Infinite Jest

Infinite Jest is a 1079 page bible novel, written in the narrative form.  However, differentiating between the typical narrative structure, Infinite Jest goes beyond what is expected, giving insight upon the characters through various point-of-views that mostly all contain footnotes; of which delves further into the disclosed and personal lives of his characters.  Upon reading Infinite Jest, which at first seemed to be entirely focused on entertainment—essentially as a commentary on how it is the one substantial tool that drives all of humanity—the realization of the actual story emerges later on.  This realization—of which I believe to be the actual point of the novel—is human relations, and even more specifically, the complexity within familial relationships.

Infinite Jest is best described as a study between the discourses of human relationships and entertainment.  While half of the novel explores the dependency and power that entertainment has upon every aspect of the living world, the other half presents the struggles that people have with simply living unconditionally.  It is a hard book to describe, as its main point seems to be centered on the theoretical, rather than the narrative.  But for those who want to know the basic run-down of the plot, it is this:  a film cartridge so powerfully entertaining that whoever watches it becomes so extraordinarily obsessed that they cannot go back to living their lives, eventually causing them to die, is “missing”.  After hearing about this film cartridge, Quebec separatists begin their hunt for this cartridge, hoping to use it as a terrorist device against the United States of America.  Three of the main characters, Hal, who is the son of the film-maker, Joelle, the actress in the film, and Marathe, the Quebec spy who is searching for the film are followed throughout the novel, showcasing their lives separately at first, and then in connection to one another.

While this novel is long, it is brilliant and undoubtedly a masterpiece.  The themes, plots, and characters are unique and deeply constructed, so much so, that even I must admit that I probably missed out on a bunch of information.  That being said, I would recommend this book to anyone who is an avid reader—though, I’d recommend reading it at a time where you can pace yourself and really read it properly.  Meaning, don’t add this to your reading if you are in school, or have a heavy workload ahead of you.  While this book is entertaining, impeccably written, and beautifully constructed, it requires a lot of concentration and brainpower.

Fundamentally, Infinite Jest is a book that any self-proclaimed reader should have on their bookshelf.  Personally, I know that I will be reading it again in the future, knowing that I will pick up on more of the information and giving it another chance to blow me away.

Carrie

Carrie, credited as Stephen King’s first published novel, is best described as a horrific epistolary that reads as a research paper derived through a typical narrative structure.  Excellently adapting sharp and precise prose alongside casting a grim exposure upon the themes of religion, supernaturalism (specifically telekinesis), and social deviance, Carrie is undoubtedly a classic masterpiece that should be in every reader’s collection.

For those of you who don’t know, Carrie is about a young girl named Carrieta White (Carrie), who is born with the supernatural gift of telekinesis.  Unfortunately, due to her unusual gift and her excessively religious mother, Carrie is barred indoors throughout most of her life, either praying, or locked in a closet to repent for her sins.  As result, Carrie is mostly unkempt, which makes her a target for bullies at her school.  As they are unaware of Carrie’s gift, Carrie’s bullies push her closer and closer to the edge, until her eventual and unavoidable eruption—morphing the novel into a revenge tale, where Carrie finally lets out her true feelings upon every last person who has ever tormented her.

As mentioned, Carrie is an epistolary novel, meaning that rather than consisting of chapters, the story is told through various different forms of documentations—of which, are expressed by several different characters point of views.  In the case of Carrie, these documents range from diary entries, journal articles, memoirs, research papers, and more.  Consequently, while reading Carrie, it is easy to be overwhelmed by a sense of realism that pushes the intrigue and suspense of the fictional story outwards into the realms of reality.  Moreover, with the dark and torturous storyline, the book pushes the readers emotions as the epistolary literary technique exposes vulnerability and empathetic undertones towards your feelings towards all the characters.  I, personally, have never felt so much shock, hatred, sorrow, guilt, and at times comedy from reading any other book.  Subsequently, with only three hundred pages, I have to credit Stephen King for both his creativity, and his story-telling, as Carrie burns through countless different themes, moods, and moral values in such a small amount of pages—all the while, keeping me entertained thoroughly.

I would recommend this book to anyone.  It is a quick read that is shocking, disturbing, and at times very comedic.  The writing is perfect, the literary elements are exquisite, and all in all, it is probably one of the best books I’ve read in a while.

