OhItsJustDan wrote:
I think this is really important. When you're standing outside looking in, it can seem like a lot of DFW's work is nearly impenetrable. But once you start reading, you realize that he isn't going to let you drown--not for a second. If any modern writer was acutely aware of the connection between the reader and the writer, it was DFW. Like Dave Eggers says in the foreword, the book is drum-tight; there are no lazy sentences. They may be long and complex at times, but they're so perfectly constructed you just glide right through them. For the most part, his writing is a breeze to read, and for anyone who's tried to write on their own, he's both awe-inspiring and jealousy-inducing. He has such an idiosyncratic voice, a tone that's relaxed and erudite and inviting and gorgeous. I can't get enough of the man's prose. Which works out great, because there's always so much of it! And that's what intimidates people. The quantity. Once they dip their toes in, though, they realize that that doesn't mean he ever sacrificed quality, and that having such an enormous pile of genius dumped in your lap is pretty awesome, after all.
(Removed what was quoted before this so my reply doesn't get too long.)
Yes, yes, and yes. I kept thinking most of what is written above while reading the Erdedy section that begins on page 17 (I hope it's okay to reference that section, since it begins before page 21!). It's quite dense and lacks a traditional structure, with some stream of consciousness type stuff in there... but god does it flow so well. But it's not dense in an impenetrable way, it's very modern. Anyway, OhItsJustDan has said it all much better than I could!
I realized I was going to love this book on the very first page: "My fingers are mated into a mirrored series of what manifests, to me, as the letter X." What a beautifully striking way to say, "I crossed my hands." Later on page 6: "The Dean with the flat yellow face has leaned forward, his lips drawn back from his teeth in what I see as concern. His hands come together on the conference table's surface. His own fingers look like they mate as my own four-X series dissolves and I hold tight to the sides of my chair." I'm no writer, but I think I understand what you mean by "jealousy-inducing".
And yet it's so funny I found myself really laughing at multiple passages. One that comes to mind is the bathroom scene on pages 13-15.