I purposely got rid of all cable in my house 15 years ago to rid myself of the hypnotic, vegetative, non-communicative state it induces. Unfortunately, I'm now addicted to you tube.
Haha. Me too. Haven't had a television for over twenty years and don't miss it at all. But I'm hooked on RUclips as my late night time to kick back and chill medium. So many great choices (I personally range from funny cat videos to the Yale lecture series to crazy car crashes and fail videos to the discovery of the Higgs boson, etc). And then there's those great RUclips tangents where you start with something like a Thomas Pynchon book review and end up four hours later checking out the latest Kpop videos... Wondering, how the hell did I get here?
+Steve Frank I feel his pain. Tell him to hide his computer in the most inaccessible crook of his house and get rid of wi-fi therefore he needs to plug in with an ethernet cable whenever he absolutely needs to plug in. And turn of "cellular data" on the cell phone.
Knowing nothing about Rose, I don't have a point of reference for your comment, but I'm really curious: what is it about Charlie Rose that makes it gratifying to hear him get cut off?
@@rbarty I'm also not too familiarized with the man. After a quick google search and reading some opinions on him. According criticisms about him, atleast those that remark negative traits of his: he wasn't a good interviewer and used to cut his interviewees off at times. Going into long statements and asking "dont you agree?" at the end and repeating himself, trying to make the interviewee agree with him even if they stated his statement to be wrong or oversimplified. Also it seems that the public view on him is not that good, being accused by 27(?) women for sexual misconduct agaisnt them. But this is just what I read on the web after a quick search.
spd13062 lmao "expand on that" dafuq. You know, he was around when smartphones were unveiled, I think that would be among the least of his concerns. From what I've read he was more ambivalent towards those things, he needed them as metaphors in his writing.
I do not envy his intellect. as i am, i'm thrilled to be daunted by all that i don't know. the mysteries compel me. Being david foster wallace wasn't even fun for david foster wallace. he was over it, saying all this shit, by the time he was ~30, and that was in the pre-internet age, when there was Just Television. His intellect is mainly this obsessive quality he has that a lot of logicians and mathematicians have, hence the suicide. No thanks, I like what i have.
Replace "television" with "social media" and his point of view is more relevant today than ever before. Agree or disagree with his ideas, like or dislike Infinite Jest, DFW was the de facto pioneer in bringing post-modern lit to the mainstream. His unique voice was and still is widely accessible to a large and diverse audience, and he pulled it off by just being unapologetically himself. So incredibly fucking difficult to do but he nailed it. Looking back on it in 2020 and it still feels just as fresh and immediate as it ever did.
That's completely untrue. Social media has fundamentally changed the way people view content. It's nothing like viewing content on a TV like he talks about
And a lot of social media people enjoy, is content that's involves commentary or criticism on other social media. A great example is Twitch, where you can watch people watching other people's content while they critique it. Or RUclips videos that are critical of other RUclipsrs (H3H3, Keemstar, etc.)
He's essentially addressing the concept of "intellectual technologies". Much like maps and clocks changed how we think and how we process thought, TV has taught us to not think, and so we have become less critical, disengaged and simultaneously vulnerable to neurotic engagement - or rather, addiction. TV bombards without reprieve, assails us with ads and actively blurs the line between fiction and reality. This untrustworthy, manipulative, attention demanding medium has become the basis upon which modern modes of thought have been built, ergo we are surrounded by hot takes, narcissistic personalities and cognitive instability seeping out of every Facebook Post, Instagram page and tweet. TV has 'become' the intellectual prism by which self is processed and constructed, and the results speak for themselves. The Internet is quickly forcing a new intellectual prism upon the self, and the consequences of this will be all too apparent soon.
I find the rapid editing of this video mirrors the way David Foster Wallace thinks and writes. His work and interviews make me anxious, not because of the ideas they contain, but because of the pace at which they move. Anyone else feel this way?
Completely. I think that's the main downfall of "The End Of the Tour" film too. DFW was certainly a nervous man, but it's even clear in the original Dave Lipsky tapes that he wasn't like, a jerk.
I also agree. I lost the train of what he was saying after 15 seconds but I got traped by the fast rythm of words and articulation and kept watching anyways, until I had a stroke.
Wallace is so prolific and good at what he does that even I, a person who is not an avid reader, can’t help but be intrigued when he talks. He says and writes such truth but does it with such a humble attitude.
@@CEE-ji5rx riiiiiiight, it's all some covert nefarious scheme that the writing and thoughts of some rando guy living in a normal house in the middle of nowhere be hoisted disproportionately to all the mediocre fluff around it, just incentivized by what, exactly? oh, right. he actually had absolutely relevant and original things to say, pulled off elegantly and unprecedentedly in his own voice. sorry you're weirdly butthurt by the basic reality of that enough to construct some alt-theory on him being shilled to people. :cringe:
However you come to judge this man, he's made some incredible contributions to American Literature. Pure genius as a prose writer. Perhaps he would have been an interesting man to have known also:)
Thank you Artizineonline so much for uploading this interview of David Foster Wallace. It is always a great experience to watch & listen to him talk. And once again, what he says about TV is still so true. Thank you for keeping the memory and relevance of DFW alive.
