Ive been looking for something on Infinite Jest that could possibly be un-spoilable while being 50 pages in. Your description less than a minute in got me hooked. Thanks!
Fantastic summary. I would only argue that Hal does not become an animal on the inside in chapter 1. Instead, we can see that he thinks clearly and in the most logical way, but loses his ability to communicate with the outside world. That is the reason why, when he speaks, nobody can understand his sounds. This is a very interesting way to see this because, as you said, he represents this kind of philosophy where the language is the key to understanding the universe, and it seems that, perhaps, just like a guy named Cobb said on a paper about it, instead of involving into an animal, he could have reached a point in which his knowledge is non comunicable, thus developing a private language.
kinda reminds me of the idea of that king somewhere in old english history that put twins on an island on their own in order to learn what the "language of eden" was. the twins did develop their own language but obviously nobody could understand them cause nobody else knew the "language of eden".
I just finished the book and totally agree with this analysis. The value of this book is in the experience of reading it and the broad but accurate view of how the world is evolving. Forget about the plot. It is merely a delivery vehicle.
i actually have a lot of problems with this video but its wildly impressive nonetheless that you could summarize the plot so accurately in 20 minutes . its like you were scrambling to get all this information out , video has a manic feel that i like a lot and i send this to friends as an introduction to the book sometime
Joelle actually puts on the veil because she's been disfigured by acid being flung into her face semi-accidentally by her mother. I know people say it's a bit ambiguous whether or not the acid story is true, but on my most recent reading I came across a bit where Hal mentions Joelle's disfigurement, which in my opinion lends some truth to the whole thing. Also, maybe a small point, but I don't think there being two types of people in ONAN was the point that DFW was trying to get across. I think the point is that the different types of people you mention are really driven by the same impulse, that is, the impulse to give yourself over to something. Media and entertainment, tennis, academics, drugs... it's all the same thing
There's room for the theory that the acid enhanced her beauty. I'm partial to this idea for it reflects how people who overcome adversity become stronger.
I am impressed. You summed it up so well. I literally paused the video in the beginning when you said everyone says uts not summarizable, and tried to summarize it. I lost myself a little. You nailed it.
Terrific summary. I read Infinite Jest in high school and then a second time in college. You pointed out a lot of details I never noticed. I’ve got to make time to read this big chunk of paper and ink a third time.
Wow. This was the most thorough summary I've ever heard. It makes me want to read Infinite Jest again :). The one important aspect you left out (imo) is how the characters communicate. DFW spent a while discussing how vanity influenced things like video chatting. The book began with Hal unable to communicate and ended with Gately having a tube in his throat, unable to speak to the people around him. I think the methods of communication used by the characters is important enough to be included in such a summary. For real, this was amazing. Thanks for putting it ou!
And it's worth noting that Hal winds up in a hospital bed next to Don at the end of the book, and the two of them form an important relationship, which his referenced in the opening section. One other important detail--we are only given a glimpse into Hal's inner life after Pemulis negotiates the delayed drug test, giving them 30 days to detox. Hal's story switches to first person narration at that point, and it's mentioned a couple times by Hal's classmates that Hal's voice sounds strange. His deteriorating ability to communicate coincides with his rediscovered ability to feel and believe.
Fun fact: in the Roman Calendar, years had the name of that year's elected consuls. You weren't born in -54 BC, you were born in "The year of Caesar". And people would be able to list all the names of all the consuls since the year they were born, like kids with multiplication tables today. So there you go, not so weird. Thanks for the summary, this looks chaotic as fuck.
@@annakonda6289 Kai-sar, in Roman times, yes. It means "elephant" in Carthaginian, because an ancestor of Julius Caesar was in the Punic Wars and killed an elephant in an act of bravery, so his whole family inherited the title. Crazy stuff.
Book has been sitting on my shelf for months (years?) and I’ve always been too intimidated to venture much past the first chapter. This summary gave me hope, thank you. I shall try again
It took me three years to read this book. I don’t know how I feel about finishing it. There is nothing happening inside me particularly at the moment. I just finished it 20 minutes ago. But i know it has been important in my life for quite some time now. Thanks for this recap. I missed a lot of info you pointed out. Wow. What an accomplishment. What kept me going for these three years was DFW’s voice. Wildly intelligent but also kind and caring, like a loving big brother. I don’t know what I will do now. This leaves a big void in my life.
Read it again. I have read it many times in many different ways. Two suggestions: read it chronologically. Read it by character, aka follow Don or follow Hal.
Don doesn’t end up dating Joelle. He has feelings for her but acknowledges that it’s predatory to pursue a relationship with anyone who’s newly sober. Joelle is only 2-3 weeks sober in the end of this book.
@@jacobrubio6667 No, he doesn’t die that we know of, although he was in intensive care after a gunshot wound. It’s implied that he recovers. Anyways, this is a plot summary. People shouldn’t come to this video if they don’t want the book spoiled.
