Caltrops - Dead Trees





	[quote name="Hans Clastorp"][quote name="Vested Id"][quote name="Hans Clastorp"]He really was one of the major talents of the 20th century.[/quote] Could you explain why, I'm on the cusp of reading <i>Infinite Jest</i> just on the recommendations but it's huge and it sounds like a tiresome pomo drag-along. I did like <i>The Magic Mountain</i> but it's been a classic for a lot longer.[/quote] It's just a sense I get when I read him that there's a major intellect at work, and I can't really describe what that means exactly. His stories are incredibly intricate; especially in his short stories there's a very fluid, almost organic quality that strikes me as really masterful. Personally I think he's best in the short-story format (and even Infinite Jest can almost be read as a long collection of interrelated short stories), so I'd recommend maybe checking out <i>Oblivion</i> or <i>Girl with Curious Hair</i> if you're not sure how high your tolerance is for his schtick. I'm working my way through Infinite Jest for the second time. It is huge, and it is pomo, but I don't find it tiresome or a drag mostly because he manages to strike a really good balance between challenging the reader and straight-up dramatic entertainment. And it is an entertaining novel, and funny as fuck, actually. It does expect some real work on the part of the reader though, he uses a lot of (fictional and nonfictional) technical jargon, structural acrobatics, etc., but like a lot of that stuff anyway, I could imagine someone finding it tedious or wanky though. [/quote]