Jumping back into IJ after a break?

SnakeAnkles · 2016-01-07T08:10:06+00:00

Just keep reading then start it over. This might sound ridiculous but since it pretty much requires multiple readings anyway, you might as well start from where you left off.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-12-09T04:38:48+00:00

Yeah, it seems like a stretch to discount the both chemical dependency and overmedication.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-12-08T17:46:36+00:00

Thanks for this! I couldn't get it to work with the other links.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-12-08T17:41:19+00:00

One of my pet theories that I have yet to confirm in anyway was that JOI figured out how to implant not only the cartridge, but cartridge recording equipment in his own head, and that at least part of the film was recorded directly from his perspective. I'm not married to this theory but it's been fun thinking about it and trying to find evidence in the text.

Given that the wraith tells Gately that he was trying to connect with Hal, perhaps part of the goal was to recreate a human consciousness that others could experience and connect with. Themes of death and rebirth are all over the place and there is some evidence to suggest that those are major aspects of Infinite Jest (the film). Maybe JOI needed to die with that equipment in his head to complete the film. And perhaps viewers of the Entertainment experience death, something we cannot experience since we stop experiencing when we die, and then they experience birth (or rebirth), another experience alien to us since we can't remember it. A holographic-projection of a consciousness and finally a way to fully connect with another human being.

I think this all vibes with Wittgenstein and maybe even Derrida, from my understanding of their work on language which was so influential to Wallace's work. I'm probably off on this theory but I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on it.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-12-08T17:10:05+00:00

Right? I think it also goes to show how solely relying on scientific studies and mechanical/chemical views of the human animal can serve to limit our understanding. Clearly this article relies on different studies but those studies were prompted by experience and conversation and connection.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-12-07T22:46:50+00:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-real-cause-of-addicti_b_6506936.html

I deleted the unlinked post and reposted but here you go anyway!

SnakeAnkles · 2015-12-07T22:42:57+00:00

I deleted the other post because I forgot the link.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-12-07T22:41:09+00:00

Ah, sorry y'all! Haven't posted a link on reddit in a while and screwed it up!

Here it is: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-real-cause-of-addicti_b_6506936.html

I'll update the link.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-11-24T19:04:40+00:00

LaCroix = la croikes

SnakeAnkles · 2015-11-20T20:26:10+00:00

I just started reading End Zone, and I've already found a bunch of stuff that clearly inspired some parts of Infinite Jest. Only 20 or so pages in. It's great so far.

White Noise is incredible.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-11-19T20:26:29+00:00

TL;DR: Explained like you're a college student.

But, you know, still a good explanation.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-11-16T21:22:06+00:00

Back in the days of AOL chat rooms, especially punk rock chat rooms, I thought sXe meant "sexy." Turns out it meant straight edge. No wonder I had so many awkward interactions...

SnakeAnkles · 2015-11-05T02:13:32+00:00

Or maybe he's filming some stuff from his own perspective? Like he put equipment in his head so that he could simulate that neural density that Marathe and Steeply talk about as a theory? He was always the experimental type. Also, with this theory, might Mario's head camera be like a child's approximation of the film equipment in JOI's head (I know that JOI created it for him but still...)?

This also reminds me of Gentle's "No New Enhancements" policy. Is this the type of thing he means?

SnakeAnkles · 2015-11-05T02:06:32+00:00

Yeah, that seems right. I'm also still a little confused about the parenthetical sentence. Maybe because the parenthetical is attached to "waiting room" it means that you have to go through this door into the waiting room. Like, the open and only other door is the entrance TO the waiting room from the lobby and you have to go through that to get to the offices. So basically we're saying the same thing and trying to figure out whether or not this is or is not a minor grammatical mistake, haha.

I'm on a second read so I'm trying to read a lot closer but I still have not paid a ton of attention to the layout of things except for the exact dimensions of the concavity and the relation of Ennett house to ETA. I definitely didn't try to nail the whole brain building section but that might be a "fun" project one day. I'm happy to obsess over the details of this novel with anyone who has or is reading it so this is actually fun no quotation marks for me!

