There have been better and there have been worse books, but has there been any with the reputation as that of David Foster Wallace's crowning achievement "Infinite Jest"? Over the course of roughly 1100 pages (150 of which are detailed end notes), Wallace sets out to explore the meaning of life in America through a variety of moments regarding the addiction of drugs, tennis, entertainment, politics, and everything else that constituted life at the turn of the 20th century. To call it essential reading is easy. To actually pick up the book and try to understand its many pages without a dictionary, web assistance, or other forms of cheating is a fool's errand. By making a book whose language is so dense, Wallace has reinvented the very idea of writing by failing to be postmodern and instead invoking the earnest movement's desire for honesty over sarcasm. The book is an achievement, that's for sure. However, it's also one that may at times be unsatisfying.
It is not a spoiler (at least in a vague sense) to suggest that the opening chapter is chronologically last in the order of "Infinite Jest." Upon a series of events that leads to an unfulfilled life, a character faints for reasons unknown. In fact, the book explains everything before the event except for the previous year. There's plenty of room to suggest that Wallace wanted to create a book that created thought more than provided clear answers, believing that the characters should be interpreted off of the page. It's a frustrating way to approach the novel, though it only makes what follow more of an academic experience. Along with the end notes, which go up to 16 pages long for one entry, the book has a lot on its mind. In fact, the end notes are considered essential, but should be viewed as details that can be ignored, much like the experience of life. To read the book is in a sense to experience the emotion on each page. Some of it (which is still a lot) is frustrating. Parts of it are rewarding. Others are just esoteric and confusing.
What makes the book essential and the forefather of thousands of think pieces and essays is the passages and moments, both individually and cumulatively. There's no denying that some events are more memorable outside of grander context. In fact, the various stories told at the drug rehab are some of the book's best passages, thanks to grotesque, soul-bearing accounts that feel as informed as anything in the tennis section of the novel - which feels personal to Wallace as a former athlete. He conveys a lot, sometimes without clear meaning. Yet his book manages to reward those willing to be stubborn and complete the journey, at least in the form he's presented. To read interviews, essays, and other forms of information only enhances the story and makes the metaphor of exploring life's little foibles all the more intriguing. Yes, there are cryptic scenes that all great writers have to make their story interpretive, but Wallace seems more intent on exploring character moments, which capture the struggles of addiction and depression with an unprecedented honesty.
It also helps that the book is at times very funny. While Wallace is a hefty fellow with a dense education, he does manage to make the prose clever, sometimes recalling 19th century literature's tendency for longer sentences while detailing a man's addiction and how he keeps buying drug paraphernalia because he thinks that each hit will be his last. It's subversive, but also proves that outdated literary styles just need to be updated in ways that capture modern sensibilities. True, there's some homophobic and racist language in the book, but it's all part of Wallace's bigger vision of society's inability to work towards a universal idea of happiness. There is struggle, much like the metaphorical weight of "Infinite Jest" as a book, which manages to feel frustrating simply by being bigger and harder to carry around than other books. Wallace set out to make his book feel like it had a life of its own. To suggest that it could grow legs and walk by itself wouldn't be sci-fi hokum, it would be possible once the contents inside the book are recognized.
"Infinite Jest" is a book that's easy to call a classic because of how incredibly challenging it is and how it manages to make the English language equally exciting and frustrating. It has an ability to challenge, leaving audiences to question each passage and make the intimate experience of reading feel grander. Sure, there are books that are easier to read and should be considered accessible classics, but "Infinite Jest" has earned its reputation effectively, as it doesn't allow just anyone to know why it's a classic - or possibly even to fully disagree with that sentiment. What it does do is present a vision of American happiness in a way that's just as messy and fulfilling as reading it. In that way, Wallace has found a way to make the way of reading a book, alone in the middle of the night, interactive. It makes sense why not too many people took in his literal footsteps, though it only adds to the singular brilliance of his work.
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