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chairman_meow77's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have never read a book that describes the thoughts, anxieties, desires of a drug addict. As a recovering addict the sections of the novel that addressed addiction were incredibly accurate almost to the point of despair. David Foster Wallace is an incredible writer and this book changed my life. I am still thinking about the ending and trying to figure out how it relates to the rest of the novel and if the ending we received is actually a conclusion to the rest of the novel rather than just a random and free standing vignette. If you love language and literature then you MUST read this novel.
pinterberni's review
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
eli1's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
linwin's review against another edition
4.0
I will admit I thought the first 150 pages or so were almost impossible to get through. The chaotic complicated writing style and structure of this novel is so bizarre that it is unlike anything else I’ve ever read.
Initial difficulties aside, I was immediately drawn in by the mysteries of the plot and the absurdist dark humour that is present throughout the novel. Once I got used to the disorganised style I began to embrace the way it created a completely unique and immersive reading experience that was more than just the written word on the page. It’s like your experience of reading the book is an active part of the storytelling.
The themes are more relevant than ever and I often found myself emotionally gripped by the depictions of human struggles to connect and find meaning in a modern world. I could, however, have done with less problematic language and misogyny.
Figuring out the intricacies of the plot is not easy and maybe som edits would have helped. But I also think maybe it just is the way it’s meant to be and the plot and the details isn’t really the point anyway.
Upon finishing it I immediately had the urge to read it all over again with a new perspective.
4.5 stars
Initial difficulties aside, I was immediately drawn in by the mysteries of the plot and the absurdist dark humour that is present throughout the novel. Once I got used to the disorganised style I began to embrace the way it created a completely unique and immersive reading experience that was more than just the written word on the page. It’s like your experience of reading the book is an active part of the storytelling.
The themes are more relevant than ever and I often found myself emotionally gripped by the depictions of human struggles to connect and find meaning in a modern world. I could, however, have done with less problematic language and misogyny.
Figuring out the intricacies of the plot is not easy and maybe som edits would have helped. But I also think maybe it just is the way it’s meant to be and the plot and the details isn’t really the point anyway.
Upon finishing it I immediately had the urge to read it all over again with a new perspective.
4.5 stars
vex97's review against another edition
2.0
Dropped halfway through. Got bored with the surfeit of boring, tangential side stories and with a jumbled plot that seemed to go nowhere even after 550+ pages.
randiyo's review against another edition
4.0
Need time to think...
While I am still not finished with the book, I must say this is the reason I am reading this book:
"It’s of some interest that the lively arts of the millennial U.S.A. treat anhedonia and internal emptiness as hip and cool. It’s maybe the vestiges of the Romantic glorification of Weltschmerz, which means world-weariness or hip ennui. Maybe it’s the fact that most of the arts here are produced by world-weary and sophisticated older people and then consumed by younger people who not only consume art but study it for clues on how to be cool, hip–and keep in mind that, for kids and younger people, to be hip and cool is the same as to be admired and accepted and included and so Unalone. Forget so-called peer-pressure. It’s more like peer-hunger. No? We enter a spiritual puberty where we snap to the fact that the great transcendent horror is loneliness, excluded encagement in the self. Once we’ve hit this age, we will now give or take anything, wear any mask, to fit, be part-of, not be Alone, we young. The U.S. arts are our guide to inclusion. A how-to. We are shown how to fashion masks of ennui and jaded irony at a young age where the face is fictile enough to assume the shape of whatever it wears. And then it’s stuck there, the weary cynicism that saves us from gooey sentiment and unsophisticated naiveté."
While I am still not finished with the book, I must say this is the reason I am reading this book:
"It’s of some interest that the lively arts of the millennial U.S.A. treat anhedonia and internal emptiness as hip and cool. It’s maybe the vestiges of the Romantic glorification of Weltschmerz, which means world-weariness or hip ennui. Maybe it’s the fact that most of the arts here are produced by world-weary and sophisticated older people and then consumed by younger people who not only consume art but study it for clues on how to be cool, hip–and keep in mind that, for kids and younger people, to be hip and cool is the same as to be admired and accepted and included and so Unalone. Forget so-called peer-pressure. It’s more like peer-hunger. No? We enter a spiritual puberty where we snap to the fact that the great transcendent horror is loneliness, excluded encagement in the self. Once we’ve hit this age, we will now give or take anything, wear any mask, to fit, be part-of, not be Alone, we young. The U.S. arts are our guide to inclusion. A how-to. We are shown how to fashion masks of ennui and jaded irony at a young age where the face is fictile enough to assume the shape of whatever it wears. And then it’s stuck there, the weary cynicism that saves us from gooey sentiment and unsophisticated naiveté."
kalefarts420's review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lucaso's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0