Help from the Pros

This morning a co-worker noticed Infinite Jest on my desk. She mentioned that a writer we both know read it a few years back. Apparently he loved it. What the?! Of course, I emailed him right away asking for advice. In less than an hour, he responded with:

Keep going. It doesn't get easier, exactly, but eventually your brain will re-wire itself to ride the wave of DFW's prose, like a reasonably competent surfer on an endless sea of strange.

There are moments in the book that are sublimely wonderful. One is the short bit about the rise and fall of video telephony. Another, much later in the book, is DFW's pages-long explanation of the rules of Eschaton, the game that the tennis geeks play when they're supposed to be practicing, and that combines tennis with game theory, deterrence theory and calculus.

Well, I got through the video telephony bit earlier today. Much better than I expected; it was actually kind of funny. Eschaton sounds like more of a challenge. Surfs up!

Surfing & sign image from NYT. And yes, I'm in doubt.

PS Anyone else see True Life: I'm a Big Wave Surfer a few years back featuring two of the dudes from the NYT article? Me? Oh, I watched it about 17 times.