@@antichrist.superstar yeah, he may be dying, but Hal (way back at the novel's beginning, but the timeline's ending) speaks of a scene involving Gately and John N.R. Wayne digging up Himself's head. Which may or may not be an accurate memory on Hal's part.
@@ma-mo Exactly. In the first chapter Hal has memories of being in the graveyard with Gately, which could only have happened after the events in the final chapter. Whether Hal’s memories are real is up to interpretation. But in an interview DFW mentions that there is resolution to the story, but that it occurs just outside the frame of the narrative we are provided with. This makes me think the master copy of the entertainment is eventually found, which makes Gately’s recovery seem likely. Just my interpretation.
I’m only halfway through and this is the most compelling video I’ve ever watched. An awesome summary! Thank you! Thinking about starting my second journey through infinite jest. Can wait to see Lateral Alice again!
I read it in English as a non native speaker, which was a pretty hard task sometimes, but also a fascinating experience. For sure I missed out on some details, so here is what I have to ask. What confused me a little bit about this great summary (congrats to that!), was the part of you describing Hal as a genius. For the most part of the book to me he seemed to be an intelligent but not at all exceptional young man. He wasn´t even good in mathematics (mind he needed a lot of extra help by his friend Pemulis to get him through the exams). The description of Hal as a genius was just in the first chapter, so didn´t he became one due to whatever happened to him during the year between the last and the first chapter of the book?
DUDE! I literally just finished this audiobook this morning and was like, "What the heck did I just read?!?!" your summary was INCREDIBLY helpful!!! Wow! I wish I could give you a thousand likes. Seriously. I'm eager to read the book next time because I have a clue what's going on. Seriously, GREAT job! Thank you!
Well done!. Someone who can speak from familiarity on the subject clearly, concisely, comprehensively-unlike the other brand-without turning his back to the audience to read from his own slides!
I want to say thank to you Caleb, because you clarified to me a lot of things that I didn't get through my first reading and others that I thought I have misunderstood but not.
Great video; but you forgot the MAIN POINT! The crux of the book is a father-son tale: with JOI feeling disconnected from the person most similar to himself, his son Hal, and trying to connect with him through a series of very bizarre methods. When Hal eats the mold as a child, he becomes outwardly very communicative, but very unfeeling and cold on the inside, JOI recognises this, and hears all of Hal's speech as a murmuring/groaning, because it doesn't come from anything; JOI then spends the rest of his life and the entire novel trying to connect with his son, by making Infinite Jest to reverse Hal's condition, by killing himself to become a wraith and communicate with Hal on a spiritual plane, by getting Hal to neglect his teeth so a yeast infection occurs and sneaking DMZ onto his toothbrush so it reacts with the infection and makes Hal once again feeling on the inside, yet outwardly incommunicative, so the wraith of JOI has some worthy mind to communicate with in the afterlife, and the last chronological point of the book takes place just before Hal would be playing Stice, who has become possessed by JOI's wraith, and thus the father and son may finally bond over a game of tennis.
Father and son being able to finally communicate through a tennis ball over a net with the non-verbal language of tennis is the most touching image to end the book
@@LucasNauan its mentioned towards the end that the AFR, stationed in the deceased Antitioi's shop, scoop him up off the street with the intention of showing him the entertainment for research purposes but he cuts off all the fingers of Poor Tony while they are both in captivity, enraging the AFR leader. last mention is one of the leaders considering just killing him since he's obstructing their research. No definite end but you can imagine he's probably dead.
A most excellent summary! I listened to the audiobook version of Infinite Jest while thru hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and fell absolutely in love with it. I need to revisit the book in physical form, as the audio version doesn't include footnotes, which are no doubt a big part of the book.
This is awesome! I read the whole book and your explanation really helps to put it all together. I will read again but probably skip the end notes next time.
That was a truly incredible summary. I would say this is the most helpful I’ve found any literary resource to be. You really capture the essence of the book while not missing any plot devices either. I physically can’t not subscribe to you after watching this. Thanks!
Freakin incredible summary and graphic explanation of Infinite Jest. The book has been sitting on my shelf next to Don De Lillo's Underworld. I picked up Infinite Jest and really tried to read it but only got through the first 100 pages. Then back on the shelf for years. It says on the cover that it was a national bestseller but I guess that I am one of many who tried to read it and then gave up. I thought it was about tennis and drugs. Then I flipped back to the copious endnotes which i could not understand where this was going. Joyce's Finnegan's Wake did not have endnotes. Never finished reading that book either but have read Joyce's Ulysses a few times. But modernist and post- postmodernist literature are not the same in structure and style. Then again, I never got through Atlas Shrugged either. BUT now I am willing to go back and try my best to finish Infinite Jest. Thank you for this.
