Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

25 reviews

jrsullivan's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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ciarafor's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m taking away a star for the sheer amount of racism and sexism in this book - every single female character is objectified so extremely this book can be difficult to read as a woman sometimes.

Taking away another star for the number of times I grew exasperatedly bored with long passages about the individual hallway patterns and structures of buildings and longest backstories that sometimes were crucial and other times entirely useless. And for the way this book made me want to crawl out of my skin way more than once.

But I can’t justify taking away any other stars, because outside of those two (pretty significant) things, this book was one of the most intelligent, intriguing, and powerful books I’ve read. I will not subscribe to the Myth of Male Genius or allow DFW to be venerated as faultless, but this work really is something you kind of have to put a capital G on the Genius for. The entire book, DFW tells you exactly what he’s doing and going to do, and when he does it, it’s still somehow earth shattering. It’s bold, it’s boundary-breaking, and it has left me reeling on more than one occasion. I personally believe the point of literature is to make you feel things, experience things you haven’t had the occasion to touch or think on, to live through someone else’s creation. At its core, Infinite Jest will make you feel, and think, and live through all kinds of stuff you didn’t want to, and may be better off or far worse off for. Read at your own risk - but if you want to experience something unlike anything else you have thus far, and you can stomach what comes with it, Infinite Jest might just be worth picking up. 

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cecdex's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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morets's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.25


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lizburny's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It is a book that pulls you in and pushes you away. 

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beansrowning's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It took several months of non-committal reading and a month of solid reading to knock this out. 

Wow. Not sure where to begin. I both loved many sections and hated an equal amount.

I get why so many people just don't finish it, but I'm happy I did. Not my favorite book, but one that has (maybe a bit too much) to say.

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emily_mad's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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asililydying's review against another edition

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unfortunately dated - perhaps worth finishing another time. for now I have more than had my fill.

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goroshyna's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Ця книжка виявилася не такою заплутаною, як я очікувала (добре). Основна складність полягає в тому, щоби запам'ятати всіх персонажів у цьому дуже довгому романі.

Якби в мене була необмежена кількість часу, я би точно перечитала «Нескінченний жарт», щоби ще раз зв'язати все докупи. Для мене все почало складатися в один сюжет десь на останній третині книжки, а до цього персонажі хіба що з'являлися на тлі окремих ліній оповідання. Було очевидно, що автор сам професійно займався тенісом і, напевно, мав досвід відвідування зустрічей анонімних наркоманів. Тема залежності та тверезості відіграє одну з провідних ролей роману.

Ще одним мотивом твору виступає мистецтво, а саме його вплив і підходи до його реалізації. Один з героїв «Нескінченного жарту» знімає незалежні фільми, які запрошують аудиторію до метааналізу безпосередньо під час сеансу. Читаючи розділи про режисера, я замислювалася, чи автор також хоче вирвати читачів із занурення в події роману та змусити їх усвідомити, що вони читають текст, написаний людиною в реальному світі.

Я помітила спроби автора коментувати політику, але далі, ніж прирівняти політиків і дітей, які грають у ядерну кризу, він не пішов.

Якщо двома словами, то це дуже довга метамодерністська книжка, яку можна читати, а можна не читати. Вона точно наштовхнула мене на цікаві роздуми.

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julziez's review

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


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