Embarking on the mammoth project of tackling Infinite Jest by the late and great David Foster Wallace (which was published in German almost exactly one year ago, by the way, with the translation taking up six years…) – if you’re fortunate enough to have a few weeks of summer holidays left, then this should keep you busy for a while: with 1079 pages of pure literature, it’s a bit of a challenge.
Who could put it better than Dave Eggers, who seems to have his fingers in every pie these days, in his beautiful introduction: ‘Is it our duty to read Infinite Jest? This is a good question, and one that many people, particularly literary-minded people, ask themselves. The answer is: Maybe. Sort of. Probably, in some way. If we think it’s our duty to read this book, it’s because we’re interested in genius.’ Enough said.
