Comments on: Summer’s End Roundtable, Part IV

By: nick Thomas

nick Thomas — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:01:13 +0000

well,I just finished reading I J on Sat. Oct. 10th!” am overwhelmed by feelings of joy to be at long last not skipping out on socializing to Read My Book. To be free to read another book. Yet I don’t want to read any other mere “regular” book, for fear all will pale in IJ’s Shadow. And also I just want to let it steepand marinate and age like fine wine. A strange paradox! for like maybe a month or two. Like many of you I have a new respect t appreciation for tennis, AA, Quebec Separatists, drug addicts (like what Weezer sings “we are all on drugs”), disabled people’s potential to rise above their impairments, and generally more respect/ Sympathy for teenagers. This was my first Wallace book. I think my next read will have to be another of his. Anyone else feel sorta like the Spaniard Swordsman at the end of The Princess Bride when he confesses “I’ve been in the revenge business for so long, now that I’ve had mine, I don’t know what to do with myself”?
A big thanks to the brain of this infite summer, and a toast to the incredible author David Foster Wallace, who is much missed by all. And thanks to the Stranger newspaper for mentioning I. S. last April- Nick in seattle

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:11:02 +0000

Like many others here Infinite Jest was sitting on my bookshelf staring at me for quite some time. Infinite Summer was the nudge I needed to finally tackle the beast. Having read most of Wallace’s other books I had a pretty good idea what I was in for, but with so many other amazing books I’ve yet to read the idea of carving out all that time for one tome was my main qualm. Thanks to you for motivating me to read this incredible book that enriched me in strange ways, and I believe made me a better reader to boot.

By: Boo Boo Trotsky

Boo Boo Trotsky — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:23:16 +0000

Just finished Infinite Jest on Saturday and happened upon Infinite Summer today. Would like to say that I read Infinite Jest over the course of the summer, but I don’t remember when I started it. I think I started reading it in very early spring. All I can recall is that when I walked to the bookstore to buy Infinite Jest, I was wearing a winter coat. Not sure that the book changed my life except for the fact that I can now tell people I read Infinite Jest which might make me sound like a big shot or just an asshole. What I do love about Wallace’s prose is both the control he displays and his looseness with the language. I remember reading an article about him which mentioned that one of Wallace’s stated aims in writing was to make the reading experience enjoyable. Totally comes through in Infinite Jest (can I write “IJ” or is that lazy?), and not in spite of the complex narrative and prose but rather because of it. Total fricken’ genius.

By: Alana

Alana — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:51:33 +0000

It definitely reconfigured my default setting as far as reading books. I am reading “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” now on some recommendations and it feels like a pamphlet. A few months ago I probably wouldn’t have even picked it up because I gotten so out of the habit of reading. I had a funny thing happen, though, as I was reading “TEOTH” last night. I was starting to doze off as I tried to finish a paragraph and when I snapped out of it I went back to look if I had missed any endnote numbers. And, wait for it, was DISAPPOINTED when I realized I was not going to find any because I was not reading IJ anymore. Woah.

I want to buy all the guides and all the commenters and all the other bloggers beers. Or cokes. Or soda waters. Whatever will best convey my deep and abiding gratitude for making this such an amazing experience. Thank you.

By: Rob Mientjes

Rob Mientjes — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:59:57 +0000

Thanks, guides. Thuides. (Cf.)

By: sriram

sriram — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:28:17 +0000

Agree with Daryl. Matthew, if you ever happen to visit Hyderabad(India), do e-mail me about the beer I owe you.

Thanks to all the guides and fellow readers. Man, this internet is a wonderful thing!

By: Prolixian

Prolixian — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:12:39 +0000

Matthew – I’m with those that think that we all owe you a beer. Thanks for organizing this event, without which I probably would still be staring at IJ on my bookshelf. I got the book last December, read chapter 1 and set it aside as being too time consuming to attack. When I heard about the Infinite Summer project about 3 weeks before the start (via Salon or NYTimes, I think) , I decided to commit to it, even though I’ve never been involved in a book club before (being a bit of a commitmentphobe in that regard. Full disclosure: I didn’t REALLY decide to commit until after the first 150 pages or so, in case I fell off the wagon, so to speak).

The book re-jiggered my thinking and view of the world in ways that I did not expect at all, and it was tremendous to read the accounts of others as they worked their way through the same pages at the same time.

Thanks also to Avery, Eden and Kevin for committing to the project and providing your thoughts, even though it was clearly going at times for some of you. Whether I agree or disagreed with a post of the day, your posts always gave me much to reflect upon.

By: Adam (the Irish one)

Adam (the Irish one) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:42:23 +0000

What a fantastic little story to end with, Matthew! It just encapsulates what IJ is all about.

I’d like to echo what some others have said above – Infinite Summer has made the internet a more interesting place, at least for me. You’ve created something new, and in doing so brought likeminded people together in shared love and debate, which if you think about it means you fulfil some of the criteria of the genuine artist.

Kudos to you, and to all who participated.

By: Mynameisnotlinda

Mynameisnotlinda — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:28:08 +0000

I’d like to add my thanks to all the guides for creating this experience, and also to all my fellow readers. In describing Infinite Summer to friends and colleagues, I’ve had some trouble describing the experience. Participating in such rich discussions with an intelligent, funny and insightful group of people has been wonderful. I can’t help but think that as an author and especially as a teacher, DFW would have been really pleased with what we’ve accomplished.

By: Mark M

Mark M — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:34:00 +0000

I also wanted to add my thanks to Matthew for setting this up, the guides for leading the way, and to everyone who participated, whether it a post, a comment or a link to some place interesting (I loved the Flickr group).

I finished the book early and have found myself thinking about scenes and characters from IJ again and again. Reading the book with so many smart people increased my enjoyment many times over. This was fun. Count me in on the next one.