IMO equating his suicide with his intelligence might be over-simplifying it. There are many intelligent people who don't suffer from crippling depression, and who find life to be fascinating (many of them great writers). As well as intelligent, DFW was an extremely self-conscious human being, and full of a kind of frantic insecurity. His body chemicals weren't always kind to him
I agree. Was joking a bit. I still think a more intelligent person has a harder time finding satisfaction in much of what a culture presents, in the sense that they are less often impressed in the same way that many others are about a given thing. Eccentricity, breeding frustration, breeding isolation, breeding depression. .. I'm not negating chemical issues of course. Though I do think that chemical imbalance can have its trigger in experience, perception, and belief.
finalmattasy Agreed. Bodily chemicals are created by many things, not just genetics. I'm with you on all of what you said. And DFW taking himself so seriously, and being as devastatingly self-conscious as he was, was probably magnified by his intelligence. Smart minds can get very creative in feeding negative feelings, like feelings of unworthiness. I'm sure DFW came up with some pretty brutal self-critiques during his life, with a mind like his
@@HomeAtLast501 Acknowledging things that are effectively culturally tautological in a clearer, more concise way is not necessarily "junior high level" especially within the context of his work
@@HomeAtLast501 At the same, I suppose one could still demand better, more embellished phrasing, but even then that's precisely his point later, how the way we consume information has transformed how we communicate and this is mirrored in the way he speaks
@@lickitysplit3575 I could have told you that television requires little of the viewer back in 7th grade. In 3rd grade I realized it was addictive, and in 4th grade I stopped watching it because I found it unproductive. If you aren't as perceptive --- okay, I guess you're his audience --- he makes you stretch.
@@lickitysplit3575 There's no need for embellishment. That's the sign of the pseudo-intellectual. Deep insights expressed simply, precisely, accurately, is what impresses.
@ZachClooney "All art was, for him, a gift, based in a mutual empathy derived precisely from the necessary attempt to communicate: as he once said in an interview, “if a piece of fiction can allow us imaginatively to identify with characters’ pain, we might then also more easily conceive of others identifying with our own.” " ---Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Jacob Smith what are you talking about? what irony? he called it, he knew 20yrs ago exactly where we were going to be, he researched it. He was bored by a lot of it, read his essays.
I don't get why Infinite Jest is seen as such a "daunting" book. It's entertaining, interesting, and even easy to read. Okay, maybe the endnotes are a bit silly at times but I can appreciate the wink wink approach there.
This seems the most revealing DFW interview I've ever seen. He's really letting us in to how he feels about certain cultural/media interactions of his time, in understandable phrasing. Interesting how I keep hearing that TV is supposed to be better than ever, but I scroll through the channels pretty quickly, and if it's not news or the College/Pro Football season, it's all trash. And sometimes the news is trash.
I've decided to read DFW's, "Consider the Lobster." I have heard that is a good introduction for anyone not familiar with his work. Right now, I am reading John Updike's, "Roger's Version." It is excellent. I love the play between theoretical physics and religion. Next, I am going to read Delbert Blanton's, "The Adventures of Delbert." This book is creating a buzz in the town where I live. Then, "Consider the Lobster."
Those interested in this type of communications theory look into Marshall McLuhan. His books The Gutenberg Galaxy and Understanding Media present the idea that "the medium is the message". Meaning that the way we interact with these mediums (tv, novel, radio, etc), and the way we include them in our lives, these are the things that are socially impactful and meaningful (often moreso than a specific piece of media itself). David echoes his ideas here.
D.T. MAX, respond to this and be honest re: --- In his book Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace, D. T. Max mentioned in passing that Wallace “threw a coffee table” and “tried to push Karr from a moving car,” which Karr said is “about 2% of what happened.” She tweeted: tried to buy a gun. kicked me. climbed up the side of my house at night. followed my son age 5 home from school. had to change my number twice, and he still got it. months and months it went on Likewise, the 2012 Atlantic interview with Max on the subject is full of red flags, and couches Wallace’s behavior as “creative”: One thing his letters make you feel is that he thought the word was God, and words were always worth putting down. Even in a letter to the head of his halfway house-where he apologizes for contemplating buying a gun to kill the writer Mary Karr’s husband-the craftsmanship of that letter is quite remarkable. You read it like a David Foster Wallace essay. That’s one of the most shocking things you discovered: that he considered-granted in a half-baked manner-murdering Karr’s then-husband. He later went on to have a tumultuous relationship with her. Yes, certainly. I didn’t know that David had that in him. I was surprised, in general, with the intensity of violence in his personality. It was something I knew about him when I wrote The New Yorker piece, but it grew on me. It made me think harder about David and creativity and anger. But on the other end of the spectrum, he was also this open, emotional guy, who was able to cry, who intensely loved his dogs. He was all those things. That, in part, is why he’s a really fascinating guy and an honor to write about. You write that Infinite Jest was motivated by his “dysfunctional yearning for Mary Karr.” How did she influence his drive to write the book? What I meant by that was that he was trying to impress her. He really wants her to think he’s doing wonderful work, and I think when she, at various times, breaks up with him, he’s thrown into those negative spirals that can also be enormously productive for a person, a creative spiral of anger. Almost like something out of a Hollywood movie. There’s a note in one of my files where he says something like, “Infinite Jest was just a means to Mary Karr’s end, as it were.” A sexual pun. “[I]t grew on me.”
