Carlisle did remind me of more than a few "Hamlet" allusions that I otherwise would have missed, and also helped to bring my attention to at least a couple of repeated motifs heads and spiders, more than any others. The thing is, this book is really just an extended summary of Infinite Jest with subsequent "section" summaries as well. It's less a guide to read in tandem with IJ and more a This book was not nearly as helpful as I anticipated. It's less a guide to read in tandem with IJ and more a summary to read in place of IJ.
It is very light on analysis, which is what I had been hoping for. Nowadays, I think readers will get more out of the "back-and-forth" discussions found online at helpful sites like The Howling Fantods and Infinite Summer.
Overall, 2 stars out of 5 -- Infinite Jest is complicated and any published reader's guide is of some benefit, but this one falls short. Nov 01, Aaronb rated it really liked it. This gave quite a few insights into Infinite Jest, especially the lengthy comparison to Hamlet, puns on M.
Detailed to a fault, it reviews each section and has helpful connections to previous chapters. The book is useful for resolving the sinking feeling that you need to read IJ again!
One real chestnut is in the endnotes of this book itself weighing in at over pages there is a link to the rare original first draft of IJ. This has an additional pages of a This gave quite a few insights into Infinite Jest, especially the lengthy comparison to Hamlet, puns on M. Mar 10, Comrade Doge rated it did not like it. If you've finished Infinite Jest, this won't teach you anything. If you're reading Infinite Jest for the first time and having a bit of trouble, just keep at it and join an online reading group.
Don't bother with Elegant Complexity. Dec 25, Ryan Ard rated it liked it. I'm glad I read it. It was basically a summary and it helped tie some things together. I would recommend reading it while reading Infinite Jest to help comprehension if the book gets too hard and confusing. Apr 15, Perifian rated it it was ok Shelves: research7.
I mean, I guess it's sort of useful if you want to take some structural influence from the thing without re-reading it in its entirety Held my hand when I was afraid, helped me see things I did not. Feb 26, Allie Jo Arendell rated it it was amazing Shelves: all-matter , mental-health. An extremely helpful and thought-provoking companion guide to Infinite Jest as recommended to me by my book-loving friend, Sam. It made all the difference in my ability to keep "Hanging In, Hanging On".
I found that this book was most important for the first pages of Infinite Jest. In the past 3 years I have attempted to read I. This book helped give me a better foundati An extremely helpful and thought-provoking companion guide to Infinite Jest as recommended to me by my book-loving friend, Sam. This book helped give me a better foundation for some of the early themes of the book and truly guided me through that next threshold- through the next cycle- that was needed in order to continue on quite a bit of irony here with this This book is absolutely spoiler-free and has two different sections for each section and subchapter Carlisle divides the book into 28 different "chapters" though DFW mentions that there are definite breaks in the books where you want to take a coffee break to stretch your legs, but does not actually label the sections as chapters.
It also contains extensive character lists, maps, themes, spatial orientation, chronologies They may be most helpful for a second read-through of the book if that were ever to be a thing? Anyway, the first section of Elegant Complexity contains a helpful summary guide to each of I. For the first pages of Infinite Jest I read both the summary and the commentative guides and then only the commentative guide the last pages as the book opens up with a smoother narrative at this point and the summary becomes a little more redundant at this point.
It does make your reading sessions longer, but it is highly worth wrapping your head around some of the concepts that Greg Carlisle points out again At the end of this book Greg Carlisle writes a single page "Interpretation" p.
I tore it out and put it in my journal to read in the mornings surrounding meditation as a powerful reminder that "everything [really] is connected" View all 3 comments. Jul 16, Matt Evans rated it really liked it. Great companion to "Infinite Jest" -- really helps one get a handle on the scope, themes and layout of the book. Infinite Jest, which I read last year, is for me one of those "life-changing" books. Elegant Complexity helps elucidate the book's goings-on, most of which registered for me on an emotional level as opposed to intellectual-.
IJ is about a tennis academy, Great companion to "Infinite Jest" -- really helps one get a handle on the scope, themes and layout of the book. IJ is about a tennis academy, drug-rehab house, multi-international terrorist cabal known as the "A.
