This is cross-posted to the forums.
We’ll be featuring guests for the remainder of the week, but I’m appropriating my Monday slot for a discussion on the future of Infinite Summer.
the sub-14 E.T.A.s historically have a kind of Tunnel Club. Like many small boys’ clubs, the Tunnel Club’s unifying raison d’etre is kind of vague. Tunnel Club activities mostly involve congregating informally in the better-lit main tunnels and hanging out and catching each other in lies about their lives and careers before E.T.A., and recapitulating the most recent Eschaton (usually only about five a term); and the Club’s only formal activity is sitting around with a yellowed copy of Robert’s Rules endlessly refining and amending the rules for who can and can’t join the Tunnel Club.
Like The Tunnel Club, Infinite Summer’s raison d’etre is kind of vague. Well, not yet. But it will be in a month, after we’ve finished reading Infinite Jest.
The question of what would happen to Infinite Summer come autumn was one that I was frequently asked in interviews. And was always very coy in my responses so as not to tip my hand w/r/t the Master Plan … or, rather, the fact that I had no plan, Master or otherwise. The idea of transitioning the site into a perpetual online book club thingamaroo certainly occurred to me, but the amount of work the project entailed (at least until recently) prevented me from mapping out what such a future would look like.
It’s decision time now, though (it takes at least a month to line up Guides, guests, and so forth). And while I continue to have no solid plan, I am slowly tumbling to the realization that I am going to continue the site, at least for a while.
Right now I’m trying to figure out what direction to go after IJ. I am well aware that Infinite Jest is a unique artifact, and that Infinite Summer may implode without it at the core. That said, it seems to me there are a few distinct paths the site could take from here:
- Focus on the novels folks “have always meant to read”: That would be a mix of the classics (Moby Dick, Ulysses, The Great Gatsby) and modern stuff (The Kite Runner, Beloved, etc.).
- Do the postmoderns, those that stimulate and reward discussion: Labyrinths, House of Leaves,The New York Trilogy–pretty much anything on this list.
- Keep the site DFW oriented: I recently learned that DFW taught a contemporary fiction course at Illinois State, in which the syllabus was books that he himself had trouble reading. Like me and I.S., he figured that imposing deadlines on himself would be a good way to trick himself into finishing them. Novels included JR by Gaddis, Ratner’s Star by Delillo, Blood Meridian by McCarthy, etc. In addition we could do other novels that Wallace expressed admiration for (e.g., Dune & The Screwtape Letters).
- Pick books based solely on their conduciveness to catchphrases: Let’s face it: 65% of Infinite Summer’s success is attributable to the phrase “Infinite Summer” itself. Going forward we’ll only select books that lend themselves to catchy title + season project names, e.g., Autumn 2009: “Things Fall Apart!”, Winter 2009: “Snowlita!”; Spring 2010: “From Here to E-vernal Equinoxy!”; and so forth
A mix of these themes would probably be best; perhaps a huge, postmodern opus every six months, and shorter, more conventional novels in between. Right now I am leaning toward 2666 for winter and Gravity’s Rainbow next summer (or The Pale King, depending on publication date). I would also love to tackle The Recognition and Underworld, devote a season to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and maybe have Dystopiathon (think 1984, Brave New World, and Clockwork Orange). For shorter works, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Housekeeping are at the top of my list (I have a literal list). And as a post Jest palate cleanser, I am tempted to devote October to Dracula, to conclude on Halloween Day.
But as much as Infinite Summer is about literature, it is also about community. And we’d love to get your input on the website’s future, in either the comments or the forums. We’d love for you to join The Tunnel Club and help us draft our very own version of Robert’s Rules.
And thank you for your continued participation–I hope the Infinite Summer experience has been as wonderful and engrossing for you as it has been for all of us.
Comments
129 responses to “Join the Tunnel Club”
I totally support keeping this going. IJ has consumed my summer in the best possible way. Rather than replace my social life, it’s enhanced it, by giving me a new outlook. And it wouldn’t have been possible without Infinite Summer. I recently bought a copy of Gravity’s Rainbow, so doing that would be awesome. I’m up for doing anything, especially books like IJ, where way more people on campus talk about than read.
