The Pale King

>>8886783

Reminds me of something like The Castle or The Trial, I just like to think it's a nice homage to Kafka considering it never officially "ended", like a majority of his bigger novels.

Also does anyone else think The Pale King would be fantastic if it got an adaptation by Mike Judge(King of the Hill, Silicon Valley)? I really think he could do wonders with Wallace's work.

>>8886791
how would you adapt an unfinished work, tho? finish the story? that seems like it would take the story even further out of Wallace's hands, which might not be in the best taste.

>muh one page sentences

>>8886809
and even longer. why not, tho? they aren't hard to read. they're well written sentences. if anything, it kind of encourages someone to attentively keep at that bit, which my borderline ADD, addicted-to-phone ass actually needs help with anyway.

>>8886783

Since this is a Wallace thread anyone else think the passage with the instructor who has tiny arms in Infinite Jest was like something out of a David Lynch movie? The build up reminded me of the diner scene from Mulholland Drive.

i'm honestly considering reading TPK before IJ. would anyone advise for or against this?

>>8886919
reason being as I find it more immediately intriguing as i actually purchased the book in the city it's set in because i'm from central, IL and the whole coping with mundane life and depression stuff speaks even louder to me than an addiction to stimulating activities as discussed in the previous novel

>>8886919
That's what I'm doing, reading Pale King rn. Ordered a copy of Infinite Jest but wanted to read some of his writing online and Jest was unfeasible due to the end notes so I started Pale King, it's fascinating and amazing and strange

>>8886925
yeah i'd really just like to take a summer to read IJ where i have time to consistently and attentively do so, whereas TPK isn't really a finished, chronological thing and I figure I can come and go as I please. might be wrong tho.

>>8886783
Some of his best little vignettes are in there. Probably would be a decent intro to his style.

>>8886909
Wallace had a preoccupation with literal hideousness. Deformities. He may have gotten it from Lynch, or he may have found in Lynch a kindred spirit. Who knows.

>>8886925
The pale king has some great moments but its unfortunately flat soda compared to IJ. As it stands IJ is the better book but had pk been finished it likely would've been better. Although since reading pk I now suspect that a significant reason for his suicide was that he realized he couldnt have brought it to life the way he wanted to and would probably have to throw it out.

>>8886919
I slogged through like 300 pages of IJ, read TPK in about a week, and then finished IJ at a much higher pace. If anything, TPK is good DFW reading practice.

>those long ass chapters describing clinical IRS proceedings

good lord

>>8887398
I had no idea what the fuck any of it meant, and I really hope that was the point of the passages.

>>8887035
>He may have gotten it from Lynch
He wrote an essay about Lynch, in which he writes how Blue Velvet was an absolute eye-opener for him when he was in grad school.

>>8887403
i read someone say that since a main theme of the book was boredom, or dealing with boredom, he was trying to put you through it at times

>>8887436
Yes the whole book was an exploration of boredom and what it means and how we deal with it as people and as a society. Sort of the opposite of IJ in a sense. That's probably part of the reason why it took so long for him to write.

>>8886801
Leave the movie unfinished as well

>>8887376
he definitely didn't kill himself because of the book, not even as a partial reason. dumb.

>>8887393
god this sounds like me then cause i've struggled to get into IJ. maybe i really will do this.

>>8887460
yeah that'll be a hit