You're officially the only TH-camr to properly summarised the plot of IJ (not just discuss its many themes -- which you do amazingly btw 😊 I had no idea about post modernism & linguistics stuff) I think this content will actually make ppl want to read IJ. It has a bad reputation for being inaccessible and defying explanation You've certainly inspired me to finish it. Thanks!! 👏
That is impressively informative for a 20 minutes summary. Well done. Interesting point about the book being like tennis or ballet. What is so amazing about DFW is that his magnum opus, IJ, has such a simple overall plot, but if you read his short stories, it's clear that he was also able create some pretty captivating storylines that span 50 pages instead of 1000.
When you mention Don is drinking the alcohol his mother leaves in the bottle after she passes out- you say it’s to help her so she maybe will drink less. That’s inaccurate, he drinks it so it will be gone and she will have to go to the store the next day and replenish her supply enabling him insurance for himself to have access to the vodka again thus the cycle continues.
Lots of errors in his "summary". Don Gately was shot by thugs, either Canadian or Hawaiian, depending on the source (!), not Remy Marathe. You're right about Gateley's mother. This isn't a summary, it's bad analysis by a self-appointed expert.
This video is insanely insightful and talented content creation, wow. I was admitting defeat and putting the book (Audible) down some 20% in and this review has made me commit back into it.
Thank you so much for this. I was struggling to read this book on and off for some time, confused mainly with the structure of it all. But now understanding why its written such a way, I think Ill have another (proper) go at it! Cheers!
I enjoyed this analysis. Another theme of the novel is "addiction". Many characters are in 12 Step programs or recovery facilities. The novel's funny and brilliant second chapter describes how a person addicted to marijuana relates to the drug and to his dealer. The video which the Saudi Arabia counselar official watches is the ultimate drug, in essence a process addiction. which is so appealing, that it's the only activity he wants to do and he cannot stop watching even to eat and drink, causing him to starve to death. It's a metaphor which covers many possibilities in contemporary culture, drugs of intense euphoria like methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl or even nicotine, whose addictive hold on users is as irresistible as harder drugs. In some ways it describes the experience of Internet users who check their Facebook page 10-20 times per day, even when they don't enjoy it. It also anticipates current concerns about artificial intelligence, which may produce programs and technologies which lead to the downfall of human civilization.
David Foster Wallace was deeply opposed to cynicism, which the internet delivers to millions many times per day. Instead of giving themselves to meaningful pursuits, they watch many hours of cringe videos, or curating subreddits devoted to hating on this group or that group talking about the "world these days." Instead of feeling inspired and called to action, they get lulled into nihilism and fear and cynicism. We spend much more time ironically watching things we don't like than on pursuits that fulfill us.
Nice synopsis and short analysis professor. I only got a few chapters in before my mind fuzzed and my eyes glazed over, so thanks for some clarification beyond the Wiki page Infinite Jest entry.
Brilliant summary. I've read it a couple of times but could never have summarised it so coherently. It added to my understanding as well e.g. the point about Steeply and Marathe's Platonic dialogue. A couple of other points occured to me as I listened: the 'infinite' in the title refers to the return to chapter 1 (perhaps I missed you saying this), Secondly, on a plot level, the title's Shakespeare reference may relate to the Incandenza family structure following 'Himself's' death i.e. half-brother takes over ETA / moves in with Avril, Hal's existential angst and James' return as a ghost. But hey, one could mine this book for decades for intertextual references!
Rather than just beginning IJ, I finished it this week after nearly a two year period of on and off reading. As much as this is helpful for those looking to begin the book, I found it extremely helpful in gathering my own analysis and take aways from the book without rereading hundreds of annotations. I think this is a great summary and video, (aside from a few controversial points I see mentioned in the comments). Good work.
this sounds exactly like the one short story i made in my creative writing class in 7th grade that ended up being 16 pages long bc it was a never ending stream of consciousness i did at the last minute with no consistent plot
Thank you for the neutral and simply informative way you discribed current or not so recent politics. It's nice to not get a polorized opinion when all you want is information and entertainment.
I love Pynchon. Inherent Vice is in my top 5 favorite books list. I tried GR recently and got 90 pages in then gave up in defeat. I picked up Mason and Dixon and am loving it. I have sworn to myself I will get through GR at some point!
@@CalebSmith3 Perhaps listening to the Audible version. I read it this way twice back to back. You have to be okay with not being able to make sense of large sections of GR. I'm listening to IJ at the moment. Gately has just gotten shot. I would say I neither love or hate IF. I've had the same reaction to GR and 1000 years of solitude.
@@CalebSmith3 I recommend listening to the pynchon in public podcast while you read gravity's rainbow. They do chapter by chapter analyses of the book so you have some other voices discussing the novel that can help you to stay on pace and motivated to keep at it.
15:48. "...Does just giving in to your animal pleasures make you... (tongue-tied "gear shifting")... gay." Freud would notice that slip of the tongue. I have yet to hear/watch a review of this "great" work of art that has compelled me to try it again. But you came the closest. Good job. Excellent way to elucidate dark areas of this nearly impossible to parse tome. I'm sure it's an awesome piece of lit, but I have cat and dog videos to watch. First try I got 200 pages into it, but just had to stop. "Consider the Lobster," otoh, is a masterpiece.
