Note: Please read this even if you have no interest in reading Infinite Jest, as it also contains scheduling information about reviews/posts on Mark Reads.
I have mentioned numerous times in various places around these fine Interwebs that I was looking for a new book series or one-off book to do after I finish The Hunger Games trilogy. I created Mark Watches as a desire to expand my reviewing projects beyond just literature, and I’m now left with the desire to expand the scope of Mark Reads beyond YA literature series. A lot of you suggested a handful of very intriguing books on my Tumblr, but one stuck out to me as something that was just so overwhelmingly ambitious that I couldn’t get the idea out of my head.
Thus, I would like to announce my next project: Mark Reads Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace.
Some of you just groaned, some of you most likely wet yourself in a combination of terror and elation, and most of you are probably scratching your heads. That’s ok. I don’t expect many people to either have read this monster of a novel or have the slightest interest in following along. I’m aware of that, and I would be lying if that fact didn’t intrigue me the more I think about it.
I know nothing of Infinite Jest, except that it is long (nearly 1,100 pages in length), dense, complex, and contains a highly elaborate set of endnotes that must be read in real-time. I also know that many people whom I trust about literature, from Dave Eggers to online friends of mine (HELLO HERMIONE DANGER AND JESSICA) recommend this book with such an unending voracity that I simply could not ignore that nagging desire to buy this book and read it.
Because this book is unorthodox, it will not fit the normal review process of Mark Reads. Here’s a breakdown of how this will work:
1) I will start Infinite Jest on Monday, January 10, 2011. Yes, this series will run concurrent to The Hunger Games trilogy, so you will not have to wait two more months to join in. I know there is a portion of people in the world who would rather highlight Trip-Tiks than read this bullshit, so it will not be the sole project I am doing.
2) Posts will be as often as possible. Posts will not be separated by chapter because that is impossible and foolish. I will not announce ahead of time what page I start and end at, as I cannot plan how this will happen. Instead, posts will appear with the title, “Mark Reads IJ: Pages 1-16” and so on. This is just so you know what I read. I am going to follow the advice of friends and simply read until I’m inspired to stop and start writing.
3) Because of the density and nature of this novel, Infinite Jest will have a much more relaxed Spoiler Policy. Obvious plot spoilers will not be allowed, but I will welcome people who have read the book to provide general insights to me that do not heavily reveal the future. I think half the fun is going to be the conversations that we have in the comments.
4) Most of you have not read this book. I know that. So now is your chance to do something silly and foolish and (hopefully) be rewarded by the sheer inanity of conquering one of the most infamously difficult novels to finish. I want us to appear on the other end of this project having experienced something that is hard to put into words.
5) You honestly don’t have to read this book if you don’t want to, but if everyone I’ve spoke to about it is correct (and I suspect they are), you should.
I will post a general reading guide taken from the Infinite Summer project (which is how I first heard about this book, surprisingly) on Monday that will comprise the first section of that review. This journey is going to be strange and frustrating and there are few things that excite me more than the unknown.
This is a lot of information to process, I know. I know that the next question out of some of you will be, “How will you do two books at the same time?” Or: “When is the next Harry Potter post?”
Fair enough. The past two months of this site have been a great deal of fun and I’m still shocked and amazed by the continued support of all of you. Launching this (along with Mark Watches) has helped satisfy a goal of mine that, long ago, seemed absurd. And yet here I am.
I left Buzznet because the people who run that place had turned my project, which was supposed to be fun and exciting) into nothing more than a chore, or at least what seemed one at the time. So I gave up the money and the security of an established organization to rough it in the wild of the Internet and do things my way. I make very little money off of Google Ads and I’m certainly fine with that. It’ll get dumped in a savings account each month and I’ll use it in a couple years to repay for another couple years’ worth of hosting. This suits me just fine.
But (you knew that was coming) my current schedule is spreading me a bit too thin. (It is ironic to say this after I just publicly committed to another book.) I’m going to a show in San Francisco tomorrow night. When I realized that I won’t have time to do a Catching Fire review or watch an episode of Doctor Who tomorrow, that I’d have to come up with a way to do two of each tonight, I nearly had a heart attack. Unlike projects in the past, when I had the luxury of working for the same company that allowed me to publish my reviews, or when I moved to Oakland and my job was very slow, I am now entering a pretty stressful and overwhelming period of my life, as GlobWorld (the site I am a community manager for) is now public.
In short, posting two reviews for seven days a week is driving me to the brink of feeling like this is all just a chore and I don’t ever, ever want that to happen again. (One day I will publish my tell-all memoir about Buzznet and make a trillion dollars and laugh and everything will be wonderful. Today…I think I’ll just passive-aggressively blog about it.)
So, here’s what I’d like to do for right now. I’m still going to stick to a regular schedule of one review per weekday, with possible second reviews if I am so inspired, and use the weekends to begin to develop some sort of backlog of advance-programmed reviews so that I am not left scrambling week after week to get work done. It’s just a bit nonsensical for me to continue doing it this way. This will allow me time to do Harry Potter, Infinite Jest, and Catching Fire reviews with a little more attention to quality and consistency, instead of rushing myself or feeling upset about time. Until I get a TARDIS, I think that’s a fair plan, yes?
This does not mean there won’t be posts on the weekends. I have a handful of people I’m talking with to do guest posts and I’m also experimenting behind-the-scenes with some new ways to publish around here. I’m just saying that weekends will generally be reserved for shenaniganry and some preparation. And a lot more sleep. Sleep is good.
