The Great American Homage

Pages Read: 238

Pages To Go: 740

Footnotes: 81 of 388

Have you read Moby Dick? David Foster Wallace certainly has.

The Herman Melville tome, widely acknowledged as one of only two legitimate choices for the title of Great American Novel, is characterized by long stretches of zoological classification of cetaceans, the history of whaling, the geographical range of New England whaling ships, and so on. Sound familiar?

I made the connection during the latest episode, a very detailed description of the buildings and businesses to be found in Enfield, Massachusetts. Wallace is emulating Melville, going to great lengths to both accurately and extensively catalog the matters of interest to the novel (such as pharmaceuticals, addiction, rehab, youth tennis, and the Greater Boston area) and in this way encapsulate the modern American experience.

It’s the tried and true technique of allowing the particular to stand in for the universal.

Seen in that light, I’m excited to continue reading Infinite Jest for the first time in months.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!*

Vocab Word: Acclivated upward sloping

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

*Meant ironically. I don’t actually celebrate Thanksgiving, given the fact I’m both vegan and against the genocide of Native Americans.