Cannonball, baby!
I hate that I hit my 52 books on a book that I really really didn’t like. I know that David Foster Wallace was a genius. I really feel bad that I’ve never read anything else of his (yes, yes, I know I should Infinite Jest) but after dragging myself through the essays of A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, it’s unlikely I will give him another shot.
The first essay was about his tennis career; kind of math-y but fairly interesting. The second essay concerned TV, and while it feels rather dated now, I’m sure it was shiny and new in the 1990s. Maybe I should have picked up the book twenty years ago. The third essay, I actually liked (and it’s the only reason I’m awarding two stars). Wallace discusses his experiences at the Illinois State Fair – the detail is rich, the people-watching is hysterical and his writing is impeccable.
It all went downhill from there. His writing is dense and inaccessible. There was a whole essay on David Lynch that bored me to tears. I’m a pretty intelligent person, and I actually like a lot of stuff that other people might find boring (see: the book on salt that I read last year, then talked my husband’s ear off about, then watched a documentary about the same damn thing). But I’ll admit it: Wallace is either too dull for me, or too smarty-pants for me.
Or maybe some combo of the two.
I just didn’t get the appeal.
Congrats on the cannonbaaalllll!
I tried this one last year. I enjoyed the math-y tennis one and got halfway through the TV one before putting it down and simply forgetting to pick it back up. I wanted to like it. I just … didn’t.
Congrats on your Cannonball!
Congratulations on your cannonball!
Huzzah! Another Cannonball – congratulations!
Congratulations! Sorry I didn’t comment yesterday, I’ve been a bit behind on the site. I know I read the first essay of this, but I can’t remember if I gave up midway through the TV one or not (I would say yes, but the fair thing sounds kind of familiar – either way, definitely did not finish). Sorry your Cannonball book wasn’t a more enjoyable experience!
Hurray!!! Congratulations on the Cannonball!
Congratulations!
Congratulations! I’ve clearly been completely out of the loop, finishing my own exam paper and the final grades for the kids I teach. But at least it means you keep being congratulated even a while after you complete the Cannonball! Well done.