Infinite Jest: The joke's on you, kid.
Jun 30, 2026
If you’ve never read a book where the author seems to wish to abuse the reader, I would start with Infinite Jest. With about a hundred characters, both important and peripheral, and an index the reader must reference to grasp the totality of a world that takes place in the not-so-distant future, the sheer magnitude of the inner thoughts of addicts, involving drugs, sex, and a mysterious video cartridge, will pummel you. But you will keep asking for more. Completely unforgettable. You will emerge from this novel a better and stronger person.
Interesting. I feel like this will be similar to reading war and peace with referencing the character map constantly but I keep hearing so much about this novel that I will have to read it at some point to become a true litbro.
Does it drag at points? Does DFW have distinctive, unique prose compared to other writers?
He definitely has his own voice, although his critics love to call him a Pynchon copy.
I'd say yes, there are certain parts that are so detailed that a reader could lose track of what is going on. I would not say a DFW has a unique prose. The stream of concsiousness though is very unique although I would say a lot of modern comedy writers and ad writers may have copied the frenetic tone.
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Better and stronger person (being able to brag that you’ve read infinite jest)
Joking but I agree that it can be a real formative book for a person. I read it ages ago when I was a young sprout trying to prove that I could read big novels and I do feel like it pushed me a certain way which is hard to describe. I’d reread it now if it wasn’t so big.
I highly doubt I will reread this again as well.