Infinite Jest
Decide its fate
The record
Time
An eveningA season1104 pages, about 22 hours: the length of 3.5 typical books on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climbFour readers report quitting within the first hundred pages.
What it gives
Plot and actionIdeas to live byIn 16 reviews from critics and book blogs, 5 credit the plot and 10 credit the ideas or a change in how they live.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else doesKirkus calls it reminiscent of Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow, and a Slate Star Codex commenter names Joyce’s Ulysses the closest match.
The case for it
on Don Gately
“most sympathetic character in the book is the big former addict and burglar, Don Gately.”
a book blog on the Eschaton game
“my hands-down favorite part of the book was the description of Eschaton”
a book blog on the last page
“don’t be surprised if you read the last word and want to start over again”
a book blog on the Incandenza brothers
“Major characters are the remarkable Incandenza brothers”
Kirkus Reviews, 1995
The case against
on the length
“this 1,079-page novel is a ‘loose baggy monster’”
Michiko Kakutani · The New York Times, 1996 on character relationships
“Almost no relationship of any kind develops in the book’s 1,100 pages.”
a Substack review on the female characters
“Avril Incandanza and Joelle Van Dyne, are written through the lens of male characters”
a Substack review on the footnotes
“The footnotes have footnotes.”
one star · a book blog