Invitation to a Beheading

Vladimir Nabokov’s Invitation to a Beheading is a novel that could best be expressed as a theoretical and psychological outlook upon what is perceived as reality in comparison to what is perceived as imagination.  Consequently, Invitation to a Beheading feels less like a narrative—rather, it reads as uninterrupted and uncensored thoughts, of which marry the real living world with the creative subconscious that dwells within us all.

Following the protagonist of this novel, Cincinnatus, as he is locked away in a prison cell, Invitation to a Beheading counts down the days that will eventually lead to Cincinnatus’ beheading.  The narrative is no more complex than that, with the exception that the prison of which he is contained is completely absurd, eerie, and at some points even illogical.  Unknowing of the day of his demise, Cincinnatus slowly closes himself from his reality, finding comfort within his mind, altering his circumstances, visitors, and locations by using his imagination.  As the novel does not make the distinction of these shifts of world, readers are left to wonder what is real and what is imaginary.

Having read other novels from Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita, Laughter in the Dark), I found Invitation to a Beheading to be extremely different in terms of the general mood of the novel.  While his other works seemed to be dramatically dark, and at times morbidly comical, this book ignored classical genre types, focusing more so on philosophical and/or psychological subject matter—masking them within the context of a simple narrative structure.  That being said, I still really enjoyed Invitation to a Beheading, and believe that it is a great book that fans of Nabokov should definitely read.  However, I wouldn’t recommend starting with this novel, if you have yet to read any of his previous work.   I found a quote in this novel that I absolutely loved and feel represents this novel almost perfectly, and I will share it with you below as a closing to this post:

“In my dreams the world was ennobled, spiritualized; people whom in the waking state I feared so much appeared there in a shimmering refraction, just as if they were imbued with and enveloped by that vibration of light which in sultry weather inspires the very outlines of objects with life; their voices, their step, the expressions of their eyes and even their clothes—acquired an exciting significance; to put it more simply, in my dreams the world would come alive, becoming so captivatingly majestic, free and ethereal, that afterwards it would be oppressive to breathe the dust of this painted life.” – Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov (Page, 92).

The View from the Seventh Layer is best described as a collection of fictional stories that revolve around fantastical elements.  These elements are mostly all related to spirituality, while consistently questioning humanity and the meaning of life.

Written by Kevin Brockmeier, The View from the Seventh Layer feels more like a collection of random thoughts that arguably all failed to invoke any real impacting emotion or even provoke any critical thinking from the reader. 
Rather, the book was filled with empty poetic and lyrical phrases, all of which seemed out of place, or even pointless to the stories being told.  Fundamentally, it is a book that tried too hard to be deep and insightful, so much so that it is as if the readers are reading a parody of (excuse my stereotyping) what extremist hipster wannabe’s would find intriguing.

As a friend studying in literature recommended The View from the Seventh Layer to me, I did have high hopes when purchasing this novel.  Unfortunately, this book was highly disappointing, and I found myself extraordinarily bored while flipping through the pages.  There were many instances where the book did expose great ideas, however, they all proved to be mirages leading to the vast amount of nothingness that awaited me in the upcoming pages.  In addition, I noticed that this book was filled with useless similes that took over close to half of the novel.  I could not believe how often similes were being used—and it isn’t as if I have anything against this literary element, but if I noticed this abundance, they are clearly being used carelessly, rather than having them seamlessly integrated within the text.   Unfortunately, this book was just not right for me, and it is a shame as it does have some good ideas that if executed properly, could have been great pieces of literature.

I would not recommend this book to anyone, really.  I do not see how someone can finish this book and have it in his or her top 10, 50, or even 100 list.  If you want to read a great book that revolves around collections of stories, I’d say go for When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris.

A Dance with Dragons

Upon finishing the fifth installment of the A Song of Ice and Fire (also known as, Game of Thrones) series, I have myself anxiously awaiting for the next book, as author George R.R Martin does not fail to both entice and allure the reader into his fantasy world. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons showcases high levels of fantastical elements that goes beyond his previous works, twisting the story to focus itself more-so upon the dramatic environment, rather than on the separate characters.

After Martin’s fourth novel A Feast for Crows’ setting was dedicated to the main territory of Westeros, the fifth installment, taking place at the same time as the fourth, illustrates the events happening across the sea, into the newly constructed territory of Valyria. Introducing a vast amount of new characters, plot-lines, and fantastical elements, A Dance with Dragons progresses the series greatly, exposing new conflicts and strategies that all characters will and must undergo as they play their part in the game of thrones.