This was super helpful. I get the beginning now that made no sense before. I hate 90 percent of the book but two parts start. The way DFW describes drugs addiction makes you really feel it and I was entertained by the two brothers on the phone coversation about their father's suicide with dark humor to it.
Just finished the book. Does Hal eating the mold have any particular meaning for the actual plot or his character? Is this what makes him so smart? With how many times it’s mentioned, I cant help but feel like I’m missing something about it.
I've been a voracious reader since I was six years old and I did everything I could to make it through the written version of infinite jest. Like many others I just couldn’t do it. I don’t listen to many audiobooks but I found out that this was available on audible so I downloaded it and listenedto it… All 56 hours of it. it was absolutely amazing. If that’s considered cheating, then I’m willing to live as a cheater ;). what is truly astonishing is the talent of the audiobook narrator, Sean Pratt? Somehow he manages to taking both the high-level concepts of the book and the micro levels of character and emotion and breathes life into every paragraph
Disagree with your closing point. DFW is Hal. DFW read the dictionary when younger, was active in tennis and was also academically gifted. He also committed suicide at age 46 after 20 years of depression and failed medical treatment with drugs. Compared with Don who went on the have a successful life, getting the girl, and finding god, despite being dumb as a stump. Your point about this being an uplifting book depends on your closeness to the two protagonists. If you identify with Hal and DFW, the book is a real downer, bro. If you are like Don than woohoo world. That's the infinite jest. That's the joke. DFW did everything that was supposed to make him successful and yet he suffered from depression and finally ended up killing himself, like Hal, metaphorically. The people who are like Don won't read this book. Can't read this book. Too busy working, bowling, fishing, and fucking the prom queen. TL/DR; Reading is for losers.
For some reason, this whole summary feels like some kind of prequel to Fahrenheit 451, not the characters or story, but how the world is set up and the philosophies that are explored.
Ive been looking for something on Infinite Jest that could possibly be un-spoilable while being 50 pages in. Your description less than a minute in got me hooked. Thanks!
Fantastic summary. I would only argue that Hal does not become an animal on the inside in chapter 1. Instead, we can see that he thinks clearly and in the most logical way, but loses his ability to communicate with the outside world. That is the reason why, when he speaks, nobody can understand his sounds. This is a very interesting way to see this because, as you said, he represents this kind of philosophy where the language is the key to understanding the universe, and it seems that, perhaps, just like a guy named Cobb said on a paper about it, instead of involving into an animal, he could have reached a point in which his knowledge is non comunicable, thus developing a private language.
DFW's take on the Gregor character in Kafka's The Metamorphosis
kinda reminds me of the idea of that king somewhere in old english history that put twins on an island on their own in order to learn what the "language of eden" was. the twins did develop their own language but obviously nobody could understand them cause nobody else knew the "language of eden".
I just finished the book and totally agree with this analysis. The value of this book is in the experience of reading it and the broad but accurate view of how the world is evolving. Forget about the plot. It is merely a delivery vehicle.
i actually have a lot of problems with this video but its wildly impressive nonetheless that you could summarize the plot so accurately in 20 minutes . its like you were scrambling to get all this information out , video has a manic feel that i like a lot and i send this to friends as an introduction to the book sometime
Joelle actually puts on the veil because she's been disfigured by acid being flung into her face semi-accidentally by her mother. I know people say it's a bit ambiguous whether or not the acid story is true, but on my most recent reading I came across a bit where Hal mentions Joelle's disfigurement, which in my opinion lends some truth to the whole thing.
Also, maybe a small point, but I don't think there being two types of people in ONAN was the point that DFW was trying to get across. I think the point is that the different types of people you mention are really driven by the same impulse, that is, the impulse to give yourself over to something. Media and entertainment, tennis, academics, drugs... it's all the same thing
There's room for the theory that the acid enhanced her beauty. I'm partial to this idea for it reflects how people who overcome adversity become stronger.
@@Frenchnoble I actually dont believe there is. As I recall its explicitly said at some point that her being "too pretty" beneath her veil was a joke.
@@dharmatycoon There are unreliable narrators in IJ. There is no actual description of her veil-less features and thus room for doubt and theory.
@@Frenchnoble I am well aware that there are unreliable narrators, but I mean come on, Joelle herself states that its a joke
@@dharmatycoon So, I hear you, I see you, I understand you; I don't think that's 100% satisfactory evidence.
I am impressed. You summed it up so well. I literally paused the video in the beginning when you said everyone says uts not summarizable, and tried to summarize it. I lost myself a little. You nailed it.
Terrific summary. I read Infinite Jest in high school and then a second time in college. You pointed out a lot of details I never noticed. I’ve got to make time to read this big chunk of paper and ink a third time.
