at the risk of sounding like a pretentious little fuck, i’m just going to throw this out there: i’m reading a 1000+ page book for fun, and i love it.

i attempted to read infinite jest in september of 2008 – shortly before DFW passed away. i just couldn’t get into it – his sentences were complex, his footnotes endless, and his wandering writing was something that i couldn’t seem to wrap my preoccupied brain around. i was in the middle of rehearsing 6, sometimes 7 days a week, going to class 4 days a week, working 2 part time jobs, and trying to graduate – i guess saying that i was preoccupied is a bit of an understatement. needless to say, my first edition hardcover copy soon found its way back onto my bookshelf where it gathered dust and sat, further untouched, the bookmark wilting sadly around the 100 page mark.

i’d been meaning to pick it back up and revisit the multitude of characters and storylines, but i never seemed to have the time to devote to the undertaking. and until i heard about the “infinite summer” idea via a good friend, it seemed like DFW was doomed to a lonely life at the bottom of my bookshelf.

there’s something about immersing yourself in good literature with someone else that is incredibly appealing. maybe it’s knowing that someone is going through the ordeal with you; maybe it’s just nice to know you have another human being with whom you can converse and discuss ideas with; maybe it’s simply that “misery loves company.” whatever it is, as of june 21st, i found myself cracking the cover of infinite jest for the second time – but this time, i’ll finish it.

i’ve got deadlines now. i’ve got people with whom i can discuss the book with, all who are roughly reading it at the same rate i am. and for some reason, the book is holding my interest this time around. i can’t seem to put it down – when i’m not reading it, i’m thinking about it. i find myself laughing out loud at DFW’s dry sarcasm and ingenious wit, laughing at things that i didn’t seem to understand the last time around, and just thoroughly enjoying myself.

at this point, i’ve successfully passed the point where i left off last time, and my interest is only growing with no sign of decline. it looks promising.

as a recent college grad, i’ve got more free time to read than i’ve had in the past 4 years. granted, working two jobs and racing to auditions keeps me busy, but i am overjoyed to finally be reading something again, just for the hell of it. i’ve already made a list of my next conquests:

1) finish “infinite jest”

2) re-read “the man without qualities,” volumes 1 and 2

3) re-read sartre’s “being and nothingness”

4) finish reading kerouac’s collections of journals, “windblown world”

5) possibly re-conquer “atlas shrugged” and “the fountainhead”

ambitious? maybe. pretentious? sure – why not? but now that i have the time, why not revisit some of my old favorites? maybe i’ll even find some new things to read. either way, it feels incredible to finally have the time to read whatever i want, whenever i want. i haven’t experienced that freedom in a long time.