More importantly, IJ is hauntingly human. That's really the service Elegant Complexity performs best, in giving the reader a guide to the utterly astounding interdependencies in the story. Another centered, shadowed circle is placed before the notes and errata pp. Within each chapter of the novel, a triple line-space designates division of the text into "subchapters" or "sections," of which there are , frequently introduced by a heading.
Who said corporate ad people don't have a sense of humor? Let me just say that "Elegant Complexity" did a fine job of helping this reader organize the hilarious and hilariously sad scenes of "Infinite Jest," and now that of its author, too I'm very sad to report , into something like a story, with a beginning, a middle and now an end. Jan 05, Jack rated it liked it Shelves: non-fiction.
As you'd expect, Carlisle's study brings out a multitude of facts and connections within the text that a more casual reader e. It would have been a good companion for the Infinite Summer mass-read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is considering tackling Wallace's opus.
Be forewarned, though, Elegant Complexity is basically a scholarly work, so the tone is quite dry. One thing that makes Infinite Jest a difficult and sometimes frustrating work is that 'it's as much about what's m As you'd expect, Carlisle's study brings out a multitude of facts and connections within the text that a more casual reader e. One thing that makes Infinite Jest a difficult and sometimes frustrating work is that 'it's as much about what's missing as what's there' paraphrasing.
Wallace said the original structure of the novel was built on a Sierpinski gasket see here. Essentially there's a big gap in the novel, and every sub-component likewise has a gap. Carlisle does write a good bit at the end about the biggest gap, some sound speculation and inference that will be familiar to anyone who's read similar material around the web. It would have been more satisfying if Elegant Complexity had done a little more exploration of the smaller gaps.
Jun 20, twrctdrv rated it did not like it. Honestly, I feel like this book misses the point. It serves basically an extended summary that makes explicit the more implicit connections to be found in the story, not as any sort of "answer" to the questions of plot raised by Infinite Jest like I had kinda foolishly expected it to be.
Also, it tends to ignore the wonderfully human aspect of the novel, which is both absolutely horrible and entirely necessary for the study to work. It's cause of the lack of the human thing that I say this boo Honestly, I feel like this book misses the point.
It's cause of the lack of the human thing that I say this book misses the point, but it's also something required for this study to work. With that in mind, Elegant Complexity is almost perfect at what it does, making numerous implications stated. The only real issue I had with the book was that occasionally the author would make a connection between IJ and another work of art without describing the connection enough, leading to either a connection that seems thin or a bit of me wanting to delve deeper into the connection out of my own interest.
So yeah, basically the study works well at both extending your understanding of the complex plot and as an argument that DFW knew damn well what he was doing with Infinite Jest, but it still just feels like an inessential extra to the novel and should only be seeked out if it's something you really want to read as opposed to something any bit necessary of excessively helpful. Oct 01, Ellie rated it really liked it Shelves: lit-crit , individualchallenge , non-fiction.
It is fascinating reading, although I found it difficult and not particularly helpful as far as IJ goes. However, it's identification of themes and motifs is very interesting and it's outline of the plot helps the other reading to a small degree.
Ultimately, I put aside this book and read it after I finished IJ. It is well, albeit densely like IJ written and thought-provoking. Like all good literary criticism, reading it made me want to go back to its source and re-read Infinite Jest a book that clearly demands several readings anyway.
Jan 24, Christian Lipski rated it it was amazing. This book summarizes each "chapter" and provides an overview of the themes, along with the time and page numbers. Loved it. He caught a lot of connections that I had missed, and his coverage of the various themes was really insightful.
Also helpful are a map of the E. It was like reading the book again, only more quickly and with greater comprehension. View 2 comments. Dec 04, Shane rated it really liked it Shelves: non-fiction. I've read Infinite Jest three times now, and the last time I read it I used this guide to call it a "study" is generous.
After each section I would read the corresponding section in Elegant Complexity. It definitely assisted me in picking up on some small things, connecting themes, repeated metaphors, and more. I would suggest it to anyone reading Infinite Jest for a 2nd or 3rd time, but not for the first-time reader.
