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ciarafor's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
lizburny's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
beansrowning's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
julziez's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
nickds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death and Deadnaming
rho21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Drug use, Mental illness, and Sexual content
kclark's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
I, however, loved it. A lot of the prose is surprisingly accessible, and at times incredibly engrossing to read. The bizarre world that the characters inhabit is like a bizarre shadow universe of our own where just enough feels similar or is eerily reminiscent of our own world while at other times being a bizarrely funny caricature of life as we know it.
I enjoyed moving through the various threads of characters and plotlines in the book, and how they all came together to give different viewpoints of motifs like addiction, entertainment, and a sense of purpose in life. There were certainly times when the plot seemed to meander, and swathes I felt I could have done without, but ultimately they were not long enough for me to want to put it down. I also enjoyed the ambiguity of the plot, and I had a lot of "fun" while I was reading it and afterwards reading blogs and reddit posts to parse through some of the ambiguity. So I guess if you are someone who likes really clear, cut-and-dry plot clarity, I can see why you would not have a good time reading this book.
The one criticism that I can totally agree with is the sometimes bro-iness of the prose thoughtout the book. It is clearly a product of its time, i.e. the '90s. While, yes, a lot of the cruder language of the book comes through the perspectives of characters who are not meant to be totally likeable, Wallace does not seem completely interested in interrogating that line of thought, or if a moral judgment is made it is along the lines of "It's Gately's way of seeing things, not mine," which is hard to take at face value in a book where the whole time it seems to be telling you "THIS IS A BOOK. THIS IS FICTION." Also that interjection in fake-AAVE is so deeply cringey. I know it is the oldest part of the book, and all that, but it is so clearly not actual AAVE and just how a white guy thinks AAVE sounds that it feels like it could have come from a pre-internet era.
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
nickleemusic1's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
rue_knee's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
viksquires's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent