The End of Infinite Jest and a Review

Possible spoilers.

It's been an emotional journey. Infinite Jest does entertain, but it also educates and forces you to question the nature of your own addictions and attempts to avoid the uncomfortable elements of life. Yet I did find the message ultimately hopeful; redemption is possible for everybody, you just need to 'Abide' and not lie to yourself. Try to read it without thinking too much about the death of the author, you can think about that at the end once you've finished the book.

On first reading the ending I was inevitably surprised and confused as for the last part the reader expects that as with most books, loose ends will be tied up and there will be some sort of easy conclusion. There is no easy conclusion, we are left to puzzle it out on our own. I turned to the internet which in hindsight was a little too easy, DFW leaves clues in the text and re-reading the first chapter can give some idea of what happened afterwards. It is, as the title says, 'infinite'.

I think a second reading will improve matters, but not yet! I think that once I re-read it I will stop looking for the last part's denouement and instead concentrate more on the writing, as I read the last part in something of a hurry. Note-making helped as I could go back and check for reoccurring characters I'd forgotten, however, I think I did miss an actual physical book - I would've liked to have made notes in a physical copy. I love the ease and accessibility of reading ebooks, but there is something wonderful and permanent about having a copy of a book you've properly loved, and covered all over with pencil marks (not pen and certainly not highlighter). 

The plot was intricate, sometimes confusing and the central themes were deftly weaved in around the plot and the characters. The characters themselves could at some points be rather exaggerated (adding humour, sometimes black humour in the case of Poor Tony), yet Don Gately was wonderfully human and the parts about his addiction and dealing with his injuries after being beaten up were beautifully written. Joelle van Dyne (Madame Psychosis) added imagery to the novel.  

The black humour and sick humour worked well too, I particularly remember Poor Tony making off with the woman's artificial heart. 

Although the structure was more difficult to read than some books (apparently using the Sierpinski gasket, where smaller parts come together as a larger whole, and all the triangles are linked together, hoping I've explained that right, maths is not my forte), it kept me on my toes with the way that different types of writing were used such as interviews, transcripts and JOI's filmography. 

So, some of the A.F.R parts were more difficult, perhaps because of the major amount of time they spent sitting  on top of a hill talking rather than actually doing any spying or assassination. Yes, there is rather a lot of tennis, but that can be forgiven for the sake of the Eschaton match.

Overall, it just amazes me that someone managed to write this book in three years and publish it when he was thirty three (same age as me). I gave it four stars on goodreads. I'm really glad I read it and I will re-read it in the future, but at the moment, I can't really call it one of my favourite books, perhaps because of it's difficulties and the self-examination it made me do. I love a challenge and I really like books that make you think, but maybe I read this at the wrong time of my life or I will like it better on the next time of reading. Anyway, I'll still look out for DFW's books and I'm sure he'll be appearing on future lists.