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zerofactorial's review against another edition
5.0
This has been a very life-changing book. I can't even write a review and have been avoiding it for months because this experience was larger than words. It wouldn't be an understatement to say it has changed my theme of thought.
zdelon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
savaging's review against another edition
3.0
Two months and ten days trapped in the brain of David Foster Wallace. I'm still reeling. My roommate says: "I thought you didn't believe in obscenity." I answer: "Well but -- this book!"
Ten conclusions:
1. At least Mario Incandenza exists.
2. Ha ha -- three stars - what does that even mean?! You think you can just average out all the loving and the hating into a 'meh'?
3. Here's a line: "Nothing in even Poor Tony’s grim life-experience prepared him for the experience of time with a shape and an odor, squatting."
4. It's like that 'Powers of Ten' film that yanks you between orders of magnitude, the subatomic to the galactic. So it's a big book, but big in both directions: it moves as microscopically as it does expansively.
5. Nobody can write like this.
6. I mean I'm the first to say fuck plot, but I'm not sure you can just fuck plot like that, DFW. And no, I'm not just going to take all the clues and sew them together into my own speculative ending because the world is more surprising than that. No, get out of my brain, there aren't any inevitable patterns here. Shut up, DFW, I finished the book, ok? I gave you two months and ten days, you don't get anymore.
7. Why would I be surprised that someone writing about incomprehensible violence would be more than a little mean to his readers?
8. No, there's something I have words about, sharp words formed into sentences: Racism is here, not just within the characters, but knitted deep into the book itself. Every character who's a person of color is violent and unknowable -- mysterious, but in a flatly stereotypical way.
9. And misogyny: every female character is either hubba-hubba or ew gross. Over 1,000 pages and dozens of characters and the book only passes the Bechdel test (two female characters, with names, talk to each other about something other than a man) around page 300 when Molly Notkin and Joelle Van Dyne share three lines about apple juice.
So we can only concluded women are present and making noises by the fact that so many of the male characters are annoyed by them. I thought the book might pass the Bechdel test again around page 700, because two named female characters are walking together and one, we are told, won't shut up. But the description of the scene remains abstract, protecting us from the direct lady-words of this "hideous, despair-producing, slutty and yammering newcomer." Whew, if you're a woman in a DFW novel, best to keep your mouth shut.
10. But at least Mario Incandenza exists.
Ten conclusions:
1. At least Mario Incandenza exists.
2. Ha ha -- three stars - what does that even mean?! You think you can just average out all the loving and the hating into a 'meh'?
3. Here's a line: "Nothing in even Poor Tony’s grim life-experience prepared him for the experience of time with a shape and an odor, squatting."
4. It's like that 'Powers of Ten' film that yanks you between orders of magnitude, the subatomic to the galactic. So it's a big book, but big in both directions: it moves as microscopically as it does expansively.
5. Nobody can write like this.
6. I mean I'm the first to say fuck plot, but I'm not sure you can just fuck plot like that, DFW. And no, I'm not just going to take all the clues and sew them together into my own speculative ending because the world is more surprising than that. No, get out of my brain, there aren't any inevitable patterns here. Shut up, DFW, I finished the book, ok? I gave you two months and ten days, you don't get anymore.
7. Why would I be surprised that someone writing about incomprehensible violence would be more than a little mean to his readers?
8. No, there's something I have words about, sharp words formed into sentences: Racism is here, not just within the characters, but knitted deep into the book itself. Every character who's a person of color is violent and unknowable -- mysterious, but in a flatly stereotypical way.
9. And misogyny: every female character is either hubba-hubba or ew gross. Over 1,000 pages and dozens of characters and the book only passes the Bechdel test (two female characters, with names, talk to each other about something other than a man) around page 300 when Molly Notkin and Joelle Van Dyne share three lines about apple juice.
So we can only concluded women are present and making noises by the fact that so many of the male characters are annoyed by them. I thought the book might pass the Bechdel test again around page 700, because two named female characters are walking together and one, we are told, won't shut up. But the description of the scene remains abstract, protecting us from the direct lady-words of this "hideous, despair-producing, slutty and yammering newcomer." Whew, if you're a woman in a DFW novel, best to keep your mouth shut.
10. But at least Mario Incandenza exists.
inkblot_cdc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sealfeathers's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
giliad's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jeffcarlson96's review against another edition
3.0
Feel myself landing at 3.5. Look, it’s clearly a masterpiece and Wallace’s brain is definitely bigger than mine. It’s an epic work that covers the spectrum of the power and danger of entertainment, America’s collision course with complete numbness or full scale intensity, and a search for individual meaning. I was fascinated with the world created (at least the parts that I could glean). He’s a master of language and built incredibly complex and traumatizing character arcs. Gately’s story breaks my heart continuously.
The reading experience was just too difficult and that’s what holds it back for me. So many times I felt ostracized by its self-awareness. DFW is writing and elbowing me to laugh, cringe, or shudder along with him, but I couldn’t get through the style to see what he did. And I think some of that is the point, but maybe it’s just not for me and I’m ok with that. Read it with some buddies over 4 months and it’ll be worth your time!
The reading experience was just too difficult and that’s what holds it back for me. So many times I felt ostracized by its self-awareness. DFW is writing and elbowing me to laugh, cringe, or shudder along with him, but I couldn’t get through the style to see what he did. And I think some of that is the point, but maybe it’s just not for me and I’m ok with that. Read it with some buddies over 4 months and it’ll be worth your time!
lizburny's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It is a book that pulls you in and pushes you away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Ableism, Bullying, Grief, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Addiction, Animal death, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Cursing, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Medical trauma
barf_mobile's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I'm honestly not sure if I hated this book or not. Can't say whether it was even worth my time to finish.