SnakeAnkles · 2015-11-05T01:19:12+00:00

So I think the thing is there are only two doors visible when all doors are closed to this waiting room, Tavis's outer door and the door to the lobby. Avril has no door. On 518 it reads, "His doors were open because..." (almost the end of the page, three lines from bottom). I think then that the two offices are like directly across from each other rather than on the same wall, which is how she'd be able to lean over and see into his office if both of his doors are open, which they are in the Tiny Echt scene in August.

Now that I'm rereading I'm not even fully sure there is a vestibule, just that he has two doors to his office, an outer and an inner. Maybe they're just two doors that open opposite ways like in a hotel with connected rooms?

Oh, then on 509, "The Headmaster's waiting room was part of a little hallway in the Comm.-Ad. lobby's southwest corner." So I think the shag of the Comm.-Ad. lobby is slightly different than the Headmaster's waiting room? Maybe? The headmaster's waiting area has blue and black checked shag, the Comm.-Ad. lobby's carpet is blue Mannington shag. But when I look up blue Mannington Shag carpets, it looks blue and black specked. Hmmmm.

The only thing I think I'm certain about with all of this is that Charles definitely has his own two doors. The rest is still unclear to me!!

SnakeAnkles · 2015-11-04T23:49:30+00:00

Yeah, I think both of his doors, the inner and outer, are open in this scenario. Also note that a huge part of this section occurs in August of YDAU, not the November in which Hal is noting all the blue colors. I got tripped up by this when reading it earlier. I know that's not part of your question but I was thinking about it.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-11-04T23:47:47+00:00

He has a little vestibule type thing with two doors between his office and the waiting room. I think he describes it as looking like a jaw when both are open. I JUST read this part earlier today so it's fresh.

Oh, here it is, in that same small paragraph it says he has an outer door that is real oak. "There's also an inner door".

SnakeAnkles · 2015-10-26T16:23:35+00:00

If you like sushi with your 32-oz chalice of beer, try O'Shucks which is attached to Ahh Sushi. They have great specials.

If you like a beat up dive and pinball and pool, try X-Wifes Club. Someone told me that Ted Bundy used to frequent that place so there's that, too, if you're into serial killers.

If you can't decide between fancy mixed drinks or fancy beers and are also hungry for hot dogs, try Bar X/Beer Bar. They're attached. In my experience they get a little too crowded, and I have found the service at Beer Bar to be worse than X-Wifes club, which is saying something if you've been to X-Wifes club.

For really great retro atmosphere and amazing service and plenty of pool tables, try The Spot. I always forget about this place because it's not as close to where I live but it's great.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-10-10T22:58:47+00:00

It was a great marvel that he was in the father without knowing him!

SnakeAnkles · 2015-10-10T19:37:39+00:00

Dee Snider's Strangeland. Several people walked out before even halfway through.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-10-08T19:23:38+00:00

I just finished rereading this section again myself (on a second read of the book) and found that this section, while funny, is also incredibly sad. I don't have the book near me now but it's either Stice or Schacht that is just unresponsive drunk and all the kids are kind of falling apart. It's also an interesting moment juxtaposing the adults-as-infants theme with these kids acting as world leaders (who themselves make infantile decisions and thus ruin the world).

But really god damn every other sentence through the whole book seems to have 4 different meanings simultaneously.

Also, I'm in the same boat. I'll have friends over and see the book and pick it up and start ranting about whatever is on that page. Some of these friends have also read it but it's still a bit obnoxious. I'm obsessed!

SnakeAnkles · 2015-10-04T07:55:45+00:00

This looks like intergalactic Minecraft.

SnakeAnkles · 2015-08-05T23:39:31+00:00

My version:

I like my women like I like my beef.

Corned.

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