As a lot of this book seemed to develop the territory and the fantastical world much more than its characters, I found that some of the book was a bit boring—as I, personally am not the biggest fan of fantasy, and the characters are what I truly love about this entire series. However, that being said, A Dance with Dragons was still intriguing and advanced the story in extremely major ways, which some of the other books oft lacked to do. I still believe that the high point of this series was in its third installment, but I cannot imagine—especially with the occurrences given in A Dance with Dragons—how the sixth book would not be just as good, or even better than it. Fundamentally, I’m looking forward to The Winds of Winter, and the 3rd series of the HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones.

I would recommend this series to anyone really, with the obvious suggestion that perhaps it would be best to read it from the beginning.

Game of Thrones

Recently finishing the fourth novel from the acclaimed epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire (also known as the adapted television show Game of Thrones), it is safe to proclaim writer George R.R. Martin an exceptionally talented writer.  All four books exemplified typical fantastical elements that are immersed upon a highly dramatic set of personable characters, making it highly enjoyable and intriguing to read.

From the very first chapters of Martin’s first book, entitled A Game of Thrones, readers are immediately submerged into the shockingly twisted and erratic storylines that are presented.  Whether through dismemberment, handicapping, or even murdering a vast amount of his characters, Martin showcases the cruelties of the human race, as they struggle with both humanistic matters and fantastical elements.  These characteristics are further exposed as the books continue, shedding a brighter light upon the mysterious that are hidden within the colorfully enchanting new world.  Consequently, Martin’s characters are all showcased within a harsh, yet realistic manner; where readers become conflicted as they struggle to determine whether any of them are inherently ‘good’ at all.

Personally, I am a great fan of the series A Song of Ice and Fire as of now.  I found the books to be intriguing, surprising, infuriating, and hilarious—all of which were seen with positivity.  After reading the first novel of the series, I was immediately hooked, starting the second book (A Clash of Kings) immediately.  The second novel, however, took me quite a while to read; as it had a relaxed pace that at times was extremely difficult to get into.  However, after pushing through and starting the third novel (A Storm of Swords), I was instantaneously back aboard, finishing it in less than a months time.  The fourth book (A Feast for Crows), though better than the second, also had a steady pace that was often overbearing, however prevailed to interest me, as I was overwhelmed with pleasure by one of the characters.  Fundamentally, as a complete series A Song of Ice and Fire is exceptionally written, with great details that give insight to both its unique world and diverse characters.

I would recommend this series to anyone who loves drama and vast character development.  Although I am not usually into fantastical elements, this book proves to break beyond the genres stereotypical viewpoints, making it enjoyable for almost anyone.

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is a 300-page masterpiece that unites historical, philosophical, psychological, fictional, and autobiographical elements.  Divided into seven parts, this book illustrates various stories that are beautifully interrelated through similar themes and moods.

Situated in Czechoslovakia, Kundera’s novel develops unique characters and plotlines that inform readers of the countries various take-overs, while simultaneously expressing numerous philosophical and psychological theories—most of which revolve around the themes of laughter and forgetting.  The Book of Laughter and Forgetting critiques the very livelihood of human existence, portraying realistic and fantastical situations that shed a new light upon human mannerisms and mentalities.  Consequently, readers are prompted to reassess themselves alongside the functions of the world— however they may view it.  Although this book is extraordinarily intellectual, there are also many instances of humor and eroticism that keep the book balanced in a way that anyone can enjoy.

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is easily one of the best books that I’ve ever read.  I can confidently say that after the first chapter, I was blown away—immediately calling my friend to let her know how grateful I was for her recommending it to me.  With its vast amount of information, Kundera’s book demonstrated an easy flow that seamed all of its literary elements together in the most spectacular way—making it easy and fast to both read and understand.  All the historical, philosophical, psychological, and autobiographical information was always fantastic, and never derived from the initial storyline.  The Book of Laughter and Forgetting was impeccable, and I have already added Milan Kundera’s other novels to my book list, as I am sure he will not fail to impress me.

Like my friend, I am going to highly recommend this book to anyone who loves critical thinking, unique story lines, or just enjoys an extremely well written prose.