I wonder how David would feel about RUclips if he were around today. In some ways RUclips, like tv, requires very little of the recipient. All you need to do is click play and kick your feet up. The short format also means that you can consume a greater number of 'programs' over any given period of time. In that sense, it is similar to social media platforms like instagram and Facebook. But I'd argue that RUclips has more merit than other platforms because of the amount of intellectually stimulating and culturally informative content it boasts when compared to Instagram and Facebook. The internet as it operates today is undoubtedly this generation's 'artistic snorkel to the universe,' just as television was to David. But we have more choice as to where to aim that snorkel than ever before. It can be tiring. Gems like this video (and any other RUclips video featuring David) make me feel a bit better about it all though. So so much more to be said about all this... RIP G
Considering his love/hate relationship with television can you imagine how much he'd love some of the modern television shows like True Detective, Fargo, Black Mirror, Mr. Robot… I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up working in that field.
@Absurdist Anemone The characters are but I think the show itself has let the watcher develop their own opinions of good and bad within the show. One could argue that this season especially is punishing the characters for their anarchistic actions.
I often find that he is insightful - his statements here perhaps not the most groundbreaking. He is someone who is absolutely most insightful and astonishing in his writing (not neccessarily in interviews).
I liked it and found insightful. But some note: if now books are written by critics and phd students, how it is possible to sell this stuff on scale to be "easy fun". not everyone one is PHD students.
it seems like it’s in reference to Newton N. Minow who was chairman of the FCC at the time of Kennedy, and it’s his speech called “television and the public interest” but also know as “the vast wasteland speech” (i know this is a super late answer, but i didn’t know what it meant either, so thank you for still asking otherwise i would have just let the information pass me by)
@@yellowsmith6321 it's weird to jump back into a conversation after 7 years, but thank you for this piece of information. Very interesting how even in the US there were people trying to rein in commercial TV for obvious reasons very early on - and yet they failed. And then couple of decades later there is DFW trying to assess the obvious cultural results.
It's ironic that the previous generation (my parents) find it unthinkable I no longer have a television. The way we take in information/content should not be passive or one-sided.
It's a generational thing. Who needs a TV when you have the internet? Your grandparents were probably shocked your parents didn't sit around the radio and listen to programs, instead they watched TV.
"Ten years ago I was reading a lot of avant garde stuff--stuff from the sixties and early seventies, which as far as I can see was like the heyday of the contemporary avant garde stuff." Note the clashing predicates and skirmishing aspects within this sentence; you'd need to be in a Farraday cage to figure out exactly when he means by "avant garde literature". This is why he's so coo: even his off-the-cuff propos have footnotes.
interesting you say that - i remember arguing with someone almost 30 years ago that the descriptions of the love shared by Jessica and Roger Mexico (GR) was anything but cold or uncaring... and DFW demostrates heaps of compassion in much of his writing.
"On the one hand, it can be difficult and it can be redemptive and morally instructive and all the good stuff we learned in school. On the other hand, it's supposed to be fun."
DFW is definitely an interesting guy. I've never actually read any of his works, but after doing some online surfing I'm definitely going to have to check out Infinite Jest and see how it influences my interpretation of post-modernism and contemporary literature and/or culture. I've actually read Franzen's "Freedom" and it definitely came across to me as a very easy to understand post-modern narrative. I just hope DFW's magnus opus isnt overly explanatory like Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged was
Do you happen to have the full interview to upload? Seems that since Google video closed the whole interview is no longer available anywhere, including on the Charlie Rose site.
I think he's Very understandable. Yeah he uses big words, but that's why the dictionary is there (and easier than ever to use). Not everything has to be dumbed down to suit the lowest common denominator, some things should be challenging, and if you get through it, you'll be that much better.
English is not my first language and I live in Europe. I just started to read Infinite Jest, my first Wallace book ever. There is nothing like this around and I'm sure I will kill myself laughing when I finish. But come to think of it, I thought the same while reading Pynchonk
Yeah, that's a worry for me. I notice people trust me less if I don't look them square in the eyes. I think politicians are trained to do it as well, so professionalism gets associated with that "trust stare." In our culture shy people like me end up trying to sustain eye contact even if it goes against our nature (exhausting); maybe in Japan or something it's a bit different, as they always go out of their way not to make others uncomfortable, e.g. wearing masks when they have a cold.
