Infinite jest is tough to make it through, got footnotes longer than most chapters
Discussion
It’s long, but so worth it. Lots of the footnotes are pretty funny, too. Central theme of the book is basically what is freedom in modern America. And I would argue it’s a much more profound, human exploration of it than, say, an economic tract or a less subtle, less nuanced, novel-as-mere-vehicle-for-message thing, I.e. Rand.
The footnotes also serve the purpose of structurally fracturing the narrative in a way that mimics the fractured, splintered nature of our lives realities today. Think about our daily information flow. How often are you interrupted by, say, social media, advertisements, email pings, calls, etc. Modern life is a million pieces of info and content coming at you in a kaleidoscopic blast. I think he’s exploring that by forcing readers to physically flip back and forth from footnotes to narrative and blurring the boundary between which is which. At least that’s how I think about it 🤷♂️
I’ve always felt like David Foster Wallace’s footnotes, even in his shorter essays, might lend themselves to reading online or in PDF format, where one could click on an anchor link, like on Wikipedia and not lose where you are on the page.
The footnotes are fucking hilarious. I could feel DFW laughing with me from the grave. What tension he puts his characters, and readers, through! So much fun.