http://dublinopinion.com/2008/09/19/on-the-death-of-david-foster-wallace/ It's a group blog. What more do you need to know? Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:19:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 http://dublinopinion.com/2008/09/19/on-the-death-of-david-foster-wallace/#comment-68527 Seán Báite Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:44:23 +0000 http://dublinopinion.com/2008/09/19/on-the-death-of-david-foster-wallace/#comment-68527 I think you're referring to 'Infinite Jest', Gar - which seems to illustrate a certain reluctance to edit on the behalf of DFW. I'm afraid I'd have to see Proust as a more satisfying reading experience than most of the works/authors you cite - but I do resign myself to the fact that my life expectancy will probably not allow me to finish it.. Mann and Sozhenitsyn also wrote a few fairly thick volumes, I seem to remember. Re Proust - am stuck somewhere in the wonderfully titled 'A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleur' at the moment, and have been for a few years. It's a bit less poetic in English 'Within the Budding Grove', I think I think you’re referring to ‘Infinite Jest’, Gar - which seems to illustrate a certain reluctance to edit on the behalf of DFW. I’m afraid I’d have to see Proust as a more satisfying reading experience than most of the works/authors you cite - but I do resign myself to the fact that my life expectancy will probably not allow me to finish it.. Mann and Sozhenitsyn also wrote a few fairly thick volumes, I seem to remember.
Re Proust - am stuck somewhere in the wonderfully titled ‘A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleur’ at the moment, and have been for a few years. It’s a bit less poetic in English ‘Within the Budding Grove’, I think

]]> http://dublinopinion.com/2008/09/19/on-the-death-of-david-foster-wallace/#comment-68523 Linda Fraley Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:35:13 +0000 http://dublinopinion.com/2008/09/19/on-the-death-of-david-foster-wallace/#comment-68523 All good works, Gar, but not as funny as DFW. All good works, Gar, but not as funny as DFW.

]]> http://dublinopinion.com/2008/09/19/on-the-death-of-david-foster-wallace/#comment-68474 Gar Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:06:32 +0000 http://dublinopinion.com/2008/09/19/on-the-death-of-david-foster-wallace/#comment-68474 I gather this unfortunate writer published a novel of 1057 pages. Life seems too short for plodding through novels of such length when there are so many thousands of interesting medium-length novels that run between 60,000 and 120,000 words. I once tried to read, in English translation, Swann's Way (a volume of A la Recherche du temps perdu) by Marcel Proust, and found those long, rambling wistful sentences with all their complex sub clauses and ponderous minute details too tedious to bear my admittedly limited span of concentration. Give me a concise novella any day that packs lots of meaningful reflection and plot and verbal sparkle into its short read. I think of works such as Voltaire's Candide, Steinbeck's moral tale The Pearl, Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denitzovitch, or Orwell's political fable Animal Farm. I gather this unfortunate writer published a novel of 1057 pages. Life seems too short for plodding through novels of such length when there are so many thousands of interesting medium-length novels that run between 60,000 and 120,000 words. I once tried to read, in English translation, Swann’s Way (a volume of A la Recherche du temps perdu) by Marcel Proust, and found those long, rambling wistful sentences with all their complex sub clauses and ponderous minute details too tedious to bear my admittedly limited span of concentration. Give me a concise novella any day that packs lots of meaningful reflection and plot and verbal sparkle into its short read. I think of works such as Voltaire’s Candide, Steinbeck’s moral tale The Pearl, Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denitzovitch, or Orwell’s political fable Animal Farm.

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