I wish you the best with whatever you choose and may join you again, but I hope it isn’t like a great weekend experience that a bunch of h.s. students attempt to recreate only to end up awkwardly staring at each other like “why are we hanging out here again?”
Account Manager Fondly Remembers Day In College When Everyone Hung Out On Roof
Yeah, be careful dude 😉
i was thinking that there’s some play of words in there with Gravity(‘s Rainbow) and fall (autumn)…Fall With Gravity?
Gravity’s Autumn!
Or how about Pynchon’s 1000+ page novel, we’ll call it Against the Fall.
that’s another one that i bought with the intent of reading (on an airplane… my mistake!) and haven’t cracked it since.
I would like to say thanks for creating this. I’ve never ventured into the world of blogs and refuse to Twitter or join Facebook (and still won’t). This, however, helped me see that the forum can be used productively rather than just a place for people to rant about how awesome American Idol was last night. Unfortunately, there are probably still more blogs dedicated to crap like that than there are blogs like IS.
I found many conversations and debates to be as quality as many I experienced discussing literature as an undergrad and many added a ton to my reading. A lot of posts were lame (probably mine), but overall, solid stuff.
I’ve really loved Infinite Summer for the community/accountability aspect of it. I’ll be honest that I probably wouldn’t have stuck with Infinite Jest if it weren’t for this project, and the summaries, page goals, and essays all helped to keep me focused. Overall, I think I’d find the most value in tackling similarly daunting books–the ones that I might have a hard time finishing on my own, e.g. Ulysses, Moby Dick, Gravity’s Rainbow. But to avoid endurance bibliophile burnout, I really like the idea of dedicating summer and winter to the intimidating ones and then maybe leaving fall and spring for a selection of shorter, but somehow thematically linked books (e.g. the Dystopiathon).
Glad to hear that there’s a future for the project!
I’d be happy to stick around for all of those options.
How about books that are Lynchian?
Such category would include 2666. I’m just about finished 2666, having broken off from it to read IJ. What a weird experience that is, reading them in tandem (and I recommend it)!
Wow, Isabella! Me too! So I would definitely join a 2666 group. Part of the USP for me is that IJ is such an unweikdy book, like 2666, so sticking with huge po-mo tomes, and helping us understand them, would be the best route, I reckon.
I think that the key components of the success of the Infinite Summer site has been the bite-sized 79 page blocks and the spooiler pine, coupled with the amusing and varied essays. Future projects would need a set of reader guides with whom we could follow.
I like the idea of doing a mix of books people have always wanted to read plus the post-modern giants.
Guys, IS’s been a wonderful guide through IJ. I think it can’t cease to work. Despite all the other reasons, there’s ‘infinite’ in the name of the site/ the community (wow, that’s sentimental, DFW would wince). Doing the syllabus would be great, I believe…
I would absolutely stick around if you chose to do other “meant to read” novels. (I’m slogging through Ulysses right now, and I would love to see people explain to me why it is I should be loving it.) I’ve also tried (and failed) to read Gravity’s Rainbow three times, so having people give me the insights I must patently lack would be helpful if I chose to give it another go.
On an unrelated note, my one and only contribution to the Infinite Summer blog phenomenon is here:
http://bleakonomy.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-one-and-only-contribution-to.html
I have never finished anything by Pynchon. I have made it several hundred pages into G’s R on multiple occasions, and it just doesn’t click. I have all his other books too; I’m not sure why other than I feel like I should like them. I was going to read Lot 49 come hell or high-water this spring. I made it to within 10 pages of the end– and then gave it up in protest, because I found it so annoying.
Maybe doing it as a group read would help. OTOH, maybe Pynchon just sucks. All cleverness and no soul…
There’s also that third possibility that you simply don’t like Pynchon…
Dan, check out the Bloomsday Book, which is the only way I understood why Ulysses is freaking genius. It explains the Odyssey parallels, the contemporary Ireland stuff, and all the other things that, were we reading Joyce right as he published something, would make us think he was the best writer ever.
I think the idea is fantastic to try and well, if it peters out it peters out. It will probably start slow and pick up steam rather than the other way around, and become one of the more inspiring fixtures on the web, so it may require patience. I for one want to give it a ringing endorsement. I think with other book choices you’ll pick up many more people along the way. I think it’s very commendable that you want to do something like this, Matthew, it’s added so much to the reading. I am not a computer owner, though (I borrow a friends), so I’m going to have to scrape the money together to get one now.
Thanks, too for the link to that great list from the L.A. Times.
Ha, just the other day I was thinking, “If there were an Infinite Summer-like project dedicated to Underworld, I’d actually read the copy that’s been sitting on my bookshelf for a year.”
And I’ll have to go find the copy of 2666 I just accidentally gave away.
i recommend Mason & Dixon -Pynchon
I’m up for another book after this one.
Maybe all the DFW non-fiction in the Fall, Broom over the Winter and all the short fiction in the Spring. And throw in some IJ theses, Elegant Complexity and Understanding DFW. Possibly a big influence or two, like Hamlet, White Noise or The Recognitions. Then we’d be ready to re-read IJ next summer!
Or the Pale King, if it’s out…
The idea of expanding into other authors is a good one since, like many, I’ve had an on again off again thing with Gravity’s Rainbow. Since Wallace was the inspiration for the site returning to his work periodically makes sense. I really like Miker’s suggestion of interspersing something like Consider the Lobster or any of Wallace’s other works which should provide ample opportunities for comment.
What surprises me is the number of people who after they finish reading IJ leap up and shout “I can’t wait to read this over again.” I agree with them this is not-a-once-read-then-crossed-off-lighty-tossed-aside-novel which endows the reader with mystical hip-ness upon completion. It’s a little more complicated than that and judging by the discussions- the number one regret is ignoring or failing to see the relevance of information 200 pages back. Maybe the fate of infinitesummer is not just searching for the next meaningful communal literary experience but periodically revisting this one, in a “you can never walk through the same river twice sort of way.” And it may be meaningful to read other DFW or works he pondered to sustain the conversation until the next summer. That said I would like to nominate a theme song for the wrap party “Very Busy People” by the Limousines.
I think long, modern, complicated novels would be the best option, because those would be the most rewarding to read together in blogform and everybody would have the deadline pressure to keep them from putting down the book.
I personally would mostly like to see 2666 next, which gets published here (germany) next week.
This should definitely keep going, but I’m very much against the idea of keeping it about DFW, only because there are so many realms in which this sort of format would be helpful.
Pynchon’s works, as many people have already mentioned, would be a great jumping-off point. I think the “Have Always Meant to Read” or notoriously difficult (though still heavily influential) novels would be best suited to this sort of endeavor. Those are sort of the criteria I saw for making one about Infinite Jest, anyway.
And I’ll go ahead and support some of the books I’d like to see this done with that have already been mentioned (or at least authors that have been):
—Pynchon (pref. Against the Day or Mason & Dixon)
—Gaddis (pref. The Recognitions, being his first work)
—Ulysses
—Underworld
—Moby Dick
—2666
—NOT Great Gatsby, I think anyone who’s had an English class has already spent enough hours discussing the significance of the green light, etc.
Being a Pynchon fan, I love a dumb pun (see an above comment re: Pynchon titles), so seeing various incarnations of famous literary titles with whatever season we’re in tickles just the right literary bone in me.
Alternately, I think “The Tunnel Club: [book name]” would work well, too. Keeps the DFW roots, too.
This all sounds fantastic. Even though I finished IJ over a month ago, reading this site everyday has allowed it to stick with me longer. I would stick with this site no matter what.
I tend to agree with the overall trend here: the big PoMo novels might be best because they are 1) big and 2) well-suited (w/r/t content and theme) to a hypertextual social network discussion of the text.
But I am in favor of, as that LA Times list you linked to shows, interpreting the term “Postmodern” rather broadly.
I noticed people recommended AGAINST THE DAY, which is an awesome book, but it is such a butt-kicking, scattered, gargantuan tome that it should be saved for a time when this idea has some momentum behind it; it might drive too many people away.
At the end of the day, it seems like you should stick to the idea of “Something I always meant to read, but …” because those are the books that benefit from having others support you, which goes for IJ as much as shorter novels like The Sound and the Fury.
