Has there ever been a more perfect commencement speech?

in a way it's really all he ever did though.
His writing always has a certain lecture type-thing going on, weak on characterization but strong on narrative technique to fool your brain.
It was the perfect proving ground for this kinda thing. In fact, the whole thing is lifted from sections of his own work (upcoming and previous).
He also took the whole fish story idea from Mcluhan.

>>9288735
It was very "of its time". Listening to it now makes me cringe at how cliche it feels.

And, why the fuck are these idiots laughing?

File: infinite_cringe.png (220KB, 347x440px) Image search: [Google]

220KB, 347x440px

>>9288735

Damn... I made that speech way too accessible. Makes it way too easy for people to see I'm full of shit.

Maybe I'll talk about Sierpinski triangles and math next time.

>>9288783
I think DFW would agree with the speech making the listener feel like cringing. You hear that kind of sentiment towards his own writing during his interview with Charlie Rose (at least I think that's the one). He was often bothered by the idea of sounding overly sympathetic and 'midwestern' in a field (fields when the context is broadened to other media) generally dominated by irony and cynicism.

DFW's Suicide as a Sort of Present

>>9288817
It's 50/50 cult of personality and hate boners

This is 4chan's relationship with anyone remotely famous

>>9288826
Got it, thanks for the heads up.

File: wallace2.jpg (14KB, 434x299px) Image search: [Google]

14KB, 434x299px

i literally cringe when i hear those cucks in the audience starting to clap and cheer when he gets to the part about the suvs. they are EXACTLY what he is depressed about in america.

desu i try to think the best about people now. i dont always succeed, but i try. if dfw was alive today he'd just kill himself again wrt all the insanity going on around the world

>>9288826
>It's 50/50 cult of personality and hate boners
>as if the two are mutually exclusive
Also I've read him, enjoyed him, and moved on to other stuff. Where do I fit in?

>>9288958
You're the one who thinks it's special to brag about not being one of the 50/50, which just means your ego is dependant on something you self proclaim to not even care about, and you can be dismissed like a used condom.

File: wallpaper2016zzh.jpg (257KB, 1920x1080px) Image search: [Google]

257KB, 1920x1080px

Eee.
Couldn't finish.
Did he throw in a dictionary definition, too?

>>9289101
quality post

>>9288817

Did I offend you?

I took a creative nonfiction course with him at Ponoma back in '94. We weren't allowed to show anyone our essays outside of the class for some reason. He seemed naturally intelligent, didnt need to look at any notes or textbooks or prepare for any lectures, he just knew his stuff and was super casual.

I saw him talking to a girl on campus one day. He uncharacteristically wore a Fila sweatsuit, the kind that looks like it's made from the same material as parachutes, and trainer sneakers with a matching bandana. That was his pussy hunt outfit apparently. Several times a week, same outfit, I'd see him hitting on women in it. I once saw him wearing it while carrying an identical outfit from the dry cleaners, he had like 4 sets of same Fila sweatsuit.

I asked him about it in class and he said we aren't allowed to discuss anything unrelated to class while inside class, the same way we can't show anyone outside of class our essays. A student called out "but Dostoevsky isn't in this class and last week you talked about replicating his black tea obsession to test its affects on your own writing". Wallace stared blankly at the student with dead eyes for 30 seconds in dead silence then said "you just got knocked down a full letter grade. Any other smart asses? Didn't think so." and pushed up his glasses with his index finger.

I remember telling myself this guy will either be super successful or kill himself.

But what IS water?