It's best to just read and enjoy it as-is. Aug 05, Nick rated it liked it. On the one hand Carlisle carefully dissects every chapter and nearly every paragraph of Infinite Jest, doing well to demystify the epic, often confounding, tome. On the other hand, Carlisle either isn't a very good writer, or he treated this as a work that didn't require anything more than published note-taking.
His writing is mechanical, stilted, but perhaps that's the intention as to not further obfuscate an already bewildering text. Jan 26, Paola rated it really liked it. Can I say that I read it even if I dipped in and out of it? Oh hell, I will anyway. First time round, I'd just enjoy the long ride. Dec 21, Michael Grasso rated it liked it.
Oh man, I've been waiting an age for this. Jan 27, Hamish rated it did not like it Shelves: non-fiction , gave-up. I was hoping for some nifty analysis and commentary on IJ, but this turned out to more or less just be summaries of each section.
Right at the end there's a one and a half page discussion of interpretation which is pretty unenlightening. One thing it did do reasonably well was elucidate the structure of IJ, by pointing out the thematic threads of each chapter.
I didn't find this interesting though. EC points out every time the colour blue is mentioned. The colour blue seems to have been singled out as significant among some IJ fans, but I don't see any compelling reason for this.
I think the only reason I didn't stop reading this sooner is that I enjoyed reliving IJ through the summaries. Which is to say that the only value I got from EC was value it leeched from its host. Jan 22, Seth Austin rated it really liked it Shelves: , fiction , male-author. If you walked away from Infinite Jest thinking you understood it, crack open Elegant Complexity and see how truly deep the rabbit hole can go.
Greg Carlisle's attempt and fitting the many puzzle pieces together that Wallace left strewn about a quarter-century ago isn't exhaustive - he states so himself - but I suspect it's as close to complete as one could get. His approach to breaking down the narrative, plot, and thematic significance of each section was immensely helpful in my reading of the If you walked away from Infinite Jest thinking you understood it, crack open Elegant Complexity and see how truly deep the rabbit hole can go.
His approach to breaking down the narrative, plot, and thematic significance of each section was immensely helpful in my reading of the novel. He tracks all the breadcrumbs Wallace drops in real-time and then points out the payoffs as they're peppered throughout the story. I highly recommend this as a companion piece to anyone taking a shot at the Big Book.
I would go and read the corresponding section of Elegant Complexity and make sure I caught everything. Elegant Complexity orients the reader at the beginning of each section and keeps commentary separate for those readers who only want orientation. The researcher looking for specific characters or themes is provided a key at the beginning of each commentary.
Carlisle explains the novel's complex plot threads and discrepancies with expert insight and clear commentary. In the wake of the Enlightenment and the onset of industrialism, a generation of dreamers took it upon themselves to confront the messiness and injustice of a rapidly changing world. To our eyes, the utopian communities that took root in America in the nineteenth century may seem ambitious to the point of delusion, but they attracted members willing to dedicate their lives to creating a new social order and to asking the bold question What should the future look like?
In Paradise Now, Chris Jennings tells the story of five interrelated utopian movements, revealing their relevance both to their time and to our own. Here is Mother Ann Lee, the prophet of the Shakers, who grew up in newly industrialized Manchester, England—and would come to build a quiet but fierce religious tradition on the opposite side of the Atlantic.
Even as the society she founded spread across the United States, the Welsh industrialist Robert Owen came to the Indiana frontier to build an egalitarian, rationalist utopia he called the New Moral World. A decade later, followers of the French visionary Charles Fourier blanketed America with colonies devoted to inaugurating a new millennium of pleasure and fraternity.
Over time, these movements fell apart, and the national mood that had inspired them was drowned out by the dream of westward expansion and the waking nightmare of the Civil War. Their most galvanizing ideas, however, lived on, and their audacity has influenced countless political movements since. Their stories remain an inspiration for everyone who seeks to build a better world, for all who ask, What should the future look like? Although never less than evenhanded, and sometimes deliciously wry, Jennings writes with obvious affection for his subjects.
Jennings largely pulls it off with insight and aplomb. Indulgently sympathetic to the utopian impulse in general, he tells a good story. His explanations of the various reformist credos are patient, thought-provoking and. He makes the subject his own with fresh eyes and a crisp narrative, rich with detail.
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