Blue J Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I was thinking about that line in The Garden, "Time is still the infinite jest." Infinite Jest, of corse, is the title of David Foster Wallace's longest novel, and I wonder if anybody knows if Neil is a particular fan of Wallace's writing. Or is the occurrence of that lyric purely happenstance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghorn-leghorn Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Not sure, maybe he is simply impressed by the phrase it'self. Not sure he is a Shakespeare fan either although he has famously para-phrased Bill on more than one occassion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Not sure, maybe he is simply impressed by the phrase it'self. Not sure he is a Shakespeare fan either although he has famously para-phrased Bill on more than one occassion. This is true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babycat Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I don't even know who David Foster Wallace is. I think a trip to wikipedia is in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) I don't even know who David Foster Wallace is. I think a trip to wikipedia is in order. To be honest, I started on Infinite Jest, but never finished it. It is just mind-boggling. His first novel, called Broom of the System, published when he was 23 or 24 years old, is really fantastic if you don't mind his quirks (what I'm saying is I can see how he might not appeal to everybody). He also has a couple of collections of short stories, and an unfinished novel, The Pale King, which was published posthumously. He died by suicide in September of 2008. Edited April 7, 2015 by Blue J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babycat Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I don't even know who David Foster Wallace is. I think a trip to wikipedia is in order. To be honest, I started on Infinite Jest, but never finished it. It is just mind-boggling. His first novel, called Broom of the System, published when he was 23 or 24 years old, is really fantastic if you don't mind his quirks (what I'm saying is I can see how he might not appeal to everybody). He also has a couple of collections of short stories, and an unfinished novel, The Pale King, which was published posthumously. He died by suicide in September of 2008.  I just read what had happened. Aw, dude... :( 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I don't even know who David Foster Wallace is. I think a trip to wikipedia is in order.Me either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueschica Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) I was thinking about that line in The Garden, "Time is still the infinite jest." Infinite Jest, of corse, is the title of David Foster Wallace's longest novel, and I wonder if anybody knows if Neil is a particular fan of Wallace's writing. Or is the occurrence of that lyric purely happenstance? I'm pretty sure Neil is. I ran across NP's blog because I read that he had reading lists on there; I always like those so I went there. He lists books he has enjoyed and I remember at least one by David Foster Wallace is on there; plus a biography of DFW- "Every Story Is a Ghost Story" that NP read also. I also vaguely remember Neil mentioning DFW and his writing in at least one of his blogs, maybe when that biography came out? (Sorry to be so vague, I am one of those that finds Neil's blogs wordy except when he is writing about his daughter Olivia or being out west in places I have been myself . . .)  Anyway, I was considering Infinite Jest as well and someone told me the same thing; that is was somewhat difficult to get in to; and I didn't get back to it. However, DFW gave a wonderful graduation speech about 10 years ago that has been all over the internet in different forms but if you haven't ever seen it it is worth reading-http://www.theguardi.../sep/20/fiction Edited April 7, 2015 by blueschica 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 I was thinking about that line in The Garden, "Time is still the infinite jest." Infinite Jest, of corse, is the title of David Foster Wallace's longest novel, and I wonder if anybody knows if Neil is a particular fan of Wallace's writing. Or is the occurrence of that lyric purely happenstance? I'm pretty sure Neil is. I ran across NP's blog because I read that he had reading lists on there; I always like those so I went there. He lists books he has enjoyed and I remember at least one by David Foster Wallace is on there; plus a biography of DFW- "Every Story Is a Ghost Story" that NP read also. I also vaguely remember Neil mentioning DFW and his writing in at least one of his blogs, maybe when that biography came out? (Sorry to be so vague, I am one of those that finds Neil's blogs wordy except when he is writing about his daughter or being out west in places I have been myself . . .)  Anyway, I was considering Infinite Jest as well and someone told me the same thing; that is was somewhat difficult to get in to; and I didn't get back to it. However, DFW gave a wonderful graduation speech about 10 years ago that has been all over the internet in different forms but if you haven't ever seen it it is worth reading-http://moreintellige...n-his-own-words I am familiar with that speech, though I haven't ever watched/heard it. Thank you! Both for that and the rest of your post.  He was one of my sister's favorites. :) That was mainly how I knew about him, back when. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueschica Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Yes, he is one of my son's favorites; but he gets into deeper fiction. My son told me about Infinite Jest but it sounded too heavy for me! Not sure why, I enjoy intellectual writing up to a point but then I start wishing it was a who done it mystery ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathory Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 the phrase infinite jest has its roots in shakespeare, but neil keeps up with serious fiction so I'm sure he's at least read DFW 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueschica Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) Right, it is in Hamlet, but there are holes in both my memory and education you could drive a truck through . . . but as I tell my kids, I know all the words to "Stairway to Heaven" and "Anthem," do you, haha :) Edited April 7, 2015 by blueschica 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueschica Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 And I will shut up about my kids now :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Rebel Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I was thinking about that line in The Garden, "Time is still the infinite jest." Infinite Jest, of corse, is the title of David Foster Wallace's longest novel, and I wonder if anybody knows if Neil is a particular fan of Wallace's writing. Or is the occurrence of that lyric purely happenstance? Yes, he's a huge fan and reviews a couple of his books in Bubba's book club and offers some personal comments about his life since one was about DFW? And yes, Infinate Jest is considered one of America's great works by many and that is where the line comes from.   2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfriendly Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 http://www.neilpeart.net/book_club/issue14.html couldn't find anyone linking but here is an excerpt where he talks about one of his works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeminiRising79 Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Not sure, maybe he is simply impressed by the phrase it'self. Not sure he is a Shakespeare fan either although he has famously para-phrased Bill on more than one occassion. He has sticky photoreceptors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhyta Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I'll add my 2 cents here, I don't think the phrase infinite jest in CA is a reference to DFW work. From reading that link from NEP, he is talking about another one of DFW's work. Â Neil does like to quote the Bard but I believe he just likes the way it sounds IMHO. Neil says Candide was one of his influences for CA but I still haven't read it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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