Full Of Sound And Fury

Pages Read: 14

Pages To Go: 964

A few different times while reading so far, Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury has been brought to mind. I’ve never actually read it (though I have read As I Lay Dying) yet I feel like I have a pretty good idea what it’s about.

Based on my at best secondhand knowledge of Sound and Fury, I’m imagining that it’s similar to Infinite Jest, in that we’re given developmentally challenged narrators who see the world in a unique way. More pertinently, the authors in both cases are writing in a style that is meant to mimic how these narrators actually experience the world.

I’m only 14 pages in, so obviously I have a lot more to learn about Hal and what is particular problems may be, but it definitely poses a challenge for us, the readers, to understand what exactly is going on.

People that I need to keep track of include Orin (new to this episode I believe), the Moms, a bunch of different tennis players, including Venus Williams, who may be making an appearance later on (though I doubt it), and Grief-Therapist (a single reference that may be a BIG CLUE as to what’s wrong with Hal). He also makes reference to Himself, which might also be a clue. Is this some other version of Hal? Is it God? DFW?

I hope to see more from Himself soon.

Vocab Word: Cirri it is with GREAT pleasure that I now know that cirri is the plural form of cirrus, as in the cloud.

You are reading my live blog of Infinite Jest. Start at the beginning.