There really was a Johnny Gentle, apparently.
Begin: Page 398 (“FREAK STATUE OF LIBERTY ACCIDENT KILLS FED ENGINEER”
End: Page 450 (“…it sounded like somebody’s mind coming apart right before your ears.”
Start Date: 12/3/10
Finish Date: 12/9/10
Note Profile: 24 notes (156–179), all mercifully short
I am not at all concerned about the dearth of comments this week, because I am taking it One Day at a Time, Hanging In and Hanging In, exhibiting Blind Faith, fully prepared to Fake It till we Make It. My higher power is not Satan, though; I think I’d go for J.R. “Bob” Dobbs, or maybe Jeff Lebowski.
I am so happy that marketing hoo-ha is still as dangerous today as it was in the mind of DFW. I’ll pop in with more comments later, but first, I need to buy a tongue scraper. Wait–I think it’s one of Oprah’s “Favorite Things.”
DenTek Tongue Cleaner (As Seen on Oprah!)
$1 online
Eliminate bad breath germs at the source. Removes bad breath germs from hard to reach places, where brushing fails. Removes germs that cause bad breath Comfort strips: flexes and contours to fit the shape of your tongue Low profile: reaches the back of the tongue without gagging The narrow design comfortably fits every size mouth. Made in China.
(Apparently, these items are no longer made in Wisconsin.)
So John Hodgman just linked to this on Twitter. Diagram of the connections between all the IJ characters. Crazy. 🙂
http://sampottsinc.com/ij/
Last time we were in Boston, we also swinishly ate cannoli from Mike’s pastry in the North End – I think the city kind of lends itself to that sort of behavior.
Eric Clipperton – what a guy.
Not a ton to comment on as this section seemed to just soldier on from last week. I have continued to be impressed by two aspects of DFW’s writing.
The first is his incredible knack for crafting these small characters with great stories, Eric Clipperton being the perfect example. The other suicidal tennis star who offs his whole family by accident and the addict who carried around her still-born baby are two more. My mind is blown every time he tells one of these stories and then tosses the character away to continue on with the main plot like it’s nothing.
I also continue to be impressed by his brilliant little insights into daily life. Won’t expand on that any further beyond including this great example quote: “Marathe was one of the rare types who did not examine the hankie after he blew.”
I promised I’d be back. Loved Eric Clipperton. The notes “looked” like they were mercifully short. However, note #173 takes you to the 8 page note #304, which discusses the wheelchair assassins, oversized feral infants, and also explains “The Cult of the Next Train,” which is first alluded to with reference to Marathe’s two older brothers, both of whom “kissed trains head-on before reaching marriageable age.” I really did have to read all of note #304 to understand the train game.
Sorry for my abscence, I’ve had (and am still having) a couple of weeks from hell.
Wasn’t so keen on the Eric Clipperton storyline; I found it a bit too-far fetched (even within the book’s ‘fantastic’ reality).
I loved the headlines, my favourite being ‘MY BABY HAS SIX EYES AND BASICALLY NO SKULL’.
And I agree with Matt says, the ‘little insights into daily life’ are amazing, in my opinion really ‘make’ this book.
That’s all from me for this week, I’m sorry but I have to board a flight tomorrow and must pack.
I usually dread the parts with Steeply and Marathe, because they dod not seem to go anywhere. I was hoping to get some insight on Orin’s situation from those parts but have not … yet. I did like the “pursuit of happiness” discussion. Taking this right to an extreme leads to nonsense. This downside of this pursuit of happiness seems to be a major theme here. The drugs, the drinking, the Entertainment, are all part of a pursuit of happiness, but they all back fire. The interesting thing is that one persons pursuit of this “right” can have a bad effect on the rest of society.
Eric Clipperton – what a guy.