I think you should just keep the title, regardless the book.
Also:
You saying that one of these is a short, conventional novel?
No. I’m saying those are the big books between which smaller novels would be sandwiched.
Like:
And so forth.
Sounds goodly, bubba. Think you might go for some kind of voting system to select the books?
If that right there turns out to be the list, I am fully in support. I’d love to see some Gaddis crop up next (Recognitions or J R preferably, of course).
I think that the great thing about infinite summer was that it focused on a book that everyone thinks is insurmountable, but then turns out to be really less of a challenge and more rewarding than expected. From reading this year’s Tournament of Books, I’m not really sure that 2666 fits into that category.
Matthew what a wonderful idea and in fact I had hoped you would suggest it. My vote is for the next choice is 2666. Thank you for the time you have devoted to this effort, please know it is appreciated.
One word: big. I have no sympathy for anyone who “always meant to read” the 324 pages of The Kite Runner. Saying that is just an excuse for laziness. Monoliths like the Jest are more reasonably something people need a big schedule for motivation.
Aside from the conversation about What Books to Read Next, I think there is another avenue well worth pursuing, which is to publish a collection of Infinite Summer essays.
You simply take the best and most popular essays from the Guides; the comments; the forums; and posts on other sites (e.g. Infinite Detox). Even the best #infsum tweets, perhaps punctuating each chapter! Some essays may need editing or sub-editing to make them legible outside the timeline we are currently in the middle of.
Then you publish it via a site such as Lulu.com, and also provide a free PDF version for those who want one. Snarkmarket did a fascinating community authored book, New Liberal Arts, on this model, recently: http://snarkmarket.com/nla/
I think a tangible product like this would be a fitting endpoint for this particular chapter of Infinite Summer. It would be also be a handy resource for anyone wishing to follow in our footsteps, since it could still be structured as a weekly guide. Similar books could also be published for future communal readings, be they more DFW, more po-mo bricks, or more Always Wanted To Read.
And so but basicallly, I really like the idea of a genuinely crowd-sourced books, or series of books. It would be particularly apt in the case of IJ, which is a cacophony of different charachter voices, from which the story emerges. And the idea of the audience becoming the entertainment, the product, is obviously one of J.O. Incandenza’s major themes.
This is a great idea. At the very least, this site should remain up for people who begin IJ at any time of the year. While so many of us are benefiting from it now, imagine how many more could come to it in the future.
Count me in, although I can’t promise I’ll participate with the same enthusiasm (and monomania) on every book you propose as I did on IJ. IJ is a one-off, and that’s all there is to it. (And I second Matthias: Keep it “Infinite Summer” so we all remember why we got involved in the first place.)
It’s a great idea to keep this site going! My own preference is more towards the classic, “always meant to read” novels, but I’d be willing to try other things. A mix is probably a good way to keep more people interested–just not too many flavor-of-the-month modern titles please. I don’t like ideas 3 and 4 (I’m hoping 4 was just a joke). I love IJ and have the greatest respect for Wallace, there’s no need to be obsessive about one person when there’s a world of good literature out there.
IJ was able to spark this project because of its odd status as both a daunting huge book and a sorta kinda cultural +/- generational touchstone that a weird number of people (me being one) seemed to have a really particular attachment to. Of course, ain’t much that falls into that category. But the closer to that odd status you can get, probably the better. Which is why me, personally, I might be more drawn to something like 2666, which I’ve not read, but which seems to have grabbed a lot of people recently, rather than something from the standard list of “gee, I should read that” books like Ulysses or Gravity’s Rainbow.
Oh, and if 2666 is at all under consideration, its very recency would argue for sooner rather than later — Ulysses and GR ain’t likely, unlike a more recently published book, to have their overall context or effect on any of us change much by being pushed off a year or two.
Could we let IJ act as our book selector (or at least suggester of titles)? Use the most potent references/influences of the book (or author) we are currently reading to point to the next book or two?
I’m glad to hear you’re planning to keep on keepin’ on, Matthew. Being a slobbering canon-monger and a snob I heartily endorse a mix of bullet points 1 & 2. I’m experiencing some DFW-induced cabin fever from spending so much time in the man’s head this summer; I think it’s best if he and I see other people for awhile.