Wonder what DFW would have made of the burgeoning field of video games (i.e. "interactive entertainment"), which now pulls in more money than the film + music sectors put together. It's widely understood now that games can be just as artistically incisive as other media, and unlike TV they do require sustained, active engagement on the part of the consumer of the entertainment. Of all media, games have the greatest potential imo to implicate the consumer in the actions of the principal character, which opens new avenues for empathic storytelling.
"Social media" is far more influencing than any video games, requiring even more active engagement. Further, since corporations "own the platforms" they can manipulate what is seen/trends/suggests and thereby influence humans to behave in ways that are preferable to their interests.
We all miss him for a reason.....he really was that good.....in the round about,im not really sure,gotta see it in context,fucked up way that is now...Too beautiful for this world....maybe we are almost thru the sand storm of the information age....maybe not.
Experimental/art-heavy fiction. In terms of particular writers, probably people like Pynchon, Barth, Gaddis, Gass, and some other 'avangardists' from the 60s/70s. I would personally recommend most of them. Difficult, but very rewarding.
Does any one else assume the idea that Wallace's suicide is predicated to the notion that he was precognitive enough to see that; things weren't going to get better and he doesn't want to stick around to see?
Snorkels are perfect for taking a look under the surface of shallow waters without having to dive. So it's a perfect analogy of what Television is and does.
Sorry to stick my nose in, but could I recommend his story collection 'Girl With Curious Hair'? Some really wonderful stuff. It's quite experimental in places, but manageable and fun, and always re-readable. A good day to you.
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I purposely got rid of all cable in my house 15 years ago to rid myself of the hypnotic, vegetative, non-communicative state it induces. Unfortunately, I'm now addicted to you tube.
+gtrdoc911 lol, join the club! :-)
Haha. Me too. Haven't had a television for over twenty years and don't miss it at all. But I'm hooked on RUclips as my late night time to kick back and chill medium. So many great choices (I personally range from funny cat videos to the Yale lecture series to crazy car crashes and fail videos to the discovery of the Higgs boson, etc). And then there's those great RUclips tangents where you start with something like a Thomas Pynchon book review and end up four hours later checking out the latest Kpop videos... Wondering, how the hell did I get here?
+gtrdoc911 My brother never owned a tv, hated commercials etc. Now he sends me youtube links non stop.
+Steve Frank I feel his pain. Tell him to hide his computer in the most inaccessible crook of his house and get rid of wi-fi therefore he needs to plug in with an ethernet cable whenever he absolutely needs to plug in. And turn of "cellular data" on the cell phone.
+gtrdoc911 yeah me too. I know at some point I will have to cut the computer off or my brain will suffer for it.
There is something enormously gratifying about hearing Charlie Rose get cut off before he can even get a syllable out.
lol x 1000
Underrated Comment
made me chuckle😁
Knowing nothing about Rose, I don't have a point of reference for your comment, but I'm really curious: what is it about Charlie Rose that makes it gratifying to hear him get cut off?
@@rbarty I'm also not too familiarized with the man. After a quick google search and reading some opinions on him. According criticisms about him, atleast those that remark negative traits of his: he wasn't a good interviewer and used to cut his interviewees off at times. Going into long statements and asking "dont you agree?" at the end and repeating himself, trying to make the interviewee agree with him even if they stated his statement to be wrong or oversimplified.
Also it seems that the public view on him is not that good, being accused by 27(?) women for sexual misconduct agaisnt them. But this is just what I read on the web after a quick search.
The television has now been replaced by the phone. I wish DFW was still around to expand on that. Miss him.
he would be losing his mind with trump in office...
He voted Republican and Independent during his time.
expound. godfuckingdamnit the WORD YOU WERE LOOKING FOR WAS "EXPOUND"
spd13062 lmao "expand on that" dafuq. You know, he was around when smartphones were unveiled, I think that would be among the least of his concerns.
From what I've read he was more ambivalent towards those things, he needed them as metaphors in his writing.
LongueTiedNoLunger doesn’t mean he would like trump tho
Some people envy others for their money, looks or fame. I envy this mans intellect. Such a beautiful mind.
That mind killed him. It's beautiful, yes. But it comes with a price.
No, Cody, that's a false analogy.
@@ChumChance wtf you're talking about
He couldn’t handle his mind, I doubt then I could handle what he was dealing with everyday then.
I do not envy his intellect. as i am, i'm thrilled to be daunted by all that i don't know. the mysteries compel me. Being david foster wallace wasn't even fun for david foster wallace. he was over it, saying all this shit, by the time he was ~30, and that was in the pre-internet age, when there was Just Television. His intellect is mainly this obsessive quality he has that a lot of logicians and mathematicians have, hence the suicide. No thanks, I like what i have.
Replace "television" with "social media" and his point of view is more relevant today than ever before.
Agree or disagree with his ideas, like or dislike Infinite Jest, DFW was the de facto pioneer in bringing post-modern lit to the mainstream. His unique voice was and still is widely accessible to a large and diverse audience, and he pulled it off by just being unapologetically himself.
So incredibly fucking difficult to do but he nailed it. Looking back on it in 2020 and it still feels just as fresh and immediate as it ever did.
