Comments on: Midsummer Roundtable, Part II

By: Infinite Summer » Blog Archive » Else { Default }

Infinite Summer » Blog Archive » Else { Default } — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:22:10 +0000

[...] Stars Are Right: Also during that roundtable, I predicted that the Bostons of H. P. Lovecraft and David Foster Wallace would eventually intersect. And: [...]

By: Melody

Melody — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:32:21 +0000

As a BU grad student, I lived in an apartment directly beneath the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square, so DFW’s description of it as “a triangular star to steer by” connected particularly with me.

By: Matt Mc

Matt Mc — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:45:19 +0000

I don’t know if it was misleading. I think it may just be the characters all using the same colloquialisms. For instance, yrstruly says “and everything like that” throughout his section, and I did a double take when, much later in the book, Calvin Thrust’s dialogue is being recounted by the narrator with a bunch of “and everything like that”s thrown in.

But I agree that yrstruly is Emil Minty.

By: Isabella

Isabella — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:33:17 +0000

I, for one, did comment in the forums on the use of “French-Canadian” dialect. I don’t think it’s an accurate representation at all. There’s nothing wrong with giving a character voice, but in the case of Marathe, the syntax and word choice is just off. It was a bit off-putting in the early part of the book (and a contributing factor to my abandoning the book on my first go round a few years ago), but past a certain point, I took it for simply parodic, and, well, funny.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:08:19 +0000

Just recently graduated from Boston College, which is in Chestnut Hill, also on the Brighton/Newton border. It’s been very easy to visualize everything for me, from the Green Line t rides to Blanchard’s Liquor Store, etc.

By: doublenegative

doublenegative — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:48:04 +0000

As a frequent horrified commuter on Storrow, that endnote absolutely killed me. Spot-on.

By: doublenegative

doublenegative — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:43:03 +0000

In re: the Boston question, I think that’s what has kept me latched on to the book more than anything. I’ve lived here for 3 years, and went to school just outside the city for 4 years before that, so I can visualize the places (the real ones, at least) that DFW’s talking about to the street corner.

I love stories about places, especially places I’ve been, and to have the place where I live be the connective tissue in a sprawling novel like IJ has this quality of making everyday places feel monumental and iconic.

One thing though: Gately’s drive to Bread & Circus down Comm Ave and through Cambridge–I love the section, but DFW fudged the geography a little. Can’t tell if it’s by mistake or on purpose.

By: ec

ec — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:40:34 +0000

Yes. I had to put the book down for a few days after reading that section to get rid of the imagery. I also decided to not read right before going to bed.

By: Tizzle

Tizzle — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:33:25 +0000

That section was what made me want to continue the book. I get where there’s no break, and that could be difficult, but I loved that 10 page paragraph. I liked when the Father explains how to open up a flask mindfully. Genius! I would quote it, but no one I know has read the book.

By: Tizzle

Tizzle — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:30:50 +0000

Is yrstruly sorta like w/r/t and a couple other internet shortcuts DFW put in the book?

I remember seeing the ref. on p 562 and noticing it, and then it left my brain. Isn’t that where Lenz becomes more main-charactery?

Thanks for the references and thoughts. I’m not even trying to keep track anymore.