The Pale King is strange because I did not enjoy the experience of reading it and my eyes were glazed over during most of it but it’s probably his best work. I have this kind of ambivalent reaction to a lot of things that become my favorites later on. Many have talked about this before but it's intentionally dull and is about the virtues of managing boredom. Infinite Jest is about addiction, entertainment, and distraction so it's both that book's opposite and a companion piece.

The best way I can describe my thoughts on The Pale King is during a very long section of a woman explaining in painful detail how she met her husband while a man intently listens to her while a quirky paranormal thing happens to him, I was extremely irritated and bored reading it but ended up crying at the end of the chapter. Despite its unfinished nature, the point of the book is baked into the experience of reading it which is brilliant.

The female characters in this book are pretty bad. I honestly think DFW would have reworked a lot of the female characters and scrapped one particular outrageous action which is one of many reasons why reading this feels weird, especially because the end part with some of his notes repeat the phrase "David Wallace disappears" in a disconcerting manner.

Ultimately, I do not remember anything from Infinite Jest besides Joelle Van Dyne, but I'm pretty sure I will remember The Pale King. I am not doing a good job at selling this book, but I think you should probably read it, it's very tough but rewarding. If you want a taste of it you could do what I did and read Something To Do With Paying Attention first but be warned because it's by far the best chapter.