That's completely untrue. Social media has fundamentally changed the way people view content. It's nothing like viewing content on a TV like he talks about
@@humanoid9787 That's a really good point.
And a lot of social media people enjoy, is content that's involves commentary or criticism on other social media. A great example is Twitch, where you can watch people watching other people's content while they critique it. Or RUclips videos that are critical of other RUclipsrs (H3H3, Keemstar, etc.)
He's essentially addressing the concept of "intellectual technologies". Much like maps and clocks changed how we think and how we process thought, TV has taught us to not think, and so we have become less critical, disengaged and simultaneously vulnerable to neurotic engagement - or rather, addiction. TV bombards without reprieve, assails us with ads and actively blurs the line between fiction and reality. This untrustworthy, manipulative, attention demanding medium has become the basis upon which modern modes of thought have been built, ergo we are surrounded by hot takes, narcissistic personalities and cognitive instability seeping out of every Facebook Post, Instagram page and tweet. TV has 'become' the intellectual prism by which self is processed and constructed, and the results speak for themselves. The Internet is quickly forcing a new intellectual prism upon the self, and the consequences of this will be all too apparent soon.
what an interesting comment, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
@@hypito_oficial it would be more interesting if the reality that is taking shape weren't so horrible
I find the rapid editing of this video mirrors the way David Foster Wallace thinks and writes. His work and interviews make me anxious, not because of the ideas they contain, but because of the pace at which they move. Anyone else feel this way?
Completely. I think that's the main downfall of "The End Of the Tour" film too. DFW was certainly a nervous man, but it's even clear in the original Dave Lipsky tapes that he wasn't like, a jerk.
I also agree. I lost the train of what he was saying after 15 seconds but I got traped by the fast rythm of words and articulation and kept watching anyways, until I had a stroke.
Aldier Green Same here. I'm now in a coma having fever dreams of DFW doing interviews.
No I follow nicely
Absolutely, feel the same.
Such a beautiful, brilliant mind. He is so inspiring. It brings me to tears to know that he's gone.
* legends never die*
Wallace is so prolific and good at what he does that even I, a person who is not an avid reader, can’t help but be intrigued when he talks. He says and writes such truth but does it with such a humble attitude.
you were sold
@@CEE-ji5rx riiiiiiight, it's all some covert nefarious scheme that the writing and thoughts of some rando guy living in a normal house in the middle of nowhere be hoisted disproportionately to all the mediocre fluff around it, just incentivized by what, exactly? oh, right. he actually had absolutely relevant and original things to say, pulled off elegantly and unprecedentedly in his own voice. sorry you're weirdly butthurt by the basic reality of that enough to construct some alt-theory on him being shilled to people. :cringe:
His observations (as usual) are spot on.
This guys intelligence never ceases to amaze me.
There's a lot to learn from this man.
he has a book
However you come to judge this man, he's made some incredible contributions to American Literature. Pure genius as a prose writer. Perhaps he would have been an interesting man to have known also:)
Thank you Artizineonline so much for uploading this interview of David Foster Wallace. It is always a great experience to watch & listen to him talk. And once again, what he says about TV is still so true. Thank you for keeping the memory and relevance of DFW alive.
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again is by far my favorite thing he ever wrote. It's probably my favorite thing anyone ever wrote.
Made me dislike Balthazar Getty
Read more
I miss David Foster Wallace, the world was a much better place with him in it.
I'm 400 pages into infinite jest
there are parts of beauty but on the other hand I'm annoyed cause I'm not nearly as smart as I thought I was haha
go with it! it teaches you as it goes along :)
IMO equating his suicide with his intelligence might be over-simplifying it. There are many intelligent people who don't suffer from crippling depression, and who find life to be fascinating (many of them great writers). As well as intelligent, DFW was an extremely self-conscious human being, and full of a kind of frantic insecurity. His body chemicals weren't always kind to him
I agree. Was joking a bit. I still think a more intelligent person has a harder time finding satisfaction in much of what a culture presents, in the sense that they are less often impressed in the same way that many others are about a given thing. Eccentricity, breeding frustration, breeding isolation, breeding depression. .. I'm not negating chemical issues of course. Though I do think that chemical imbalance can have its trigger in experience, perception, and belief.
finalmattasy Agreed. Bodily chemicals are created by many things, not just genetics. I'm with you on all of what you said. And DFW taking himself so seriously, and being as devastatingly self-conscious as he was, was probably magnified by his intelligence. Smart minds can get very creative in feeding negative feelings, like feelings of unworthiness. I'm sure DFW came up with some pretty brutal self-critiques during his life, with a mind like his
I listened to "Consider the Lobster" when I was taking a class in essay writing. Everything I wrote that week looked like crap to me. :)
"Television requires very little of the recipient of the art." DFW
That's, like, junior high level insight. I wouldn't be highlighting it like it is some expression of genius.
