tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45963933001605157882024-03-13T09:44:30.505-07:00David Foster Wallace Reading GroupToronto's home for DFW book chat, info and more.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-25233588751722506102012-09-12T12:18:00.001-07:002012-09-12T12:18:49.611-07:00Reading for final meeting.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The rest.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz204CMsMPfD6_1tXan_I14NT3cnzOYcrFDfF8nk2uTWlGKPaLkR8k-ZYZdNnBzxRohAS8Wgu917H-sX0DOlxc8SjEN7eMwuIuLfrDT-MVmyEK1CsBBYSYzaQ8YogY5i6erVRcJXKHJInk/s1600/piano" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz204CMsMPfD6_1tXan_I14NT3cnzOYcrFDfF8nk2uTWlGKPaLkR8k-ZYZdNnBzxRohAS8Wgu917H-sX0DOlxc8SjEN7eMwuIuLfrDT-MVmyEK1CsBBYSYzaQ8YogY5i6erVRcJXKHJInk/s400/piano" width="270" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-91554689233337213642012-08-29T09:37:00.003-07:002012-08-29T09:37:49.207-07:00Reading for ninth meeting.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span>Continuing from the end of the eighth
week's reading, up to the paragraph break ending with
'Then this too began to seem familiar.' The last endnote is n366.</span></b></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span> </span></b></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span>If you have a print edition, last page is 911. </span></b></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
<b><span> </span></b></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span>Questions, comments, requests, and other love, to: davidfosterwallace.to@gmail.com.</span></b></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-63439385043980682872012-08-15T11:01:00.000-07:002012-08-15T11:01:04.726-07:00Meaning of 'q.v.'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>q.v.</b></i> int. [ < the initial letters of post-classical Latin <i>quod vide</i> which see (4th or 5th cent. in Augustine) < classical Latin <i>quod</i> what (see what pron., adj.1, adv., int., conj., and n.) + <i>vide</i> , 2nd singular present imperative of <i>vidēre</i> to see (see vision n.)] ‘which see’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><br /><b>1684</b> G. S. Anglorum Speculum ii. 62 Sir Jo. Cokeyn Knight..imparted his Surname to Cokeyn-Hatley in this County, tho he was born in Derbyshire. q. v.<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b>1775</b> J. Moir Scholar's <i>Vade Mecum,</i> Antesto, to stand before, excel, surpass. Potius Antisto. q. v.<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b>a1862</b> H. D. Thoreau <i>Cape Cod</i> (1865) ix. 988 Somebody of Gloucester was to read a paper on this matter before a genealogical society..according to the Boston Journal, q.v.<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b>1934</b> J. A. Thomson & E. J. Holmyard <i>Biol. for Everyman</i> I. xix. 508 The Slow-Worm (Anguis fragilis) is a limbless lizard... It is sometimes miscalled blindworm (q.v.), but the eyes are well developed.<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b>1993</b> <i>Eng. Today </i>Jan. 35/2 (Gloss.), Inboek, to register a child, adult or manumitted slave as an indentured servant apprenticed (q.v.) in the name of a particular master.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-44522083701692696412012-08-15T10:56:00.002-07:002012-08-15T10:56:49.428-07:00Reading for eighth meeting.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: medium;">Continuing from the end of the seventh
week's reading, up to the section break marked by a little sphere/tennis ball/full moon. The last line of text is
'...a wobbly neck and looking up and past Hal, his face unspeakable.' The last endnote is n336.</span></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: medium;">If you have a print edition, last page is 808. </span></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: medium;">Note this chunk of reading includes n304, which we read way back in the first week's reading. (History of the AFN, etc) Re-reading is optional. </span></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Questions, comments, corrections, and other love, to: davidfosterwallace.to@gmail.com</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-45851628760886607852012-08-01T14:15:00.000-07:002012-08-01T14:15:27.568-07:00Irony (per the OED)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaQ8KUgUc81e1eqjoZ4YY_FCHS5sY3x4JopvzIPJtFnMKci4sUzhb1jjsZVCFwjJB3UaGhuZ_-T8kQxRznstrK_ikU4mZyaj04O25HRjPYKlbz2sOdJFyXHsCeY6FWUQkrhXiOevPNQN1/s1600/Venetia_06-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaQ8KUgUc81e1eqjoZ4YY_FCHS5sY3x4JopvzIPJtFnMKci4sUzhb1jjsZVCFwjJB3UaGhuZ_-T8kQxRznstrK_ikU4mZyaj04O25HRjPYKlbz2sOdJFyXHsCeY6FWUQkrhXiOevPNQN1/s400/Venetia_06-2.jpeg" width="302" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1. (a)</span></div>
<h3 id="eid64994" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A figure of speech in which the intended meaning is
the opposite of that expressed by the words used; usually taking the
form of sarcasm or ridicule in which laudatory expressions are used to
imply condemnation or contempt.</span></h3>
<h3 id="eid64994" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></h3>
<h3 id="eid64994" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1. (b)</span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65095" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">with <em>an</em> and <em>pl.</em> An instance of this; an ironical utterance or expression.</span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65095" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65095" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">2. </span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65152" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>fig.</em> A condition of affairs or events of a
character opposite to what was, or might naturally be, expected; a
contradictory outcome of events as if in mockery of the promise and
fitness of things. </span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65152" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65152" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">3.</span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65225" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> In etymological sense: Dissimulation, pretence; esp.
