Infinite Jest discussion thread - /lit/ (#24481680) [Archived: 1016 hours ago]

Anonymous
6/20/2025, 3:25:46 PM No.24481680
IMG_0360
IMG_0360
md5: be4bd4bc3bb49a79bccdcbc9fdc2c772🔍
Discuss all things relating to the book Infinite Jest, seeing as summer is the perfect time to (re)read the book.

Which character resonated the most with you? For me it was either Orin or Pemulis.
Replies: >>24482742
Anonymous
6/20/2025, 4:13:35 PM No.24481769
1748270805143959
1748270805143959
md5: 6ee1c4d1bdb9f5e756a8ffa0898a7a41🔍
I'm roughly halfway through this thing so don't spoil anything, but my rage and suspicion had already built towards Avril once the Wayne thing happened. Do I have mommy issues or did I pick up on subtext without knowing
Replies: >>24481779
Anonymous
6/20/2025, 4:16:49 PM No.24481779
>>24481769
Avril is always described in a sexual manner whenever her appearance is brought up and Orin’s plotline at that point is about how he’s hypersexual. It’s not a far fetched conclusion.
Anonymous
6/20/2025, 4:35:32 PM No.24481817
How do we feel about Lyle? Sitting there, subsisting on the effort of others. Is he really just the zen middle ground?
Anonymous
6/20/2025, 4:53:17 PM No.24481854
Is the plot EVER going to get out of November
Anonymous
6/20/2025, 10:17:13 PM No.24482742
>>24481680 (OP)
All of the characters in this book are fucked up. Mario and Gately are the only ones you should be resonating with, or Pemulis if you love drugs.

I read the book last year and gave it to my ex. Gonna buy a new copy this weekend and go for the victory lap.

I'm a bit confused desu, what do you guys think this book is about? What are it's themes? I thoroughly enjoyed it but struggle to explain it to other people.
Replies: >>24482772
Anonymous
6/20/2025, 10:28:32 PM No.24482772
>>24482742
Yeah the characters are fucked up, but we’re also flawed as people.
As for themes, one of the most obvious ones is that of addiction, and how anything can be turned into one (drugs, tennis, entertainment, killing, etc.). I also find a central theme to be how our worth seemingly is dictated by what we contribute to society, when it in actuality is dictated by who we are as people (see deLint’s conversation with Steeply). The third major theme from what I remember is how vastly different worldviews all can be valid and how things are just a matter of perspectives (Concavity/Convexity, Marathe/Steeply, etc.).