Comments on: Midsummer Roundtable, Part IV

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

Infinite Summer » Blog Archive » Else { Default } — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:10:00 +0000

[...] During the roundtable I confessed that, while I enjoy the novel and love reading Wallace’s writing, “I don’t find [...]

By: josh

josh — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:22:30 +0000

that, and there was something really cute about the back-to-back squeak scenes straddling either side of the novel’s midpoint.

By: jackd

jackd — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 11:05:37 +0000

Perhaps I missed something important, but what struck me about the mattress scene was its absolute lack of any connection, other than temporal proximity, to the annulation incident at its conclusion. What should it be telling me about JOI’s mind that he would relate the story that way? Should I consider that Himself saw the mattress scene as not just a lead-in, but as a logical part of the origin of his interest in annular systems?

By: Mrs. Kennedy

Mrs. Kennedy — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:40:49 +0000

My mother-in-law calls my son Himself, and now I wonder if it’s because she’s spent a lot of time in Canada.

By: redsock

redsock — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:01:32 +0000

I enjoy saying “boner-fried”.

By: The Howling Fantods

The Howling Fantods — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:15:57 +0000

Obvious Troll should at least aim for proper grammar and spelling before claiming they read this book twice in one month. It might make it a little more believable.

By: Matt Mc

Matt Mc — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:42:26 +0000

I’ve started using “fantods,” maybe a little too often. While I was reading IJ, I was teaching and had to re-read Huck Finn, and laughed hard when I saw Huck using it (as “fan-tod”). That validated my desire to use it.

By: naptimewriting

naptimewriting — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:23:25 +0000

Totally digging this roundtable format, fearless guides. Nice work this week, as usual.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:49:39 +0000

I totally saw a recently ran-over pidgeon the other day and said aloud, ‘There’s a bird that had it’s map eliminated all over the parking lot.’ Of course I was met with confusion.

I also giggle like a little girl when someone says ‘unit.’

By: Joel Bass

Joel Bass — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:35:41 +0000

I kind of felt like the mattress scene wasn’t actually so much about the origin of Himself’s fascination with annulation, but really more about the disconnect between what was happening in J.O.I.’s life (his father dying in front of his eyes) and what was happening in J.O.I.’s mind (Eureka, annulation!). We learn about the relationship between him and his parents, between his mom and dad, and we see how the disconnect between them might be a factor in J.O.I.’s own disconnect from the world, and later in his own parenting style. In this case I think a lot was going on that wouldn’t have easily been replaced by an endnote.