Infinite Summer

I came pretty freaking close. I honestly didn't mind Clenette and yrstruly that much, but Marathe/Steeply, the videophone section and the guy falling with the bricks nearly did it. There are so many unrelated stories in these first 200 pages. It seems to be getting better now with Ennet House and ETA.

The only thing that kept me going was the advice given at the beginning, to just get through he first 200 pages, thank god I am a fast reader too, if I was spending weeks in those sections I would have given up.

Here's looking forward to the reaping the rewards

I was really on the fence when I dipped my toe in and read the first chapter.

Initially, my inner critic was rolling his eyes and saying, "why does he have to go so far to make his descriptions a challenge?" I mean "brewster's angle?" Really? Is that necessary? (I know now given his dad's connections to optics that it was indeed necessary.)
He really made me work to follow whom he was talking about. It was already exhausting.

Then IT happened. That turning point right there in the first section. The moment you realize Hal's brilliant repartee is all internal and he's spewing nothing but inhuman blathering. From there I was hooked. He had me. Any expectations I had (which were actually few, since I'd never heard of DFW until I randomly bumped into this project) were out the window.

I've had a gung-ho attitude ever since. I bought in and I'm giving DFW my full trust. I don't skip sections, I don't wait on endnotes, I just READ THE DAMN THING. That's why we're here!

It all kinda goes back to that dead sea blog post. I dive when I want to, but invariably I just keep floating and swimming. I continually feel rewarded for doing it. He has great control over how he's unraveling the details, and I'm enjoying the trip.

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First read.
Reading on Kindle and iPhone.

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First-Time Reader
Started: 26 June 2009 | Finished: 25 July 2009

The videophone section was fantastic, I thought.

I even read it aloud to my gf.

At page 900 now (started early) and haven't once contemplated quitting. Loved it from pg. 1

This is my second time through, but I did come close to quitting the first time. I'm generally bad about quitting books that don't keep me interested, and the first couple hundred pages of IJ were certainly tough for me to get through. But for whatever reason I kept plugging along, slowly but surely. And suffice it to say, I wouldn't be re-reading IJ along with you guys if the first time didn't turn out to be more than worth the effort.

I think my thoughts are most closely aligned with bloatedsack. I was wary of all the obscure vocabulary that didn't seem necessary at first... but I knew I would love it after the first section. I actually haven't thought of quitting at all, but am hoping not to fall behind!

From what I read about the book before starting the reading, I think a lot of people made it sound harder than it is - sure the vocabulary requires some work (or not if you can infer the meanings), but the story is so gripping that it makes it easy to want to pick it up every day. Well I guess only if you like the story and characters!

The only section I've sort of had to drag myself through was the first Madame Psychosis section, specifically the description of the brain-like union. Not sure why, maybe reading too late at night.