I know that some of the #infsum crowd have already got a #gravrain planned for immediately after Infinite Summer…
I would be happy to see this site tackle other books. I think the key to continued interest is finding guides who can write thoughtful posts on a daily basis. I don’t delve into the forums that frequently, but I always want to see what the Guides (and commenters) have to say as I read along.
(That said, I tried to read 2666 for the ToB. I only made it through 400 pages, but the thought of rereading those 400 pages is enough to make me ill.)
Finally, if you’re going to keep this up, please throw a Paypal link up somewhere so grateful readers can buy the Guides a beer (or at least a cup of extra-strong coffee from the bottom of the urn).
love the idea of buying a round of drinks for the guides.
my opinion is yes.
All of the options being bandied about sound fantastic. For my part, I’ll be along to ensure this little social experiment keeps going.
I was so happy to read this post. I have met some of the coolest, most interesting people through Infinite Summer and as Infinite Detox mentioned, several of us were planning to read Gravity’s Rainbow after Infinite Summer already. I like the idea of a sort of postmodern book club, whether it’s the Tunnel Club or Infinite Summer (infinite does mean…infinite after all) and in addition to #gravrain, I’ve already got The Recognitions, Ulysses, The Savage Detectives, 2666, Cloud Atlas and the remainder of In Search of Lost Time staring at me from the shelves. Housekeeping is good and so is Gilead and I’ve got Home here left to read. I’ve also got a pile of books on Wittgenstein here (IJ inspired impulse purchases) and tackling something directly philosophical might be interesting since there seem to be quite a few philosophy scholars Twittering around.
Whatever call you guys make — count me in.
Wow, Proust is such a great idea. Also Beckett’s Molloy, Malone Dies & The Unnameable.
Ooh, Beckett too. Forgot him but he’s another intimidating (to me) author who would be great.
Do you write the movie reviews for the Denver Post? If so, I love your reviews.
Does anyone go to fivethirtyeight.com anymore? It doesn’t look like it from the number of comments posted. Relatively speaking, Nate Silver barely does, and he owns it. Last year, I could hardly live without it. Just now, I struggled to even remember the name.
And so I wonder about the reincarnation of Infinite Summer without DFW, for me anyway. I DID have the book on my shelf for years. I DID read all those tributes and memorials on McSweeney’s last year. I never thought I’d be a better person for reading 2666 or Gravity’s Rainbow, nor have I teared up over their authors’ memorials. (I wasn’t even aware of how funny that was until I looked to see that Pynchon is evidently still alive.)
But it’s also true that Infinite Summer is just as much Matthew (and the guides) as it is Wallace. Much like the Tournament of Books, I look forward to the daily posts. (And curse when they aren’t there until the end of the day.) They are well written and thoughtful. They help me be more thoughtful. I can always use that.
So I’ll go where you’d like to go. I think that’s the best chance we have for both of us to enjoy it.
I’m even willing to pay for that sort of thing, in case that ever comes up.
Thanks. I’ve had a great time.
For what it’s worth, I designed the Infinite Summer Reading Progress Tracker to work with any book. So, I volunteer to setup a Progress Tracker for next undertaking.
Ooh, didn’t know about this. I did a little Facebook app for IS (http://apps.facebook.com/infinitesummer/) to allow people to publish their progress to their profile, but it doesn’t have anything like the aggregate data you provide. Anyway, I’d be happy to do a similar thing for Facebook for future books.
More generally, I’m in favor of keeping IS going, and some of the suggested books appeal to me, but I’ve put enough of myself into IS (my wife claims to be an #infsum widow) that I couldn’t keep up the same pace. Would totally tune in, though, and read what books I could manage.
Please consider Auster’s “New York Trilogy.” I had to stop an obsession with him to read IJ – glad I did. But I think about NYT more than most books I read.