Wow. This was the most thorough summary I've ever heard. It makes me want to read Infinite Jest again :). The one important aspect you left out (imo) is how the characters communicate. DFW spent a while discussing how vanity influenced things like video chatting. The book began with Hal unable to communicate and ended with Gately having a tube in his throat, unable to speak to the people around him. I think the methods of communication used by the characters is important enough to be included in such a summary.
For real, this was amazing. Thanks for putting it ou!
And it's worth noting that Hal winds up in a hospital bed next to Don at the end of the book, and the two of them form an important relationship, which his referenced in the opening section.
One other important detail--we are only given a glimpse into Hal's inner life after Pemulis negotiates the delayed drug test, giving them 30 days to detox. Hal's story switches to first person narration at that point, and it's mentioned a couple times by Hal's classmates that Hal's voice sounds strange. His deteriorating ability to communicate coincides with his rediscovered ability to feel and believe.
Fun fact: in the Roman Calendar, years had the name of that year's elected consuls. You weren't born in -54 BC, you were born in "The year of Caesar". And people would be able to list all the names of all the consuls since the year they were born, like kids with multiplication tables today.
So there you go, not so weird. Thanks for the summary, this looks chaotic as fuck.
I remember, that „caesar“ is not a name but rather a title. The German word “Kaiser” is derived from it.
@@annakonda6289 Kai-sar, in Roman times, yes. It means "elephant" in Carthaginian, because an ancestor of Julius Caesar was in the Punic Wars and killed an elephant in an act of bravery, so his whole family inherited the title. Crazy stuff.
Same in pre arabia before Islam. For example the Prophet Muhammad was born in the year of the elephant.
It's official, I'm buying this book on Amazon, ty again!
Book has been sitting on my shelf for months (years?) and I’ve always been too intimidated to venture much past the first chapter. This summary gave me hope, thank you. I shall try again
Did you ever finish? How was it for you? I just finished recently
Been a couple years since I read it, but as soon you reminded me of something I could feel the whole scene again
It took me three years to read this book. I don’t know how I feel about finishing it. There is nothing happening inside me particularly at the moment. I just finished it 20 minutes ago. But i know it has been important in my life for quite some time now. Thanks for this recap. I missed a lot of info you pointed out. Wow. What an accomplishment. What kept me going for these three years was DFW’s voice. Wildly intelligent but also kind and caring, like a loving big brother. I don’t know what I will do now. This leaves a big void in my life.
Read it again. I have read it many times in many different ways. Two suggestions: read it chronologically. Read it by character, aka follow Don or follow Hal.
Read Blood Meridian.
Don doesn’t end up dating Joelle. He has feelings for her but acknowledges that it’s predatory to pursue a relationship with anyone who’s newly sober. Joelle is only 2-3 weeks sober in the end of this book.
Spoiler Alert:
but was he not dying at the end ?
@@jacobrubio6667 No, he doesn’t die that we know of, although he was in intensive care after a gunshot wound. It’s implied that he recovers.
Anyways, this is a plot summary. People shouldn’t come to this video if they don’t want the book spoiled.
@@antichrist.superstar yeah, he may be dying, but Hal (way back at the novel's beginning, but the timeline's ending) speaks of a scene involving Gately and John N.R. Wayne digging up Himself's head. Which may or may not be an accurate memory on Hal's part.
@@ma-mo Exactly. In the first chapter Hal has memories of being in the graveyard with Gately, which could only have happened after the events in the final chapter. Whether Hal’s memories are real is up to interpretation. But in an interview DFW mentions that there is resolution to the story, but that it occurs just outside the frame of the narrative we are provided with. This makes me think the master copy of the entertainment is eventually found, which makes Gately’s recovery seem likely. Just my interpretation.
The guys in NA and AA should follow that principle. Makes the whole thing seem gross.
I’m only halfway through and this is the most compelling video I’ve ever watched. An awesome summary! Thank you! Thinking about starting my second journey through infinite jest. Can wait to see Lateral Alice again!
I read it in English as a non native speaker, which was a pretty hard task sometimes, but also a fascinating experience. For sure I missed out on some details, so here is what I have to ask. What confused me a little bit about this great summary (congrats to that!), was the part of you describing Hal as a genius. For the most part of the book to me he seemed to be an intelligent but not at all exceptional young man. He wasn´t even good in mathematics (mind he needed a lot of extra help by his friend Pemulis to get him through the exams). The description of Hal as a genius was just in the first chapter, so didn´t he became one due to whatever happened to him during the year between the last and the first chapter of the book?
DUDE! I literally just finished this audiobook this morning and was like, "What the heck did I just read?!?!" your summary was INCREDIBLY helpful!!! Wow! I wish I could give you a thousand likes. Seriously. I'm eager to read the book next time because I have a clue what's going on. Seriously, GREAT job! Thank you!
Well done!. Someone who can speak from familiarity on the subject clearly, concisely, comprehensively-unlike the other brand-without turning his back to the audience to read from his own slides!