in reference to the dissimulation of ignorance practised by Socrates as
a means of confuting an adversary ( <span class="lemmaInDef" id="eid65227">Socratic irony</span>).</span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65225" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65225" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">4. (draft addition, 1993)</span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65269" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>spec.</em> in <em>Theatr.</em> (freq. as <span class="lemmaInDef" id="eid65273">dramatic <span class="roman">or</span> tragic irony</span><span class="almostInvisible" id="eid121559253"> </span><span class="almostInvisible" id="eid121559254"> </span>),
the incongruity created when the (tragic) significance of a character's
speech or actions is revealed to the audience but unknown to the
character concerned; the literary device so used, orig. in Greek tragedy.</span></h3>
<h3 id="eid65269" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></h3>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-587935595744505312012-08-01T14:00:00.002-07:002012-08-01T14:00:43.498-07:00Reading for seventh meeting.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Continuing from the end of the sixth week's reading, up to but not including the section headed '14 November Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment'. The last line of text is '...both seeming to be shrieking for help.' The last endnote is n299.</span></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">If you have a print edition, last page is 716. </span></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Questions, comments, corrections, and other love, to: davidfosterwallace.to@gmail.com</span><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-85085530023492224592012-07-18T08:53:00.001-07:002012-07-18T08:53:31.344-07:00Reading for sixth meeting.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Continuing
from the end of the fifth week's reading, up to but not including the
section headed by just a sphere, underneath which the paragraph begins, 'Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment:' The
last line of text is: '...faces coming down in a fish-eye lens, lifting: 'Ready?'.' </span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">The last endnote is n256.</span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">If you have a print edition, last page is 619.</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Questions, comments, other love, to: davidfosterwallace.to@gmail.com. </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-65568390273022230912012-07-05T11:45:00.000-07:002012-07-16T08:35:12.953-07:00Etymology of 'map' as 'a person's face'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="quotationsBlock" id="eid38013766" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<div class="quotation" id="eid38013767">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-PJqPa92BejMYd0sr4hi9bTQx4Bra_S-gAfZ_kU8Nr59upjYGCp6fuEs61XI-CKBmEJd9ov4VBwF0Z-dY2S17rtwns1PVOsf_C35HbLL-qqoGTiaRr_dJjYRcDtLWksIkRbs9LY1IXSi/s1600/would_david_foster_wallace_like_this_video-460x307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-PJqPa92BejMYd0sr4hi9bTQx4Bra_S-gAfZ_kU8Nr59upjYGCp6fuEs61XI-CKBmEJd9ov4VBwF0Z-dY2S17rtwns1PVOsf_C35HbLL-qqoGTiaRr_dJjYRcDtLWksIkRbs9LY1IXSi/s400/would_david_foster_wallace_like_this_video-460x307.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="noIndent" id="eid162302723"><b>1899 </b> <span class="smallCaps">A. H. Lewis</span> <i><a class="sourcePopup" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4596393300160515788" rel="0071199">Sandburrs</a></i> 9,</span>
I sees d' map of a skirt—a goil, I means, on a drop curtain at a swell t'eatre once.<span class="noIndent" id="eid183055310"><b> </b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="noIndent" id="eid183055310"><b>1902</b> <span class="smallCaps">G. V. Hobart</span> <i><a class="sourcePopup" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4596393300160515788" rel="0658687">It's up to You</a></i> iv. 78</span>
It was Benedict Murgatoyd—the lad with the map like a cow!<span class="noIndent" id="eid162302735"> </span></span></div>
<div class="quotation" id="eid38013775">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="noIndent" id="eid162302735"><b>1908</b> <span class="smallCaps">K. McGaffey</span> <i><a class="sourcePopup" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4596393300160515788" rel="0174996">Sorrows of Show Girl</a></i> 200</span>
Hauling off wifey hangs one on Alla's map.<span class="noIndent" id="eid162302741"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="noIndent" id="eid162302741"><b>1922</b> <span class="smallCaps">P. G. Wodehouse</span> <i><a class="sourcePopup" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4596393300160515788" rel="0006419">Clicking of Cuthbert</a></i> ix. 205</span>
The portrait..was that of a man in the early thirties... ‘What a map!’ exclaimed the young man.<span class="noIndent" id="eid162302747"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="noIndent" id="eid162302747"><b>1935</b> <span class="smallCaps">P. G. Wodehouse</span> <i><a class="sourcePopup" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4596393300160515788" rel="0045851">Luck of Bodkins</a></i> xv. 178</span>