@@HomeAtLast501 Acknowledging things that are effectively culturally tautological in a clearer, more concise way is not necessarily "junior high level" especially within the context of his work
@@HomeAtLast501 At the same, I suppose one could still demand better, more embellished phrasing, but even then that's precisely his point later, how the way we consume information has transformed how we communicate and this is mirrored in the way he speaks
@@lickitysplit3575 I could have told you that television requires little of the viewer back in 7th grade. In 3rd grade I realized it was addictive, and in 4th grade I stopped watching it because I found it unproductive. If you aren't as perceptive --- okay, I guess you're his audience --- he makes you stretch.
@@lickitysplit3575 There's no need for embellishment. That's the sign of the pseudo-intellectual. Deep insights expressed simply, precisely, accurately, is what impresses.
@ZachClooney "All art was, for him, a gift, based in a mutual empathy derived precisely from the necessary attempt to communicate: as he once said in an interview, “if a piece of fiction can allow us imaginatively to identify with characters’ pain, we might then also more easily conceive of others identifying with our own.” "
---Kathleen Fitzpatrick
The irony of where we went as a civilization compared to DFW's fears is pretty pretty eerie.
Jacob Smith what are you talking about? what irony? he called it, he knew 20yrs ago exactly where we were going to be, he researched it. He was bored by a lot of it, read his essays.
Irony concerns the opposite of one's intentions.
Like rain on your wedding day.
I don't get why Infinite Jest is seen as such a "daunting" book. It's entertaining, interesting, and even easy to read. Okay, maybe the endnotes are a bit silly at times but I can appreciate the wink wink approach there.
He does not say one single word in this video about his thoughts on the future of fiction.
true lol
Yes he does. Before the 1 minute mark
How can I miss a man I never knew
huge artist...iìll never forget him...i think to him every day....i'm reading all his books....i'm so sad
Thanks a lot, you're awesome :) I'm adding that part to my dissertation on him!
Haha spotted you! Though 5 years later
Ps. I love your channel
Can you upload the entire conversation PLEAASSSEEEEEEE
This seems the most revealing DFW interview I've ever seen. He's really letting us in to how he feels about certain cultural/media interactions of his time, in understandable phrasing. Interesting how I keep hearing that TV is supposed to be better than ever, but I scroll through the channels pretty quickly, and if it's not news or the College/Pro Football season, it's all trash. And sometimes the news is trash.
I've decided to read DFW's, "Consider the Lobster." I have heard that is a good introduction for anyone not familiar with his work. Right now, I am reading John Updike's, "Roger's Version." It is excellent. I love the play between theoretical physics and religion. Next, I am going to read Delbert Blanton's, "The Adventures of Delbert." This book is creating a buzz in the town where I live. Then, "Consider the Lobster."
I think he critiques Updike in that book lol
Those interested in this type of communications theory look into Marshall McLuhan. His books The Gutenberg Galaxy and Understanding Media present the idea that "the medium is the message". Meaning that the way we interact with these mediums (tv, novel, radio, etc), and the way we include them in our lives, these are the things that are socially impactful and meaningful (often moreso than a specific piece of media itself). David echoes his ideas here.
D.T. MAX, respond to this and be honest re: --- In his book Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace, D. T. Max mentioned in passing that Wallace “threw a coffee table” and “tried to push Karr from a moving car,” which Karr said is “about 2% of what happened.” She tweeted:
tried to buy a gun. kicked me. climbed up the side of my house at night. followed my son age 5 home from school. had to change my number twice, and he still got it. months and months it went on
Likewise, the 2012 Atlantic interview with Max on the subject is full of red flags, and couches Wallace’s behavior as “creative”:
One thing his letters make you feel is that he thought the word was God, and words were always worth putting down. Even in a letter to the head of his halfway house-where he apologizes for contemplating buying a gun to kill the writer Mary Karr’s husband-the craftsmanship of that letter is quite remarkable. You read it like a David Foster Wallace essay.
That’s one of the most shocking things you discovered: that he considered-granted in a half-baked manner-murdering Karr’s then-husband. He later went on to have a tumultuous relationship with her.
Yes, certainly. I didn’t know that David had that in him. I was surprised, in general, with the intensity of violence in his personality. It was something I knew about him when I wrote The New Yorker piece, but it grew on me. It made me think harder about David and creativity and anger. But on the other end of the spectrum, he was also this open, emotional guy, who was able to cry, who intensely loved his dogs. He was all those things. That, in part, is why he’s a really fascinating guy and an honor to write about.
You write that Infinite Jest was motivated by his “dysfunctional yearning for Mary Karr.” How did she influence his drive to write the book?
What I meant by that was that he was trying to impress her. He really wants her to think he’s doing wonderful work, and I think when she, at various times, breaks up with him, he’s thrown into those negative spirals that can also be enormously productive for a person, a creative spiral of anger. Almost like something out of a Hollywood movie. There’s a note in one of my files where he says something like, “Infinite Jest was just a means to Mary Karr’s end, as it were.” A sexual pun.
“[I]t grew on me.”
