Comments on: Michael Pietsch: Editing Infinite Jest

By: Infinite Summer » Blog Archive » Roundup

Infinite Summer » Blog Archive » Roundup — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:42:52 +0000

[...] Telegraph has a long article on Infinite Jest, Infinite Summer, and David Foster Wallace. In it, Michael Pietsch speaks a bit about Wallace’s final and incomplete novel, The Pale King, to be published [...]

By: Isabella

Isabella — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:46:10 +0000

Yeah, I don’t know where this whole Quebec thing is going, but I feel as though the French was treated a little carelessly. The syntax is closer to a French person from France speaking English than that of a Quebecer. Also, I’ve never heard a Quebecer say “gendarmes” (unless describing some incident in Paris).

By: Manuel

Manuel — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:04:39 +0000

Julie, a couple of things–

1. I’m not sure, but I think there has to be some significance in the FLQ being male in the book.

2. Recall that a lot of the English in IJ is also mangled–not only to reflect the fact that the book isn’t manifest in our reality but in another, though equally horrible/cartoonish one, but also, I think, for the sake of usage variety. People don’t always speak properly. Hal and Steeply are the most constant botchers of French, and I think the book’s depiction of the language is in no way meant to represent Standard French, Quebecois French, and/or any resultant basilects.

3. Hal also makes a number of mathematical errors, which is in keeping with his shaky French. A bit of info on those errors here: http://www.thehowlingfantods.com/IJmath.htm

Not sure what to make of it, and though it’s clear that DFW was knowledgeable about math based on some of his other work, his book on infinity is kind of riddled with errors. And I don’t know anything about his French expertise. So I guess it’s up for grabs?

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:13:27 +0000

Oh, forgot one minor cultural detail: a Québécois who wants independance would never refer to himself and others of the same opinion as ’separatist’ but as a ’sovereignist’.

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:11:50 +0000

One thing I wish was indeed edited is the French in IJ which is way off. For example, ‘fauteuils de rollents’ is really ‘fauteuils roulants’ (P.88). Endnote 19 is ‘Une Personne de l’Importance Terrible’ but should be ‘une personne terriblement importante’. Also, Le Front de la Libération de la Québec really is Le Front de libération du Québec. Also, among cultural details that look strange is the fact that one character is said to be a separatist but is connected to English Québécois environments, a fact that would very rarely if ever happen in real. I understand how the book is not supposed to reflect current reality but I would have liked the French to reflect normal linguistic use. Otherwise, I really like the book.

By: PGOAT

PGOAT — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:36:41 +0000

I agree! And poor old footnote 33. I want to hear about that prescriptive grammar exam!

By: Allen

Allen — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:10:51 +0000

Over on the forums(fora?) I was pondering an annotated/critical edition of IJ: http://infinitesummer.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=140

By: Claire

Claire — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:18:33 +0000

I feel like a school girl writing to someone who, like, actually met the man…and I’m not, me, a school girl. Having read Terra Nostra and V and Gravity’s Rainbow in my youth, I wasn’t unprepared for brilliance and complexity. I was unprepared for the near fatal poignancy of it. I am half way through, guiltily chuckling at scences and episodes that defy “sharing.” I just want to know did DFW give any clue. It’s seems mean and immature to want to know, but I can’t help it. All of the “personal map obliterations”. . . Was he, did he seem connected more to certain characters…to Hal in particular. These may be unfair questions. It was really helpful, the one comment about it all coming together after the first half. But I’d read it through if there were complaints that nothing ever gets “confluential.” It’s scary though. Were you ever scared that the book was like the cartridge of the same name?

By: Colin

Colin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:20:54 +0000

I’d also be interested in seeing some form of IJ with extra stuff. Funny thing is, after reading it, IJ somehow seemed short looking back on it. I guess that’s because once I hit the middle and things started working out, I never wanted the book to end.

By: allan

allan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:13:34 +0000

Thanks for posting this. It could be about 50,000 words longer, however.

From the DT Max story, we know many, many drafts of IJ exist, but a complete copy of what DFW finally turned in to LB would be amazing to see.