I want to say thank to you Caleb, because you clarified to me a lot of things that I didn't get through my first reading and others that I thought I have misunderstood but not.
Dude I love the way you look at the world. Thoroughly enjoyed this
Great video; but you forgot the MAIN POINT! The crux of the book is a father-son tale: with JOI feeling disconnected from the person most similar to himself, his son Hal, and trying to connect with him through a series of very bizarre methods.
When Hal eats the mold as a child, he becomes outwardly very communicative, but very unfeeling and cold on the inside, JOI recognises this, and hears all of Hal's speech as a murmuring/groaning, because it doesn't come from anything; JOI then spends the rest of his life and the entire novel trying to connect with his son, by making Infinite Jest to reverse Hal's condition, by killing himself to become a wraith and communicate with Hal on a spiritual plane, by getting Hal to neglect his teeth so a yeast infection occurs and sneaking DMZ onto his toothbrush so it reacts with the infection and makes Hal once again feeling on the inside, yet outwardly incommunicative, so the wraith of JOI has some worthy mind to communicate with in the afterlife, and the last chronological point of the book takes place just before Hal would be playing Stice, who has become possessed by JOI's wraith, and thus the father and son may finally bond over a game of tennis.
JOI? jerk off instructions?
Father and son being able to finally communicate through a tennis ball over a net with the non-verbal language of tennis is the most touching image to end the book
@@lorenzozadro2892 really is; this book is great when read through that lens; it has a lot of call-backs to Brothers Karamazov too.
@@sterlingweston I'll get back to this comments when I read it 🤩 cheers man
One note, although Don was shot by a Canadian, he was shot because Lenz killed the dog, not because they were looking for the cartridge
Hes also not dating JvD
Came to ask about that. I thought it was just some random "nuck" who's dog lenz killed, nothing to do with the wheelchair assasins
What the fuck happen to Lenz anyway? Last I remember he was lost and binging on drugs
@@LucasNauan its mentioned towards the end that the AFR, stationed in the deceased Antitioi's shop, scoop him up off the street with the intention of showing him the entertainment for research purposes but he cuts off all the fingers of Poor Tony while they are both in captivity, enraging the AFR leader. last mention is one of the leaders considering just killing him since he's obstructing their research. No definite end but you can imagine he's probably dead.
@@levisimpson4454forgot this!
I spent a long three months reading this book a few years ago. I loved it and I really enjoyed your quick summary.
THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST SUMMARY OF THE BOOK.
This is very well done, well organized, and clear. Thank you for this significant effort.
A most excellent summary! I listened to the audiobook version of Infinite Jest while thru hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and fell absolutely in love with it. I need to revisit the book in physical form, as the audio version doesn't include footnotes, which are no doubt a big part of the book.
Why does this sounds almost exactly as Atlas shrugged?
This is awesome! I read the whole book and your explanation really helps to put it all together. I will read again but probably skip the end notes next time.
Definitely the best IJ summary I’ve come across. Bravo! (also dope to hear your enthusiasm about the book itself!)
That was a truly incredible summary. I would say this is the most helpful I’ve found any literary resource to be. You really capture the essence of the book while not missing any plot devices either. I physically can’t not subscribe to you after watching this. Thanks!
same here!
Freakin incredible summary and graphic explanation of Infinite Jest. The book has been sitting on my shelf next to Don De Lillo's Underworld. I picked up Infinite Jest and really tried to read it but only got through the first 100 pages. Then back on the shelf for years. It says on the cover that it was a national bestseller but I guess that I am one of many who tried to read it and then gave up. I thought it was about tennis and drugs. Then I flipped back to the copious endnotes which i could not understand where this was going. Joyce's Finnegan's Wake did not have endnotes. Never finished reading that book either but have read Joyce's Ulysses a few times. But modernist and post- postmodernist literature are not the same in structure and style. Then again, I never got through Atlas Shrugged either. BUT now I am willing to go back and try my best to finish Infinite Jest. Thank you for this.
Did you read it?
You're officially the only TH-camr to properly summarised the plot of IJ (not just discuss its many themes -- which you do amazingly btw 😊 I had no idea about post modernism & linguistics stuff)
I think this content will actually make ppl want to read IJ. It has a bad reputation for being inaccessible and defying explanation
You've certainly inspired me to finish it. Thanks!! 👏
That is impressively informative for a 20 minutes summary. Well done. Interesting point about the book being like tennis or ballet.
What is so amazing about DFW is that his magnum opus, IJ, has such a simple overall plot, but if you read his short stories, it's clear that he was also able create some pretty captivating storylines that span 50 pages instead of 1000.
Well done. Very well done! Thank you, I’m actually going to try to read it now and your summary will help a lot.
