Review of "David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest" on 'Goodreads'
1 star
This is an awful book. I don't know what kind of literary group-think has people claiming it is good. I have read many positive reviews of it and I have not found a good defense of this book in any of them.
If you are thinking of picking up this book here is my advice:
1. get it from a public library so you don't waste money
2. do not feel bad about putting it down unfinished - ignore the fact that so many people gave it a good review and that it is considered a "great american novel"
Other people I know who read it found it a "chore" - some of the few negative reviewers here on goodreads also used that word. But at the end of this "chore" you don't have a tidy house or a good home-cooked meal - you just have the knowledge that you …
This is an awful book. I don't know what kind of literary group-think has people claiming it is good. I have read many positive reviews of it and I have not found a good defense of this book in any of them.
If you are thinking of picking up this book here is my advice:
1. get it from a public library so you don't waste money
2. do not feel bad about putting it down unfinished - ignore the fact that so many people gave it a good review and that it is considered a "great american novel"
Other people I know who read it found it a "chore" - some of the few negative reviewers here on goodreads also used that word. But at the end of this "chore" you don't have a tidy house or a good home-cooked meal - you just have the knowledge that you wasted time.
If you are going through a list of "great contemporary books" you will find others that are not obscurantist nonsense, so take comfort: many highbrow books are not awful!