Ok, I’ve just dumped a lot of bullshit on you guys. Thoughts? Reactions? Cries of terror?
Good luck Mark. I started reading Infitinite Jest last summer and I found at a certain point that I had to take a break and come up for air. A couple breaks, actually. So holding yourself to a schedule might be SLIGHTlY brutal for you. Be warned.
Google "Infinite Summer" for many materials on Infinite Jest and people plowing through the book together.
You will maybe find that a lot of books and things you have encountered were heavily influenced by Infinite Jest, to varying degrees of excitement and diappointment. (House of Leaves, for example, is much less impressive after you read DFW.)
Also, FOOTNOTES!!!!11!!1!
Have fun. 🙂
Oh, and I am so very crushed that so many commenters have never heard of Infinite Jest. Not read, sure, but never heard of??
Now I am sad. 🙁
I've never heard of "Infinite Jest", but I just looked it up and it looks.. interesting. I might pick up a copy and follow along.
And to reiterate what others have said; don't worry about it; I'll wait forever for one of your posts! One of the first things I do when I log on my computer is check for something new and I will read your reviews for anything! The only thing I haven't read yet is Mark Watches, because I'm currently in the middle of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I don't have time to get into another T.V series, but yeah! Review anything and i'll read it! Amd take as much time as you need 🙂
This is excellent timing for me! I read Infinite Jest last summer and I have since become something of a DFW fanboy. I've been planning to reread IJ for a while, so I guess now's the time!
Also, I was quite disappointed when I found out that I'd missed Infinite Summer by a year, because I've never done a "group read" or anything like that and it sounded like a lot of fun. Perhaps this can make up for it!
That said, I'm glad you're not planning to stick to a schedule for this one. Too many people take that approach to books like IJ that have a reputation for being "difficult": they see them as challenges to overcome instead of something enjoyable to experience, so they decide that they absolutely must read N pages every week and they end up hating it.
Where is the Harry Potter lately 🙁
No rush, Mark, its not like you have any REAL obligation to us, apart from what you feel like giving. Do it in away that works well for you and we'll all be fine.
Infinite jest is kind of a surprise but yknow.. why not.
Hiho, Mark!
First off, I deeply love your reviews. I started reading them somewhere in October (I think) from the very first Twilight post. You inspired me to read The Hunger Games trilogy in English along with you (I'm German, by the way. So please excuse my bad English).
I'd like to read Infinity Jest, too. I tried the first and a half pages in English and I just can't handle it. The Hunger Games is not that big of a problem, except a few words I have to translate via the web.
Anyway, point of this is I am going to read Infinite Jest in German (which took the translator 6 YEARS (!!!) to do the job). And that's the problem. I don't think the page numbers are conform (right word?) in the German and English versions. So your plan to name your particular reviews with page numbers isn't something I can use.
So I'm asking if you (or anyone else) have a solution for that.
I'm probably whiny about this and probably the problem won't be too big and I don't want you to spend time thinking about this but if an idea crosses your mind by reading this than please let me know. I'd greatly appreciate that.
Thank you and have an awesome day. 🙂
I must say I was surprised when I started reading Mark Reads/ watches and you were posting everyday! This seems like a reasonable arrangement. Most other people get weekends off why shouldn't you?
I downloaded an e-book version and read most of the first chapter just now…. It looks like it's going to be a bit of a haul, but the style is lovely and I can already pick up certain bits of literary awesome and I'm already asking questions.
Because I realized that, with the ebook, I won't know what page you stopped on when I read your reviews, it looks like I'll have to get this thing out of the library, because I totally want to follow along. …Which is saying something, considering I'm still on Hunger Games (though I hadn't intended to follow along with you on that one)
Good luck! This is gonna be fun!
Also reading a physical book is way more fun than a pdf file on my laptop.
I downloaded the trial extract of Infinite Jest on the Kobo and started reading. To my delight, I laughed out loud in several places. As a result I'm going to join you on this adventure and try to keep up. Hopefully I'll be able to add to the discussion in the comments.
Allons-y!
Just bought Infinite Jest on my Kindle! Oh Mark, I was just about to read that, you are a seer 🙂
Dude, you're insane. But good luck, nonetheless.
It literally only just occured to me that I can start commenting on this blog now you've moved over to WordPress. I are a genius. I've been following your blog since you were reading Twilight like some kind of weirdo lurker, and I just wanted to say I am super excited about you reading Infinite Jest. I've been meaning to read if for ages and this has given me the kick up the bum I needed to do so.
Mark, you just amaze me! I'm looking forward to reading Infinite Jest with you! 😀
The Hunger Games? Doctor Who? Fringe? TORCHWOOD?!?!?!?!?!
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE AHHLSDJFAKLWJHFR
super excited. will from now on be creeper stalking this and markwatches.net
oh and I think I love you, cool bye.
I’m in. I bought the book today and it’s massive! I’m pretty excited for this challenge.
Love you eternally Mark, you should just do what you want to when you can.
Also, have you thought about the Millenium trilogy for MarkReads? I've just finished 'the girl with the dragon tattoo', and am starting the second one, and i have to say there is very little equal for these books in terms of 'YOU ARE NOT PREPARED'.
It's just a thought though, it would also give ample oppertunity for liveblogging since there are films as well.