Finishing and Starting Infinite Jest
I signed up for the infinite summer but soon stopped following what people were saying while they read the book. It seemed pointless. After a couple of hundred pages it’s pretty clear that this is a book that can’t really be talked about until it has been read. Now I wonder if there’s any point saying anything about it until it has been read twice.
The first time through was often fun but sometimes a little like work. The second time around is a joy.
I started reading the paperback. About 200 pages in I stopped for a while. It just seemed to big to carry around. Whenever I had time to read it I didn’t have it. A couple of weeks later I bought an ebook copy for Stanza on the iPhone. That’s when I really started to get into it. They released an update (to Stanza) recently that makes jumping back and forth between the footnotes and the main text much faster. Not zippy though. It takes about five seconds to go to a footnote and about one to head back. For the last 300 pages I was switching back and forth between the paperback and the iPhone a few times a day.
Reading the paperback I sometimes caught myself skimming. I found it easier to focus on the text on the phone. This time I’m doing most of my reading on the iPhone. I really want to savour the words.