Have we talked about Oblivion, the new David Foster Wallace, at all?

Thing is, at least for me re: GON is that when I got to that bit yes I reeled, and yes it /is/ a virtuoso writing performance but that somehow didn't feel like enough. It's too cold and clever and studied, and I kinda spend the whole time I spend reading DFW mentally defending him from charges of being too cold and clever and studied etc. But maybe that's just because different experiences, the suicide thing resonating for you, and fair play. For me it had the same flaws as The Depressed Person from BITWM, that kinda 'DO YOU SEE' quality.

This is maybe why I found 'The Soul Is Not A Smithy' so great, actually, because you just can't keep that warmth out of a story with kids in, not matter what the subject, the same way 'The Secret Integration' is like automatically the warmest thing Pynchon ever wrote? (I'm not saying the best obv).

(I realise this totally contradicts what I said abt TSINAS being evidence of progress upthread...)

I empathize with you about "mentally defending him from charges of being too cold and clever and studied". Reading Everything And More, his book about Cantor and the study of infinity, I grew quite frustrated with his writing. He really goes to town with this whole using clever abbreviations and non-alphabetical characters shtick; it impeded my comprehension of some of the mathematical stuff, and for what purpose? It felt like an affectation, like he was just putting on airs.

I guess GON transcended those kinds of concerns for me at the time I read it because I was so impressed and absorbed by it; I bought it, hook, line, and sinker. When I read it a second time a few months ago, it held up (and I enjoyed very much anticipating the reversal and going through it as slowly as I could to see how he did it -- the first time I read it, I just zipped through at light speed because I was so *into* it) although I suspect I will only want to read it again after a few more years have passed and maybe not for a long time after that -- there is a certain one-trick pony-ness to it, but what a trick! So I'm defending it, but not claiming it's like canon-worthy, necessarily. If I had the text I would be able to point out more specific bits of the writing that I find worthy of admiration. I haven't read THSINAS or The Secret Integration so I can't compare them.

So I guess my defense of GON is that I was sufficiently affected that it disarmed my DFW Airs Dectector, but I also can imagine many people would find my detector set far too forgiving. I doubt that will convince anyone to like this story who didn't already. But I wonder, who are other authors/what are other stories that have displayed this sort of virtusoity? I would very much like to read them. I seem to like this sort of thing. And I wonder if it's possible to read such *without* having to disarm the Airs Dectector...

I don't know if I'd agree about oblivion's ending, though! To me "an ending" implies closure and finality and stuff - Oblivion seems to end the way say < wanker> Shakespeare's Troilus ends < /wanker>, with the contagion blowing out into the rest of the world. It's not like the ending is even chronologically final...

I think it might do things with The Suffering Channel, because I get the impression that Oblivion (the book) is an interlaced sorta thing, it paces itself, but I couldn't read TSC, I am too squeamish, ugh.

[POTENTIAL SPOILaGe of Suffering Channel]

Q: so is mrs. moltke an evil mastermind?

Q: what's in the other duplex-half?!

i know i'm going to have nightmares tonight.

another reason wallace is a douche: cuz he left ISU to for rich socal preps at pomona. not that i blame him.

tried revisiting Good Old Neon today but couldn't do it. too brutal. so sorely missed. after trying for 9 years to get through Infinite Jest i finished it last night. took four months. re-read the first chapter immediately and my brain is still dripping out my ear