I wonder how David would feel about RUclips if he were around today. In some ways RUclips, like tv, requires very little of the recipient. All you need to do is click play and kick your feet up. The short format also means that you can consume a greater number of 'programs' over any given period of time. In that sense, it is similar to social media platforms like instagram and Facebook. But I'd argue that RUclips has more merit than other platforms because of the amount of intellectually stimulating and culturally informative content it boasts when compared to Instagram and Facebook.
The internet as it operates today is undoubtedly this generation's 'artistic snorkel to the universe,' just as television was to David. But we have more choice as to where to aim that snorkel than ever before. It can be tiring. Gems like this video (and any other RUclips video featuring David) make me feel a bit better about it all though.
So so much more to be said about all this... RIP G
He has written on this issue in a greater detail, a very insightful essay called "E Pluribus Unum: Television and Fiction".
Imagine he speaking and analysing social media and TikTok and all that crap. I hope so much he was alive.
Where can I find this full episode?
Considering his love/hate relationship with television can you imagine how much he'd love some of the modern television shows like True Detective, Fargo, Black Mirror, Mr. Robot… I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up working in that field.
True Detective man, I miss Rust Cohle so much that hurts...
Mr. Robot is a bit unethical and anarchist, don't you think
Those series are shit compared to, say, The Twilight Zone.
dfw wouldve hated those shows as well - all bullshit. especially black mirror, 3rd rate british crap with juvenile writing
@Absurdist Anemone The characters are but I think the show itself has let the watcher develop their own opinions of good and bad within the show. One could argue that this season especially is punishing the characters for their anarchistic actions.
I often find that he is insightful - his statements here perhaps not the most groundbreaking. He is someone who is absolutely most insightful and astonishing in his writing (not neccessarily in interviews).
I Love Him.
Is there anywhere we can find this episode in its entirety?
this is so very true. it is how intellectualism dies -- the fun is taken out of it by negation
sad that film/tv has become a cheap glass excitement, it can be JUST as deep and engaging as a good book.
I liked it and found insightful. But some note: if now books are written by critics and phd students, how it is possible to sell this stuff on scale to be "easy fun". not everyone one is PHD students.
0:26 "Television is my main artistic snorkel to the universe"
I think maybe "snorkel" is a glorious word
"tv that makes fun of tv is itself popular tv" this guy deserves a posthumous credit for "community".
Saudade dessas entrevistas
I always thought Grapes of Wrath was the Great American Novel. But reflecting, and if you think about it, Infinite Jest is.
I wish I could see the whole interview :(
Pretty sure the full Charlie Rose interview of DFW is on RUclips somewhere.
is the full thing anywhere to be found?
Guys, what is this reference about 'Newton and the vast wasteland' at 2:35?
it seems like it’s in reference to Newton N. Minow who was chairman of the FCC at the time of Kennedy, and it’s his speech called “television and the public interest” but also know as “the vast wasteland speech” (i know this is a super late answer, but i didn’t know what it meant either, so thank you for still asking otherwise i would have just let the information pass me by)
@@yellowsmith6321 it's weird to jump back into a conversation after 7 years, but thank you for this piece of information. Very interesting how even in the US there were people trying to rein in commercial TV for obvious reasons very early on - and yet they failed. And then couple of decades later there is DFW trying to assess the obvious cultural results.
what are examples of 60s/70s avantgarde he's referring to?
It's ironic that the previous generation (my parents) find it unthinkable I no longer have a television. The way we take in information/content should not be passive or one-sided.
It's a generational thing. Who needs a TV when you have the internet? Your grandparents were probably shocked your parents didn't sit around the radio and listen to programs, instead they watched TV.
comical that you think your engagement with the phone is organic
Anybody who's seen the 4.5 hours long Twin Peaks explainer video on RUclips would find strong parallels between that and this here.
We miss you, David.
If anybody sees this, does anybody have a link to the glasses he is wearing in this video?
I can assure you, the only thing Atlas Shrugged and Infinite Jest have in common is they were both printed on paper.
"Ten years ago I was reading a lot of avant garde stuff--stuff from the sixties and early seventies, which as far as I can see was like the heyday of the contemporary avant garde stuff." Note the clashing predicates and skirmishing aspects within this sentence; you'd need to be in a Farraday cage to figure out exactly when he means by "avant garde literature". This is why he's so coo: even his off-the-cuff propos have footnotes.
interesting you say that - i remember arguing with someone almost 30 years ago that the descriptions of the love shared by Jessica and Roger Mexico (GR) was anything but cold or uncaring... and DFW demostrates heaps of compassion in much of his writing.
The Medium is the message is what he's getting at.
Is this the same David Foster who wrote the book on Generative Adversarial Learning ??
Not even 1/1000000 of the human population is as moral and civilised as this man was now
Can anybody tell me what word he uses at 1:11? "It can be difficult, it can be..."? You'd help me a lot :)
"On the one hand, it can be difficult and it can be redemptive and morally instructive and all the good stuff we learned in school. On the other hand, it's supposed to be fun."
