory is individual despite often being gratifyingly limited if the glory is all to yourself. I trained Jiu Jitsu as well (no longer really due to injuries,) and grew up playing baseball, and can recall tapping someone out as very gratifying, but when we won as a team in baseball, that was even more so gratifying as I could share in the “state” of group revelry. And with the drug use, it seems to contrast with Hegel’s idea that we as individuals, when working as a team, are to harness individual de gratification for the greater good of the collective, yet drug use is the epitome of individual selfishness, which again, I know from experience, can so quickly lead to desperation, a fear of pain, and a desire for death. Anyhow, I have so many other thoughts, but I'll leave it here for now. And sorry if this is a bit scatterbrained, as I punched it out on my lunch break after listening to yet another great breakdown of yours, many thanks!

I think what I truly love so much about David Foster Wallace's work is something that you pointed out right at the beginning of the video, there is almost an infinite amount of ways on how you can approach his literary work that he left for us behind. You can wrestle with his works for so long because he was a true artist. Someone who created art that is pretty much endlessly inexhaustible. I sometimes wonder if he ever realized how special he was in that regard and how much he helped allot of us. But maybe that wouldn't have saved him either. I wish it did.

Well, I did complete the book, and was blown away by it. I can't really remember how long it took to complete...possibly 4 months (using two bookmarks and believe it or not, actually writing in the book for the first time in my life). There are several powerful passages, but my favorite is the one where the omniscient author outlines the total Experience of the Addict and their relationship to the Substance (it's *devastating*...talking about how in the beginning the Substance is a pal who makes you feel great, there's a honeymoon period, but after a certain time you cannot imagine getting thru a day without it, and later the person with addiction finds out that this seemingly wonderful Substance is actually a demon who, with great patience and malice, is drawing out every particle of life and happiness from them.) As for the title of Hardest Book, I'm going to go with "Finnigans Wake" by James Joyce. Every sentence seems to be a mystical knot that needs to be untied by a very diligent reader.

Excellent work bro, subbed

Couldn't find the link to his favorite books. Im struggling with this new phone. I enjoyed much of your commentary. In my case, as an Ex heroin and cocaine addict that has had, and in some cases succeeded, more opportunities to snatch that brass ring. Only to lose my grip due to kindness, death, terrible decisions....life my man, stone cold life. From record contracts pulled to growing massive amounts of weed in downtown SF. It would be nice to have had people recognize certain aspects of my talent. Once they hear addict. No matter how much you've helped or how much you've produced through your artist endeavors. You'll be relegated to untrustworthy and pathetic even though you've aided the same people thru hell. Im stuck in a van with my dog, 6 miles from Naco. I've listened to infinite jest many times. Each time I find a new angle or aspect I can directly relate to. It's definitely an interesting book and the world is a better place with it in it. Hopefully I'll be able to achieve something as interesting as that before the curtains catch fire. I am interested in the link. Just have to find it. Three years clean and rising.

This was simply an outstanding explanation on so many levels. Thank you!

What a wonderful searching young man’s mind you have - you have not been abandoned , we have. Not been abandoned…that wood be a fine track for you to follow out as a treatise of hope and deeper understanding in your writing and teaching….ps. When your students trash their papers in front of you, fish them out and paste them to the wall…Elmer’s glue works real good

What happened to the video about the best books on Napoleon and the french revolution?

I started infinite jest. On page 62. Good so far. Thanks for helping motivate

Amazing analysis

ian - talk to me brother.. Pynchon's Gravity vs. DFW's Jest.. which one is the best spent time of brain and soul? and why? perhaps you've answered this elsewhere.. love to hear your informed opinion.. best..

This guy is current day Office of Unspecified Services

sometimes the algorithm sends you something totally unexpected, but wonderful! I do find it interesting how so many non religious people have started to bemoan the loss of tradition and belief while at the same time calling true believers kooks 😅. Going along with that, it is not God who has abandoned us, but we who have abandoned God. Anyway, great video!

Iv never read any Wallace. Im just hear to listen to Ian. But I'm darn curious what he had to say about the addicts that did the 12 steps & succeeded at their recovery attempt for years & years by religiously following the steps & guidelines who eventually relapsed & went back to their addiction & put themselves at deaths door in a matter months. More like weeks. Can you give a quick glimpse of his thoughts on this if any come to mind?

Forgive me being the Friendly Canadian, Quebecois is the word. Pronounced QUEBEC...KWOIS. not meaning to overstep. Love the videos....

Toward the end of this video, I asked myself, "If I could write a book that would change the course of humanity (for the better), how would I do it?"

💯💯💯

want to read it. It seems intimidating to me. I did read his first book of short stories and I liked about 60% of those. The last one in that collection was a real slog.

I thought Cormac was a pen name?

true

No wonder why I am so confused so far.

Fascism is an economic order where big government and big business work in tandem, also known as crony capitalism or corpratism - this is absolutely the system of America and has been for most of it's history. Money printing also distorts interest rates, which distorts the price signal and this leads to consumerism - under a hard money economic order people are more likely to save due to higher interest rates on those savings, and a larger amount of savings is where we get capital to invest and in longer and more complicated lines of production. Put another way, consumerism is a product of statism, of which fascism is just one flavor of many, and not capitalism.

John barth's Letters is a much harder book.

First guy I've seen in booktube who is willing to sperg out without also becoming trans in the process. Very cool!

I’m also a high school teacher who is a big fan of DFW. I’d love to chat sometime.

Big Book vs Infinite Jest 😂

I recently tried reading IJ and I got through 4 pages and noped out. I'll just read The Magus again. DFW seems to be the undisputed champion of instability.

Showed your channel to a couple of my incel friends. They're not my friends anymore. Not everyone can handle the write conscious black pill

He said Quebecois-nese

Interesting. To me, Infinite Jest is about undiagnosed autism. Really front and center, except that the same way the story concludes outside of the text, the actual condition remains an outline.

biden isn’t a populist

He seems to think 'fascism' means the same as 'totalitarianism'. That's a common mistake, but disappointing from somone as un-common as David Foster Wallace.

wait...wait....wait....High School kids don't care anymore? what's happened to the world..........

What a horrible description of the AA book. Whoever wrote that, even if trying to be funny, has demons.

Weak? January 6th