I’ve always wanted to read Gravity’s Rainbow, but was discouraged by other readers who thought I should do so while taking a class, for the support and clarification. Your suggested titles are intriguing, and I would enjoy reading all of them and joining in the discussion. It takes a tremendous amount of work, to run a site like this. Thank you for taking on DFW’s masterpiece. As an emerging writer it’s encouraged me to stretch my writing muscles. As a reader it’s forced me to break out of my comfort zone and tackled something challenging. As a teacher I say––keep everyone reading! Thanks again for all your hard work.
Karin, while I’m sure a course would help with GR, there is a really good book of annotations called A GRAVITY’S RAINBOW COMPANION that helps out a ton with a first reading.
I would love to have the site continue. I think a mix of things would be great, and the example list you have above sounds really good. Except I’m afraid of 2666. And how will we fit in the ToB reading?
I would be into to any of the proposed titles – especially any Pynchon. But I’d love to see Dow Mossman’s Stones of Summer included too. Obvious title synchronicity aside, I’ve wanted to read this since seeing the documentary “Stone Reader” a couple years ago. I have a feeling a few IJ/IS folks out there saw this documentary about Mossman and his novel too and would like to tackle the work along with maybe a side discussion about the themes (lost books, nature of literary genius, love of reading, to name a few) that were raised by the excellent film.
I forgot about STONES OF SUMMER. I have that one here too — because of course I saw the documentary.
I think that the multifaceted appeal of IJ was the size cut down for real life readers, the notoriety but lack of canonical recognition, and the cultish following of Wallace fans. So we need more books people have heard of and have been tempted to pick up but that aren’t yet in the canon. You can study Gatsby or Moby Dick anywhere. But 2666 is a big, contemporary, cult-following kind of book that isn’t taught at every college and on the ‘Net. So I offer that any book that caught your eye, called to you, but daunted you should be on the list. You listed 2666, Gravity’s Rainbow, The Pale King, The Recognition, and Underworld, all of which I think are great suggestions.
Take suggestions if you like, but this is your beast, man, and in art, democracy gets us mediocrity.
Sorry…also meant to say: those who are now converted DFW fans will read his work without prompting. Let’s keep to your awesome premise that we need to read things we keep meaning to but need peer pressure to start.
I agree with Naptime, 100%, +1, whatever. Don’t try to fill up the year with all sorts of books. Pick the ones that we need and can benefit from doing together. Keep the pace slow, as with IJ. And forget democracy. Plenty of folks who vote won’t be there for the read (please, nobody take offense, but look how many people who apparently promised or at least were excited to be in on IS didn’t show up, if the initials ASFB mean anything to you).
Ditto on the “no Democracy” suggestion — hard-assed Schtittian Fascism all the way!
I agree with Bernie–keep the site going. The big books with the easy reads “sandwiched” in is my preference. Don’t care what order but do think Gatsby should be left out and Proust definitely added.
Just my personal thing, maybe (though perhaps there are others out there with similar issue?), but I am teaching about twenty different books over the next fifteen weeks, and I’d rather not toss some “easy” books up on the IS platform just to give us a break, mental or whatever. Folks who want that have all sorts of places to go – good reads, etc. But while I’m reading/teaching all these books, what I can do is reserve a time, every few days, for a little chunk of that BIG book I can’t get through with all the pressing little books I’m already reading – unless, that is, I’ve got you-all there with me.
Mathew, I’d also like to thank you for setting this up. I’m another who would not have read Infinite Jest if it wasn’t for this excellent event you put together. Your timing was right, culturally and for me personally. I don’t read books this long ever and my collection is littered with unfinished books. Even if I had picked up IJ, there is no way I would have gotten this far without the structure and community Infinite Summer has provided. Stopping by daily has been a pleasure.
Because of the many unfinished (and un-started) books laying around my house, I may read some of those instead of joining you for the next book or the one after that. If the selection and timing works for me at some point, I will definitely participate again.
Some suggestions: Create another website for future readings and leave this one up as an archive for IJ readers. Neither “infinite,” nor “summer” will work for another book or another season. Each book chosen, if it is to have nearly the same interest as IJ, must become its own event.
*Matthew. Sorry.
“I recently learned that DFW taught a contemporary fiction course at Illinois State, in which the syllabus was books that he himself had trouble reading.”
