Loved Inifinite Jest when it came out, and really enjoyed some of his short stories. Some of his essays were quite insightful, although I certainly couldn't read more than a couple of them at a clip. Hated seeing his writing devices grow gimmicky as other subsequent writers lifted them en masse (Morford, Eggers, etc). No idea what was going on in that head of his, but from a purely selfish perspective I'm sad he wasn't able to write another novel and perhaps reinvent himself before cashing in his chips. RIP.
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NWR: David Foster Wallace, RIP
- Thread starter slaton
- Start date
Sharon Bowman
Sharon Bowman
Total shock.
If his fiction is a tough slog, his essays are memorable.
Roger Federer as Religious Experience
If his fiction is a tough slog, his essays are memorable.
Roger Federer as Religious Experience
Levi Dalton
Levi Dalton
He probably ran out of things to be excited about. It happens with the very clever. And then there is age and the milestones that come around, reminding you of what you haven't been able to accomplish. That is always rough for young prodigies.
It's no good, it's a shame, but it happens.
It's no good, it's a shame, but it happens.
russell briggs
Russell Briggs
Terrible, terrible thing. Coming somewhat on the heels of Thomas Disch's suicide, it's feeling like many of the minds I revere can't seem to live out their lives. And let's not even start on musicians...
Or good friends.originally posted by russell briggs:
Terrible, terrible thing. Coming somewhat on the heels of Thomas Disch's suicide, it's feeling like many of the minds I revere can't seem to live out their lives. And let's not even start on musicians...
I was stunned by the news, which I caught in a brief sidenote on the NYT website last night. I didn't even realize that he was teaching at Pomona, a school that I'm pretty familiar with. And now I suppose that I'll put "Infinite Jest" in cue for rereading, as I did last year with several of Vonnegut's novels and will some day do with Pynchon, too.
And so it goes,
Mark Lipton
And so it goes,
Mark Lipton
Chris Coad
Chris Coad
Terribly sad. As someone who's had to listen to the lying brain-whispers, depression wrecks a lot of lives, too too many lives.
I feel for his wife and family, and wish them peace.
I feel for his wife and family, and wish them peace.
Arjun Mendiratta
Arjun Mendiratta
This was a real shock and a tragedy to me.
I have to admit that I lost a lot of my admiration for Infinite Jest after I read Gravity's Rainbow and found out that it had all been done before, but it's probably time for a rereading.
And the essays are brilliant.
I have to admit that I lost a lot of my admiration for Infinite Jest after I read Gravity's Rainbow and found out that it had all been done before, but it's probably time for a rereading.
And the essays are brilliant.
Jonathan Loesberg
Jonathan Loesberg
I was saddened to read this too. I very much admired and enjoyed Infinite Jest. The subsequent short stories seemed too worked over and the journalism, while interesting, was marking time. But that novel was an original (only like Gravity's Rainbow in the sense that Anna Karenin is like Madame Bovary to my mind).
I liked Infinite Jest even if it seemed a little, well, indulgent at times.
I read the collection of essays that came out and have to agree they aren't in the same category as Infinite Jest. I also really liked the Federer piece and there was one hilarious bit about DFW taking a cruise vacation that I enjoyed.
I read the collection of essays that came out and have to agree they aren't in the same category as Infinite Jest. I also really liked the Federer piece and there was one hilarious bit about DFW taking a cruise vacation that I enjoyed.
originally posted by SFJoe:
Or good friends.originally posted by russell briggs:
Terrible, terrible thing. Coming somewhat on the heels of Thomas Disch's suicide, it's feeling like many of the minds I revere can't seem to live out their lives. And let's not even start on musicians...
Yeah, it is those that are close that really effect me. There are many public personalities who I admire for there words, thoughts, actions, etc., but I never really feel I know them in any way beyond the two dimensional. That said, I do not want to dimminish anyone's sense of remorse or loss -- we all take in the world in subtly different ways.
L
Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
Currently reading DFW's first novel so checked to see if anyone here had ever commented on it (answer: no).
But was startled to find this thread about DFW's self-inflicted passing, where two of our most cherished former colleagues have things to say about the matter.
To me at least it seems quite uncanny that the message board structure preserves such prehumous words in a manner that reads as contemporaneous.
But was startled to find this thread about DFW's self-inflicted passing, where two of our most cherished former colleagues have things to say about the matter.
To me at least it seems quite uncanny that the message board structure preserves such prehumous words in a manner that reads as contemporaneous.
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
That is a problem with the Internet generally.originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
To me at least it seems quite uncanny that the message board structure preserves such prehumous words in a manner that reads as contemporaneous.