So, was Orin the mastermind all along?

IJ is shit. Your kind is not wanted here.

>>9498779
the IJ hate on this board is mostly unwarranted.
It's a flawed novel but to deny his genius is kinda foolish.
You have to realize that he wrote this in his late 20s.
Broom he wrote at 22/23, if you've read that it's hard to deny his talents.

File: DFW_reader.jpg (31KB, 377x585px) Image search: [Google]

31KB, 377x585px

>>9498748
I don't know, I started it but didn't finish it.

Meanwhile, I just got this for eight bucks, and I didn't look at it too closely beforehand, I just assumed it did not contain IJ. But then it does contain IJ...but no, really just a portion of IJ, but I don't know which portion. And they don't say it's abridged in the table of contents, so IDK. Does anyone know what I just bought? I thought it would have complete works that are not IJ. Now I know that it as a fraction of IJ in it, so now I'm worried that all the other works in it are fractional too. Does anyone know how abridged the stuff in this volume is?

Orin couldn't have been the mastermind, he's painted as such a gigantic dick. I think Jim organized it all posthumously.

No, but he obviously sent the entertainment. Don't get the point of this thread.

>>9499283
no you're retarded.
Orin was definitely the "mastermind" but you have to understand it wasn't much of a plan at all. Just misplaced revenge.

>>9498794
He started it at like 30. The process took like three years. Ease up on the cock.

>>9499294
wrong.
He started the final version at age 30 but had created many versions of the various parts throughout his late 20s.

>>9499294
I Should mentioned he completed it at age 31, it was published at 33. He did not complete the whole 1000 pages in just a year, a year in which he was also teaching full-time. He combined and reshaped his earlier drafts into something more cohesive.

How many people can say they were published fiction professors in their mid 20s?
very few.

>>9499299
Ya i know. But that's not of essence. He didn't start writing the actual book until later. He had the Incs down in some other work, but it wasn't IJ. Don't be such a pedantic sperg

>>9499312
>using of essence like that
fag.
How am I being a pedantic sperg by pointing out that most artists experience their creative blooming in their late 20s? 30s are a time for refinement.
Understand that much of Hideous men was written long before he was 35 as well.
I'm saying he doesn't get the respect he's due.
People pick on him for being naive and childish but you gotta give some leeway for younger authors.

>>9499242
im pretty sure it explains whats in it in the beginning. there are some chapters from his books but also full essays that you dont need context for. the book was made to basically be an "essential dfw" thing. if any of it interests you, i guess just dig deeper into his stuff

>>9499451
Ah, I see. I think I understand. Thanks.

Still I don't really want to read any of the novel excerpts; I'd rather just try to read the novels, or try again in the case of IJ.

Maybe I'll read all the short stories and essays in the reader before moving on to any of his novels. Also there's some of his teaching material in it, which is interesting to look at.

>>9498794
Broom is good compared to the garbage people post in crit threads on lit, and it's original, so it appears superficially to be a lot better than it is, since so little really original work has been widely read in the past 30 years. Broom has major structural issues, and Lenore is not a well fleshed out character. Her actions don't really match her personality or disposition.

Not a bad book, but a work of genius? Hardly.

>>9499242
When a book is called "A ----- Reader", that means it's a collection meant to give a sense of work made over the course of a writer's career.

>>9499552
You're right.
From a structural perspective it's very weak/basic and i agree that Lenore is essentially identity-less, but i also think that's major part in the theme of the story and somewhat intentional as well.
Rick is the real main character.

Mostly the impressive feat is the dialog and the philosophical exercises he employs. Pretty masterful for someone under the age of 25.

>>9499576
and by excercises i literally mean applied meta-allusions within the story and whatnot.
It's very similar to infinite jest in a way.