Infinite Summer

Yep, I think I hear the folks from AARP at the door to tell me I'm too old for this. 55 in a few weeks. I'm proud of you younger readers for tackling this book.

26, soon to be 27 on July8th

I am 25. I just finished IJ in May and will be rereading it here again for Infinite Summer. Like you, I started reading DFW in high school. Now, I've read all of his work except for The Broom of the System.

I think 16 is a great age to read IJ. There are many books that I do not think can be enjoyed as an adolescent: certain books require an amount of life experience to be appreciated or even understood. For me personally, I had that experience with Bellow's Seize the Day, which I didn't understand at all in high school but feel much more strongly about now due to my experiences.

The problem with reading at 16 is not that books are too difficult, too complex, or too intelligent for you. The biggest problem, in my opinion, is emotional understanding. It would be hard for someone at 16 to identify with a novel about, say, the dissolution of a 20-year long marriage.

But IJ is not that book. If anything, I think the book was written specifically with young men in mind (of course, I am not saying the book is written for young men). The book deals with many of the problems I struggled with during my teenage years and into college. I wish I had read it earlier in my life.

23 years-old here. I attempted to read this monolith two summers ago when I worked at a summer camp. However, I didn't get very far in the book since my typical work day lasted until 10pm and my bed (cot) was much more tempting to indulge in than this book was at the time. I'm excited at the prospect of reading this beast-of-a-book with the help of random online strangers!

I'm Jenn, I'm 27 and I live in Atlanta, GA. I finally started reading Infinite Jest today, 2 days late, because I finally found it in a bookstore! It was sold out everywhere, including at the bookstore I currently work at. I think that's a good sign, though - perhaps there are others out there who are investing in this hefty summer project!

I have to admit, I'm only a few pages in, and I'm definitely enjoying the book already, but I'm a tiny bit trepidacious. I feel like all of this info pouring into my head is going to make my brain explode! Anyone else feel the same way? I'm definitely going to try and stick with it, though. I've been wanting to read David Foster Wallace for a while now, and this is my first experience with his work. I love the idea of all of these people around the world reading the same book at the same time, and it's great that we have this discussion forum to talk about it!

Oh, and if any of you are on Twitter, you can follow me for my own personal Infinite Summer updates (and other musings) - twitter.com/ayalasurit.

33. I couldn't have imagined reading this when I was 16. I don't think I had the life experience from which to draw any significant meaning. This is just a personal thing, I'm not saying there aren't 16 year old's out there who won't totally identify w/ Hal.

I'm 35, but read IJ for the first time at 24, the summer after grad school, when my boyfriend (now husband) and I packed up our shit and got outta Dodge before the ink was dry on my degree -- we U-Hauled it to California, and stayed with his sister while we looked for jobs and our own place and I read IJ every spare moment. As I've said elsewhere, it was the best book I never wanted to read again ... but as huge a DFW fan as I am, I had to come back to it sometime ... so here we are. Very interested to have all these ages & perspectives on the boards!

35. I've tried a few times to read this book...and never gotten beyond the first 100 pages. Started last night and am really excited. I'm excited about the challenge - but think I'd never make it through without the IS schedule to urge me on.

I almost threw my copy away when it got rained on through a window. So glad I didn't.

18-almost-19. I started to read IJ a few months ago, was about a quarter of the way through, heard about IS, and decided to wait and read along with everyone else.

Do I always have to be the oldest person in the room? I'm 61, and I've read IJ three or four times. Maybe five. Dunno for sure, but for sure it's a good book to take on summer vacation because you only have to take one.