It's mostly a case of having a map that photographs well.<span class="noIndent" id="eid162302753"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="noIndent" id="eid162302753"><b>1936</b> <span class="smallCaps">‘J. Curtis’</span> <i><a class="sourcePopup" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4596393300160515788" rel="0001896">Gilt Kid</a></i> xiv. 144</span>
What d'you want to sit there staring at me for? I'm not a bloody oil-painting. You ought to know my map by now.<span class="noIndent" id="eid162302759"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="noIndent" id="eid162302759"><b>1971</b> <span class="smallCaps">J. Curtis</span> <i><a class="sourcePopup" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4596393300160515788" rel="1044036">Banjo</a></i> 255</span>
No mistaking that map.<span class="noIndent" id="eid162302765"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="noIndent" id="eid162302765"><b>1996</b> <span class="smallCaps">D. F. Wallace</span> <i><a class="sourcePopup" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4596393300160515788" rel="0262570">Infinite Jest</a></i> 280</span>
That look on your map there mean something there, Randy?</span></div>
</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-40170367726376965162012-07-05T10:59:00.002-07:002012-07-05T11:47:41.243-07:00Reading for fifth meeting.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Continuing from the end of the fourth week's reading, up to but not including the section headed '10 November Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment.' The last line of text is: '...making Marathe think of many windblown sparks.' The last endnote is n208.</span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">If you have a print edition, last page is 508.</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Questions, comments, other love, to: davidfosterwallace.to@gmail.com. </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-25082711224764051652012-06-20T09:02:00.000-07:002012-06-20T09:02:22.384-07:00Reading for fourth meeting.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><b>Continuing from the end of the third week's reading, through the section ending '...open wide for a homodontic laugh at something funny Clipperton has apparently just let slip.' The last note is n160.</b><br /><br />Questions, comments, other love, to: davidfosterwallace.to@gmail.com. </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-71877001892160837202012-06-06T08:11:00.003-07:002012-06-06T08:12:28.373-07:00Reading for third meeting.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Continuing from the end of the second week's reading, up to but not including the section headed '14 November Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment'. The last line of text is 'Of particular interest are the eyes.' The last endnote is n101.</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Questions, comments, other love, to: davidfosterwallace.to@gmail.com. </span></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-79259365221009632172012-05-29T09:37:00.000-07:002012-05-29T09:38:38.971-07:00Wallace on IJ structure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5zNKFenMyBL6tU1d5rK5plPXHNFPl9dXo8gEooqocP-RN0GRdGAQ0uubSwMVHiVDIBGSScRz7XCZBXQexzeCIwp13sj7d2-TVUoZm8fIWKd94FHGLAUU3SitCUSG_64rUfE43lDIkCUn/s1600/Sierpinski.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5zNKFenMyBL6tU1d5rK5plPXHNFPl9dXo8gEooqocP-RN0GRdGAQ0uubSwMVHiVDIBGSScRz7XCZBXQexzeCIwp13sj7d2-TVUoZm8fIWKd94FHGLAUU3SitCUSG_64rUfE43lDIkCUn/s400/Sierpinski.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Michael Silverblatt: 'The book seems to be written in fractals?</span><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">DFW: 'Expand on that.</span><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">MS: 'It occurred to me that the way in which the material is presented allows for a subject to be announced in a small form, then there's a fan of subject matter, other subjects, and then it comes back in a second form, containing the other subjects in small, and then comes back again as if what were being described...</span><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">DFW: 'That's one of the things, structurally, that's going on. It's actually structured as something called a Sierpinski Gasket... probably now a lopsided Sierpinski Gasket...</span><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">MS: 'What is a Sierpinski Gasket?</span><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">DFW: 'I would almost have to show you... it's basically a pyramid on acid, with certain interconnections that are visually kind of astonishing, and then the mathematical explanations are interesting...</span><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">MS: 'Do you mean the structure to be discovered?</span><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">DFW: 'When I was young, played structural games, mostly for myself. IJ trying to do a whole bunch of things at once, doesn’t make much difference to me whether people get the fractal structure.</span><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">‘It seems to me that a lot of pre-millennial life in America consists in enormous amounts of what seem like discrete bits of information and the real kind of intellectual adventure is finding ways to relate them to each other; to find larger patterns and meanings. Which of course is essentially narrative…</span><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><br style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">'For doing something this long, a fair amount of the structural stuff is for me. It’s kind of like pitons in the mountainside. It’s ways for me to stay oriented and engaged.</span></span><br />
