Remember how I mentioned that reading, or rather finding any time to read has been a challenge? Well, I’ve completely lost my mind. I scrapped any hopes of coming up with a summer reading list. Instead, I picked up this doorstop of a book.
Infinite Jest by the late David Foster Wallace.
I almost chose this one as my first book of the year and you all said, “No, Ti!! Don’t do that to yourself!” I listened. But, guys, it’s been one heck of a year so far. I feel like NOW might be the right time to read it.
Here’s a blurb:
A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America
“Set in an addicts’ halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are.” ~ the publisher
Sounds fascinating, right? So, I am going to spend the summer with this book. I will take my time reading it, feeling it, and digesting whatever there is to take in. Simple. One book, for the summer. I can do this.
Book Chatter 
You know, I kind of like the idea of one book for the summer. Maybe I’ll try to do the same next year. Something super, duper long. Moby Dick? The Winds of War? Hmmm. Good luck with this one. It doesn’t appeal to me, but maybe you’ll convince me once you’ve read it. Have fun!
I did Moby Dick as a read along and it was a good one to take a little more time with. If it wasn’t Infinite Jest it would have been Crime and Punishment, which I still plan to get to at some point.
If it was Crime and Punishment, I might be tempted. I’ve read but one of my favorite classics. But 1,100 pages? No thank you. Enjoy, though.
I applaud you for choosing this long, long book as your summer ‘one-read’, Ti. Ha! Don’t think I want to try it, but that’s an intriguing idea to pick one book and let oneself read it on your timetable. Good luck!
I figure one book is doable. Ha!! It’s like 1100 pages. I could be wrong.
The Kindle version of this book was on sale recently, but I just couldn’t bring myself to buy it and start reading it. There’s too much awfulness in the real world. I need escape.
I have this on my shelf somewhere. It seems like a timely read.