The_Bookchemist hi funny seeing your comment here
DFW is definitely an interesting guy. I've never actually read any of his works, but after doing some online surfing I'm definitely going to have to check out Infinite Jest and see how it influences my interpretation of post-modernism and contemporary literature and/or culture. I've actually read Franzen's "Freedom" and it definitely came across to me as a very easy to understand post-modern narrative. I just hope DFW's magnus opus isnt overly explanatory like Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged was
Infinite Jest" and "overly explanatory" could not be greater opposites
@@jaredkorotzer7920 indeed
Imagine if DFW was around for podcasts
As Jean Cocteau said of Raymond Roussel's Locus Solus, so I say of DFW's Infinite Jest: "Genius in its pure state."
Do you happen to have the full interview to upload? Seems that since Google video closed the whole interview is no longer available anywhere, including on the Charlie Rose site.
I think he's Very understandable. Yeah he uses big words, but that's why the dictionary is there (and easier than ever to use). Not everything has to be dumbed down to suit the lowest common denominator, some things should be challenging, and if you get through it, you'll be that much better.
English is not my first language and I live in Europe. I just started to read Infinite Jest, my first Wallace book ever. There is nothing like this around and I'm sure I will kill myself laughing when I finish. But come to think of it, I thought the same while reading Pynchonk
Rest in peace, man.
2:43 family guy, south park and the simpsons wrapped up in one sentence.
I see a lot my own personality in DFW (unfortunately not his genius).
Sometimes I wonder how much political theory DFW read.
Yeah, that's a worry for me. I notice people trust me less if I don't look them square in the eyes. I think politicians are trained to do it as well, so professionalism gets associated with that "trust stare." In our culture shy people like me end up trying to sustain eye contact even if it goes against our nature (exhausting); maybe in Japan or something it's a bit different, as they always go out of their way not to make others uncomfortable, e.g. wearing masks when they have a cold.
He's saying he's afraid people are too stupid to keep reading after the advent of f'ing television. Then the internet swallowed the planet.
"television now makes fun of television"
Rick and Morty, Community, Eric Andre, Tim and Eric. Probably tons of others but those are the ones I watch.
"The entertainment" is getting closer
02:49-02:52 DFW prophesizes RUclips
you can tell dfw was influenced by marshall mcluhan. anyone know of him mentioning this in an interview or an essay?
Wonder what DFW would have made of the burgeoning field of video games (i.e. "interactive entertainment"), which now pulls in more money than the film + music sectors put together. It's widely understood now that games can be just as artistically incisive as other media, and unlike TV they do require sustained, active engagement on the part of the consumer of the entertainment. Of all media, games have the greatest potential imo to implicate the consumer in the actions of the principal character, which opens new avenues for empathic storytelling.
"Social media" is far more influencing than any video games, requiring even more active engagement. Further, since corporations "own the platforms" they can manipulate what is seen/trends/suggests and thereby influence humans to behave in ways that are preferable to their interests.
We all miss him for a reason.....he really was that good.....in the round about,im not really sure,gotta see it in context,fucked up way that is now...Too beautiful for this world....maybe we are almost thru the sand storm of the information age....maybe not.
@Artzineonline Thanks for these great quotes.
I do not quite understand :(
What 'avante-garde' literature was he talking about?
Experimental/art-heavy fiction. In terms of particular writers, probably people like Pynchon, Barth, Gaddis, Gass, and some other 'avangardists' from the 60s/70s. I would personally recommend most of them. Difficult, but very rewarding.
Oh ok. Thanks! :)
np
Does any one else assume the idea that Wallace's suicide is predicated to the notion that he was precognitive enough to see that;
things weren't going to get better and he doesn't want to stick around to see?
Rand's work's a lecture, not-well-hidden in a "novel". You have nothing to worry about.
"television as my main artistic snorkel to the universe" ???? haha
Of all metaphors he could have used hahaha
Snorkels are perfect for taking a look under the surface of shallow waters without having to dive. So it's a perfect analogy of what Television is and does.
Now it’s people watching Bob Ross on youtube and claiming it’s great art.
I like this guy!
what does he say at 3:45? "basically i don't read much contemporary avant garde stuff because it's _______ unfun"
Contemporary avant-garde isn’t really talking to the people. He found a niche in that. It’s still true.
memes are the primary form of entertainment now. not tv
Wallace’s final act was the best career decision he ever made.
Well here we are
just watch the whole interview.
He wore Harry Potter specs before Harry did
dude looks like a super educated Mac from It's Always Sunny
You cannot not admire this person.. It s a shame he left before we got more out of him.
Sorry to stick my nose in, but could I recommend his story collection 'Girl With Curious Hair'? Some really wonderful stuff. It's quite experimental in places, but manageable and fun, and always re-readable. A good day to you.
The future of fiction will be found in the social studies section
trippy, background of video is the same colour as youtube's darkmode
DFW. The man thought, alot. RIP DFW!
"A lot" = two words. Thank me later . . .
I do it because my colleagues do it. Professionally, it is expected of me.
OH my goodness... YES!