When and where did you learn this?
wallace-l
Big books all the way! How about Vollmann’s Imperial or Alexander Theroux’s Laura Warholic?
I love the idea of dedicating the site to the “hard time finishing” books. Ulysses is the most obvious choice for me. I know I would benefit from the community support, the daily commentary, and the deadline. In fact, if you don’t do a Ulysses event, I may have to.
My wife and I wound up doing Infinite Summer together. It was the first time we had ever read the same book simultaneously, and it wound up being really fun. We finished early and we are both reading Broom of the System now to keep the Dave Wallace buzz going. Thanks to all of you for the nice experience.
Please consider reading Brother’s Karamazov. It’s not post-modern, but it is related to IJ. In fact, Timothy Jacobs argues in his article Brothers Incandenza that “Infinite Jest is patterned so meticulously after Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov that ..it is a rewriting or figurative translation of The Brothers Karamazov into the contemporary idiom or context.”
In addition,DFW has spoken and written about BK in ways the book and characters seem like ones we will all live with forever, much like those in IJ. I would be happy to email you more arguments and details in favor of BK but please at least consider this book that many say is the best novel ever written.
I would be all for The Brothers Karamazov too. It seems to me that Wallace considered Dostoevsky the key writer to read as a corrective to the culture of hip irony that he felt had chilled our souls.
I don’t have a great deal to add, other than to say that I’ve greatly enjoyed the experience of Infinite Summer – the sense of community and the encouragement to keep going that comes from the regular updates and deadlines and supplementary materials on the site. I’ve lost count of just how many little insights and different viewpoints I’ve picked up from the main site and forums over the months. It would be a great shame to just lose this little corner of intelligence on the internet and I’d be very interested in following this up with further projects. My pick would be to just keep to the format of tackling big novels, particularly recent-ish ones (I’d say back to middle-20th Century) and the idea of tackling Gaddis or Pynchon or Bolano appeals very much at the moment, though maybe a little break first before we plunge in? Both to decompress a little (I’ve found going from one huge novel straight into another can prove difficult) and also to give me time to round up a few friends to do the project with, as I did with IJ.
I think what you are leaning towards is what you should do. 2666 this winter, GR next summer and smaller books smothered in-between. This is the best plan of attack.
— Gravity’s Rainbow. I finally finished it on my 3rd attempt, and I *know* I wasn’t getting enough out of it.
–Underworld. How could I have hated it that much, when my very literary friend views it as his handbook for all things good and righteous in all things bookish. It can’t just be that I don’t care for baseball as a motif. Someone’s got to walk me through that puppy.
–The Pale King. There’s no question here, gotta happen. But let’s wait until 6 months or so after publication. Give everyone a chance to read it and ruminate a bit first.
–2666. I am just not loving this one, and haven’t finished it. Again, I’d be happy for some handholding.
–The Children’s Hospital. Published by McSweeney’s a couple of years ago – thought it was epic and sweeping and would be a nice opportunity to exam some modern social/religious/existential motifs.
–Leave out fluffernutters like Gatsby and Dracula. If it’s something we all hit up as highschoolers or in an undergrad survey course, I just don’t see the point. ‘Course I can always just opt out of the smaller books and hop back in for the biggies. Any my preference is to keep the site called Infinite Summer.
It seems my preference is for the big, sprawling, modern novel. I have hung along with every post with IS. I believe many of us have, although I don’t post often. Thanks for putting creating this page, and to everyone for their posts. Revisiting IJ this summer has been a wonder.
Children’s Hospital was a beast. Definitely worth reading, and got under my skin in a similar kind of way.
I vote for big, hard to finish, po-mo books. I’ve been meaning to give Pynchon another try and would love it if it were part of Infinite <>.
Here are some that haven’t been mentioned yet:
David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas”
William T. Vollman’s “Europe Central”
And then I’ll jump on the bandwagon for “2666” and “The Children’s Hopsital.”
I’ll add that I don’t mind reading smaller books along the way, but I’ll probably be picking those on my own. I also like the earlier suggestion that we choose books that can in some way be connected to Wallace, so that this “infinite” thing is a more direct, ever-growing annular connection, rather than just a random groping in the postmodern dark.