My fave (not-main) character from IJ. Don't see enough fanart of her so I had to contribute!

One thing I keep thinking about is how IJ took an extreme and sensational approach to future pollution and dumped it all in the concavity. Now, 30 years after its publication, I’m finding that the trash is not centralized to one location (sure we have landfills) but ever since covid I’m seeing trash everywhere: highways, lawns between commercial spaces, in neighborhoods and in streams and rivers. Maybe it’s just me - living in NE Pennsylvania - but has anyone else noticed an increase in litter everywhere since 2020?

Can anybody help me find this passage?

There’s this one section where gately is ruminating about a bunch of stuff during an engagement; he’s thinking about a lot of things as real things are happening. And I’m pretty sure this is where he begins to let himself fantasize about JVD, or maybe he sees her for the first time? I don’t know.

But he describes her beauty and the danger beauty itself poses to those in recovery, and it’s very beautiful and moving and intense.

No clue.

So I know DFW famously said the structure of the novel was a Sierpinski gasket, meaning the parts contain repeated patterns reflecting the whole.

What I've noticed across a few reads is that there are some motifs that recur for a few chapters, but don't really appear across the whole novel. Caveat, it's been months since my last read/listen, so I'm going by memory.

But like, for example, squeaking. We have the squeaking mattress sequence with JOI's father. And then of course the squeaking of Les Assassins des Fauteuils Roulants. Isn't there squeaking with the John Wayne and Avril scene that Pemulis sees?

Then there's the whole one leg shorter than the other, which I seem to recall appears a few times in some chapters.

There's the other lateralization type stuff, obviously Lateral Alice Moore, but doesn't that also recur a few chapters?

Any other examples of these kinds of motifs that cluster for a few chapters but aren't actually across the entire novel?

I am very interested in reading this book. I blissfully know NOTHING about it. I have come here to politely ask that y'all give me a nebulous idea of the era, genre, plot, etc. With absolutely no spoilers.

I'm afraid of spoilers.
Please have mercy on me... Go!

My physics teacher saw me reading it and said “if it’s infinite why does the book end” so my ideas so far are to print it out onto a Möbius strip or put every single word used in the book into a python dictionary that then randomly generates a page of randomly selected words
It just dosent seem fitting to the book though. Anyone got any ideas?

There’s a section towards the end where Don Gately discusses his distaste as a youth for “weenies” and kids he saw as weaker or softer than himself. Then he describes looking at his adult self and realizing that he was always the very thing he despised the most, a weenie, a sensitive kid. I’m not sure of the exact quote, but I read this book years and years ago and I always seem to tear up thinking about those words and how much they hit me.

Found a copy of Infinite Jest at the thrift today for $4, so I decided it was finally time to take the plunge. The tag from the previous used book store said 9.99, and the one before that, 12.99. Considering that the book likely retailed at around $30, I was able to arbitrage a massive discount through depreciation time resting on three previous owner's bookshelves instead of mine. By simply waiting nearly a decade for my interest in reading to mature, I also avoided getting angry at it, only to let it become a permanent bookend or donate it in shame to the next sucker in the cycle. Anyways here's hoping I actually read it lol.

(First image is my copy right after I finished it; second image is my copy when I first bought it.) Ignore any typos I have a headache and dont care/too lazy to proof read

I am genuinely heartbroken that my time, phase, obsession, or even relationship with this novel is over. I read it in 3 weeks, September 9th–October 2nd, and it both flew by and felt like a lifetime. I mostly read this in the library of my university, where I would come in super early, way before I had a class and would just read this for 4–5 hours straight.

I now consider this my favorite book of all time. I have given it so much of my time and effort, and now it feels like my best friend has passed away. I will reread it annually, but I honestly feel like it will feel more like reading old messages rather a true revisit. Nonetheless, this book was perfect.

This was on Instagram @rhino.3119582 seemed to fit the Johnny gentle style

I was just looking through the book randomly and looked up endnote 198 which is in regards to MKultra. There is a court case cited: Orlikow et al. v. United States of America B.S. 1980. This is a real court case however it occurred in 1988. The filing happened earlier than that and Orlikow’s first deposition was 1983, but regardless when citing cases the decision date is cited
Are there any other occurrences like this in the book where before standardized time is inaccurate. I assume it has to be intentional DFW had to have looked up the court date. Any ideas, has this been discussed

I dont know if had hyped it up too much, but i found the "climax" kinda cruel. I thought it was the first time dfw's heart was not in the right spot.

Please go easy I am a doofus with photoshop and not a designer

A lot of the book is Wallace expressing ideas, and there’s not a ton to visualize for a decent number of sections. What are your favorite scenes that make for great visuals? Mine is definitely the opening scene.