I had so much fun listening to this. It really brought the experience of the book back to life for me. Thank you, Caleb!
thanks again for the great summary
Glad you enjoyed it
When you mention Don is drinking the alcohol his mother leaves in the bottle after she passes out- you say it’s to help her so she maybe will drink less. That’s inaccurate, he drinks it so it will be gone and she will have to go to the store the next day and replenish her supply enabling him insurance for himself to have access to the vodka again thus the cycle continues.
Lots of errors in his "summary". Don Gately was shot by thugs, either Canadian or Hawaiian, depending on the source (!), not Remy Marathe. You're right about Gateley's mother. This isn't a summary, it's bad analysis by a self-appointed expert.
Bro, you got me so hyped for this book when I try to read it next! Great video!
To hear someone talk about this book was interesting and piqued my curiosity.
Thank you sir, I finished it yesterday and was looking for some material to help me understand. I really appreciate this, thanks
Best breakdown of this book that I've heard yet
This video is insanely insightful and talented content creation, wow.
I was admitting defeat and putting the book (Audible) down some 20% in and this review has made me commit back into it.
Bought this book after watching The End of the Tour back in 2015, just finally got around to finishing it. 🙌
Clear and no BS. Now I'll give it a try. Thanks
Really helpful. Wish I had viewed this when I started the book. You really provided a roadmap through the book.
Brilliant summary Caleb. I’ve read IJ twice now. The second time was an ah ha moment for me
What did you realize?
Thank you so much for this. I was struggling to read this book on and off for some time, confused mainly with the structure of it all. But now understanding why its written such a way, I think Ill have another (proper) go at it! Cheers!
It was actually helpful and you nailed it !!!
I enjoyed this analysis. Another theme of the novel is "addiction". Many characters are in 12 Step programs or recovery facilities. The novel's funny and brilliant second chapter describes how a person addicted to marijuana relates to the drug and to his dealer. The video which the Saudi Arabia counselar official watches is the ultimate drug, in essence a process addiction. which is so appealing, that it's the only activity he wants to do and he cannot stop watching even to eat and drink, causing him to starve to death. It's a metaphor which covers many possibilities in contemporary culture, drugs of intense euphoria like methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl or even nicotine, whose addictive hold on users is as irresistible as harder drugs. In some ways it describes the experience of Internet users who check their Facebook page 10-20 times per day, even when they don't enjoy it. It also anticipates current concerns about artificial intelligence, which may produce programs and technologies which lead to the downfall of human civilization.
David Foster Wallace was deeply opposed to cynicism, which the internet delivers to millions many times per day.
Instead of giving themselves to meaningful pursuits, they watch many hours of cringe videos, or curating subreddits devoted to hating on this group or that group talking about the "world these days."
Instead of feeling inspired and called to action, they get lulled into nihilism and fear and cynicism. We spend much more time ironically watching things we don't like than on pursuits that fulfill us.
Wow, that was impressive! Well done!!
Nice synopsis and short analysis professor. I only got a few chapters in before my mind fuzzed and my eyes glazed over, so thanks for some clarification beyond the Wiki page Infinite Jest entry.
Wonderful job summarizing the unsummerizable! It is criminal you dont have more views and subs. Welp I'll do my part and sub right now.
Before you even got to the summary, you nailed the video.
This is a great summary, thank you
Brilliant summary. I've read it a couple of times but could never have summarised it so coherently. It added to my understanding as well e.g. the point about Steeply and Marathe's Platonic dialogue. A couple of other points occured to me as I listened: the 'infinite' in the title refers to the return to chapter 1 (perhaps I missed you saying this), Secondly, on a plot level, the title's Shakespeare reference may relate to the Incandenza family structure following 'Himself's' death i.e. half-brother takes over ETA / moves in with Avril, Hal's existential angst and James' return as a ghost. But hey, one could mine this book for decades for intertextual references!
Rather than just beginning IJ, I finished it this week after nearly a two year period of on and off reading. As much as this is helpful for those looking to begin the book, I found it extremely helpful in gathering my own analysis and take aways from the book without rereading hundreds of annotations. I think this is a great summary and video, (aside from a few controversial points I see mentioned in the comments). Good work.
This explained nothing but everything, thanks
Thank you! About 4 chapters in and this was immensely helpful!
Well done, insightful and helpful! Watching after reading.
Hi Theophile. Thank you for making this video. It was helpful and I will recommend your channel to others.
this must be your most-viewed video because in it you accomplished the Impossible: summarizing an unsummarizable book.
gnostic. you had me there, mate.
Nice work on this summary🎉
I read 90% of book but I had to literally throw it away
It’s was too close to home for me
what a FANTASTICALLY written video!
Thank you!
this sounds exactly like the one short story i made in my creative writing class in 7th grade that ended up being 16 pages long bc it was a never ending stream of consciousness i did at the last minute with no consistent plot
Thank you for the neutral and simply informative way you discribed current or not so recent politics. It's nice to not get a polorized opinion when all you want is information and entertainment.
My favorite book. Best summary ever! Thx
thank you for this synopsis. I have finished the book and definitely need a second lap
Thank you so much for making this video. Loved your comments at the end too on why it’s hated!