>>9288783
>It was very "of its time". Listening to it now makes me cringe at how cliche it feels.
id agree with this very much

theres nothing wrong with this speech, but i am really really shocked how many people find this speech to be 'eye-opening' or inspiring, or whatever those fucks on youtube wrote in the commecnt in this speech

maybe i was raised differently than those posters and dfw, but basically what was said in that speech was how my parents taught me how to behave and respect others. these are basic truths i was taught when i was like 3 years old and have stuck with me to today. in fact, the more i think of it, it sounds like what my teachers in religion class or what the priest would say during mass, assuming it wasnt a shitty priest

im also amazed that it took that long for dfw, an 'intellectual,' if you will, whom i very much respect, to come to these conclusions. maybe its just a thing of american culture vs my family's culture (im 1st gen american with my parents from an eastern euro country)

i think im cringing mostly because hes telling basic truths/lessons that should be taught to a group of pre-schoolers at the latest, to a group who're, theoretically, supposed to be the bright stars of society. i actually find this whole thing more depressing than cringe actually

>>9289883
>A student called out "but Dostoevsky isn't in this class and last week you talked about replicating his black tea obsession to test its affects on your own writing". Wallace stared blankly at the student with dead eyes for 30 seconds in dead silence then said "you just got knocked down a full letter grade. Any other smart asses? Didn't think so." and pushed up his glasses with his index finger.
kek, I can believe this

>>9289977
>im also amazed that it took that long for dfw, an 'intellectual,' if you will, whom i very much respect, to come to these conclusions. maybe its just a thing of american culture vs my family's culture (im 1st gen american with my parents from an eastern euro country)
Do you mind taking a second to go through your logic here for a second?
>you only think of these things until you give a commencement speech about it at a college

>>9289989
not sure i understand your post
what is it youd like me to clarify?

File: nenenesweatshirt.png (1MB, 1317x891px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 1317x891px

>>9289883
Wallace wasn't at Pomona in 1994. He didn't become a professor there until 2002. You are lying on the internet.

>>9288752
>weak on characterization
>narrative complex enough to fool your brain
low quality bait

>>9290025
It sounds believable, so it doesn't matter.

File: IMG_2261.png (208KB, 807x935px) Image search: [Google]

208KB, 807x935px

>>9289883
>tfw I made this pasta and see other people using it

File: computerrage.jpg (54KB, 800x624px) Image search: [Google]

54KB, 800x624px

>>9290038
Civilization is over.

>>9289977
>maybe its just a thing of american culture vs my family's culture
It's how most kids are raised until the progressive professors in college teach them to hate people; notice the cheering when DFW says people with patriotic or Christian bumper stickers are the ugliest people.

>>9290113

they're not really all ugly but they're not that bright either when it comes to certain subjects of debate like the ecosystem of which many down south i can very well assure you give little not a single motherfuck about

my buddy is currently swapping his chevy engine for a cummins diesel engine in his already junky 90s chevy pickup and this engine while indestructible is also the mose diesel guzzling contraption you are able to put into a pickup truck, and is only being put into this pickup truck off the sole desire to make the truck louder when facing off against other trucks in traffic

>>9290199
right because the ecosystem is so much more important to that guy's life than the truck he drives daily

>>9288735
I don't think so, he really nailed that one
Good job DFW! You did at least 1 good thing in your life!

>>9290199
>they're not really all ugly but they're not that bright either when it comes to certain subjects of debate
Is there are certain group of people that this statement doesn't be apply to? Honestly, you seem like a retard.

File: IMG_7446.jpg (82KB, 501x585px) Image search: [Google]

82KB, 501x585px

>>9290199
>people down south are dumb.
>my friends here with blue hair sitting in Starbucks and resisting capitalism and supporting Hillary are the True Intellectuals.
I wonder where this stereotype comes from?

>>9290311
I don't think /pol/ invented those stereotypes anon

>>9288826
>This is 4chan's relationship
I much prefer reddit, the place where you and I are from. faggot

>>9290049
Actually, it is I who am responsible for this copypasa. I wrote it 8 months ago.

File: smugredditfrog.jpg (9KB, 225x225px) Image search: [Google]

9KB, 225x225px

>>9290403
you thought you wrote it but you thought a lot of things that aren't so as you and all the other posters here are just experiencing what it's like to be manifestations of my pysche.

>>9290403
>>9290049
actually it was i who wrote it you fucking faggots