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />[Long question from MS re the significance of structuring the book this way, as necessary to capture something serious about contemporary existence.]<br /><br />DFW: 'There’s this weird Monday-morning quarterbacking thing about it. I know for me, I don’t sit down and thing, ‘Hrmm, how can I find a new kind of structural synecdoche for experience right now. It’s more a matter of whether it tastes true or not. A certain structural representation of how the world operated on my nerve endings, which was as, a bunch of discrete, random bits, containing within them, not always all that blatantly, a whole lot of interesting connections. And it wasn’t always clear whether they were intentional, or my imagination, or very important. A lot of the structure is kind of seat of the pants, what felt right or didn’t. </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">'I think writing is a big blend... there's a lot of sophistication, but also a lot of idiocy about it. So much of it is gut... It's only about halfway through that any kind of structure starts to emerge, and then of course the great nightmare is that you alone see the structure, and it's going to be a mess for everyone else.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bw/bw960411david_foster_wallace" target="_blank">Full interview here.</a> </span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-30897191152875446502012-05-04T08:44:00.000-07:002012-05-04T08:44:05.008-07:00Reading for first meeting.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
We'll try to read in 100-page chunks, including end notes. I'm thinking people will have different editions, though, which means the pagination may be inconsistent, at times. Hence the following description of the first week's chunk of text:</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b>From the beginning, thru the end of the section headed '30 April - Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment.' The last line of the section is: 'Steeply had found his triceps' scratch and twisted the flesh of his arm to examine it, his rouged lips rounded with concern.' This section ends just past note 42.</b></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
A note about the notes: this week's chunk includes note 39, part (b) of which refers to note 304. We should read note 304 as part of this week's reading. Note 304's cited a number of times, so we'll get it out of the way early. The stuff described therein's relevant for most of the book. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Questions or comments, let me know: davidfosterwallace.to@gmail.com.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Thanks!</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4596393300160515788.post-25823866976155934462012-04-28T12:04:00.003-07:002012-05-09T11:05:59.251-07:00Infinite Jest Reading Group.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Hey there, Toronto Wallace fans. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Do you have a copy of <i><b>Infinite Jest</b></i> but can't bring yourself to crack it? Started, but couldn't finish? Finished, and looking for an excuse to go again?</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Here's your chance to read Wallace's magnum opus with a group of like-ish minds. It's a big work, unwieldy, but infinitely rewarding, a 1,079 page argument that serious fiction = what it's like to be a fucking human being.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
We'll meet every two weeks to discuss a manageable chunk of text. I'm thinking about 100 pages per. Bring your experience, your fresh eyes, your love for writing that's got serious moral torque. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Even if you can't make every meeting, do drop-in when you can. The discussion will begin with the week's reading but get non-linear in a hurry, probably. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
First meeting: Tuesday May 22, 2012</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Place: The Victory Cafe, <span class="pp-headline-item pp-headline-address" dir="ltr">581 Markham Street</span>. <a href="http://maps.google.ca/maps?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=victory+cafe+toronto&fb=1&gl=ca&hq=victory+cafe&hnear=0x89d4cb90d7c63ba5:0x323555502ab4c477,Toronto,+ON&cid=0,0,12545633318005894408&ei=RoudT6beKITq0gGxu-iTDw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CB8Q_BIwAA" target="_blank">Map</a>.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Time: 18.00h.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Questions, email list, errata, drop me a line at: davidfosterwallace.to@gmail.com.</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0