GREAT SUMMARY BRO. SCARY BELL. MADE ME JUMP.
>Plot Summary of Infinite Jest
>20 Minutes
Okay Buddy, jokes aside solid video.
Man this was so interesting. I hope to give it a go some time soon. Thanks for the unsumarizeable summary!
Thank you so much for this! I just finished reading the book and needed a quick summary to make sure I absorbed everything!
Excellent summary of a difficult book. Subscribed.
The story sounds as though it were the lovechild of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a Vonnegut yarn.
Thank you, very helpful. I’ve put off reading the book till I had a decent summary.
Good stuff man
Very good. Very, very good.
This video was incredible--thank you very much!
Excellent summary! Any chance of tackling Gravity’s Rainbow? It makes Infinite Jest look like a Goosebumps novel
I love Pynchon. Inherent Vice is in my top 5 favorite books list. I tried GR recently and got 90 pages in then gave up in defeat. I picked up Mason and Dixon and am loving it. I have sworn to myself I will get through GR at some point!
@@CalebSmith3 Perhaps listening to the Audible version. I read it this way twice back to back. You have to be okay with not being able to make sense of large sections of GR. I'm listening to IJ at the moment. Gately has just gotten shot. I would say I neither love or hate IF. I've had the same reaction to GR and 1000 years of solitude.
@@CalebSmith3 I recommend listening to the pynchon in public podcast while you read gravity's rainbow. They do chapter by chapter analyses of the book so you have some other voices discussing the novel that can help you to stay on pace and motivated to keep at it.
Hey Caleb, thanks for your great work here, enlightening and well paced. All the best, T.
This was insanely well done. Wish I had had this in grad school! 😂 congrats!
Caleb you are fantastic thank you so much.
15:48. "...Does just giving in to your animal pleasures make you... (tongue-tied "gear shifting")... gay." Freud would notice that slip of the tongue. I have yet to hear/watch a review of this "great" work of art that has compelled me to try it again. But you came the closest. Good job. Excellent way to elucidate dark areas of this nearly impossible to parse tome. I'm sure it's an awesome piece of lit, but I have cat and dog videos to watch. First try I got 200 pages into it, but just had to stop. "Consider the Lobster," otoh, is a masterpiece.
hahaha i caught that too
This was super helpful. I get the beginning now that made no sense before. I hate 90 percent of the book but two parts start. The way DFW describes drugs addiction makes you really feel it and I was entertained by the two brothers on the phone coversation about their father's suicide with dark humor to it.
Dude, that is so well made. You should do the same for Gravity's Rainbow.
Wow, that was great. A lot of stuff I missed in my first reading. Thank you.
In the book it says when subsidized time starts, there's a chart with it. If I recall Year of Glad takes place in 2009
That ding is way too loud, kept scaring the shit outta me, great video though.
Great summary, you speak fast very well.
Caleb ... thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Although you have mistaken some details of the book, you have provided some useful insights into it.
Just finished the book. Does Hal eating the mold have any particular meaning for the actual plot or his character? Is this what makes him so smart? With how many times it’s mentioned, I cant help but feel like I’m missing something about it.
Put some batteries in your smoke detector
this man smells like smoke because he walks through fire
I've been a voracious reader since I was six years old and I did everything I could to make it through the written version of infinite jest. Like many others I just couldn’t do it.
I don’t listen to many audiobooks but I found out that this was available on audible so I downloaded it and listenedto it… All 56 hours of it. it was absolutely amazing. If that’s considered cheating, then I’m willing to live as a cheater ;).
what is truly astonishing is the talent of the audiobook narrator, Sean Pratt? Somehow he manages to taking both the high-level concepts of the book and the micro levels of character and emotion and breathes life into every paragraph
The book is better than the audiobook
I’ve known about this book for years, I just pulled the trigger and bought it 10 seconds ago
This was excellent! Thank you for your work!
You have done a service to society.
Disagree with your closing point. DFW is Hal. DFW read the dictionary when younger, was active in tennis and was also academically gifted. He also committed suicide at age 46 after 20 years of depression and failed medical treatment with drugs. Compared with Don who went on the have a successful life, getting the girl, and finding god, despite being dumb as a stump. Your point about this being an uplifting book depends on your closeness to the two protagonists. If you identify with Hal and DFW, the book is a real downer, bro. If you are like Don than woohoo world. That's the infinite jest. That's the joke. DFW did everything that was supposed to make him successful and yet he suffered from depression and finally ended up killing himself, like Hal, metaphorically. The people who are like Don won't read this book. Can't read this book. Too busy working, bowling, fishing, and fucking the prom queen.
TL/DR; Reading is for losers.
thank you for that comment.
For some reason, this whole summary feels like some kind of prequel to Fahrenheit 451, not the characters or story, but how the world is set up and the philosophies that are explored.
Thank you for taking the time to do this.. helped much.