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Weird to realize that DFW never reached my current age
Poast new message in this thread
Date: April 17th, 2026 2:05 PM Author: cracking chrome kitchen (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49823683) |
Date: April 17th, 2026 2:06 PM Author: ebony doobsian toilet seat You just now had this realization after 10 years? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49823685) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 2:07 PM Author: cracking chrome kitchen ? I'm 47 (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49823686) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 2:13 PM Author: ebony doobsian toilet seat Sure bud, sure (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49823703) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 2:16 PM Author: big den (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49823707) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 2:09 PM Author: bronze site alpha And yet you’ve never achieved even half his literary success. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49823693) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 6:49 PM Author: Metal heaven mood (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49823916) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 6:56 PM Author: violent death wish school cr. also jimi hendrix, schubert, mozart, keats (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49823934) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 7:06 PM Author: cracking chrome kitchen I started reading Infinite Jest last week btw https://imgur.com/a/4nh16ZE |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 7:17 PM Author: Frozen duck-like personal credit line let us know how far you get. i dont think anyone has completed it. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49823967) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:32 PM Author: dashing sick ratface (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824088) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 10:05 PM Author: Honey-headed sandwich people who are hurt (lebron james reading first page of book) (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824273) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 11:05 PM Author: cracking chrome kitchen Do I have to beg for attention on xo, or? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824366) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 7:07 PM Author: Gaped shaky dilemma hes irrelevant and no one has read his "book" (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49823960) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 7:56 PM Author: bronze site alpha I’ve read IJ twice and everything he’s written at least once. It really is that good. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824036) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:19 PM Author: Metal heaven mood CR I'm on my first readthru of IJ and already know I need to do at least one more. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824071) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:19 PM Author: Gaped shaky dilemma sure breh (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824072) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:32 PM Author: dashing sick ratface (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824089) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 10:05 PM Author: Honey-headed sandwich people who are hurt (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824275) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:22 PM Author: Marvelous Double Fault Piazza And he accomplished a million times more than you ever would in a million years. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824076) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:23 PM Author: Gaped shaky dilemma his father was a philospohy professor at an irrelevant state school, and he wrote long, genx-coded books that had no apparent thesis other than "drug yourself then withdrawal until you literally kill yourself," which i guess is a sort of genx manifesto or w/e made more salient by the fact that literally no one bothered to read them (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824077) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:26 PM Author: Marvelous Double Fault Piazza OP chopped his kids dicks off and sues people for a living. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824080) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:30 PM Author: Gaped shaky dilemma i feel like that's a bad idea but i guess if your dad REALLY liked low iq catholic/Aristotelian moral theory i could see how that could happen (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824086) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:34 PM Author: Marvelous Double Fault Piazza (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824091) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 9:08 PM Author: bright sanctuary factory reset button (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824158) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:52 PM Author: dashing sick ratface He wrote a seminal (heh), 1,000+-page work of postmodern literature that remained engaging, compelling, and memorable across that many pages. Then, given that he was a big time depressedmo and not having a good time and didn't really have a future prospect of having a good time, he hit that dusty trail and shuffled off to Buffalo.
Also, age is flame. |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:55 PM Author: Gaped shaky dilemma no one read that book, and the people whom "read" it only say it was good because they wasted that much time on a genx slop piece. it has nothing to do with defining pomo lit, it was way too late for that to be true. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824127) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 8:57 PM Author: big den (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824135) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 11:15 PM Author: buff stage therapy DFW was a true 180. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2\u0026show=month#49824373) |
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Date: April 17th, 2026 11:29 PM Author: buff stage therapy I asked AI to weigh in on which of DFW's Infinite Jest (1996) or Coetzee's Disgrace (1999) would better stand the test of time: If the core of Infinite Jest is a warning about the addictive potential of a static screen, the 2020s haven't just ignored the warning—we’ve internalized the addiction to the point where DFW’s "lethal" film looks quaint compared to an algorithmic feed designed by neuroscientists.
You’ve touched on why Coetzee tends to age like a fine, albeit very bitter, wine while maximalist "Great American Novels" often start to smell like a time capsule:
The "Noise" vs. The "Signal" The Trap of Specificity: DFW tried to capture the mechanics of 1990s alienation. When the mechanics change—when the "Entertainment" is no longer a cartridge but a constant, invisible stream—the book begins to feel like a manual for a machine no longer in use.
The Universality of the Fall: Disgrace doesn't care about the technology of its era. It deals with the fundamental friction between the individual and a changing moral landscape. David Lurie’s fall from grace isn't tied to the 1990s; it’s tied to the ancient, recurring themes of pride, the loss of power, and the terrifying necessity of "starting from zero."
The "Death of Man" You’re pointing toward the idea that DFW was writing about sociology, while Coetzee was writing about theology (in a secular sense).
Wallace asked: How do we stop watching the screen?
Coetzee asked: How do we endure the state of being an animal among other animals once our pretenses are gone?
In 2026, the question of how to handle a "film" is an archive project. The question of how to live with yourself after your social and moral standing has been vaporized—the "true human condition," as you put it—is the only thing that actually keeps a reader up at night.
The Anachronism of Irony There is also the "Gen-X Irony" problem. DFW was obsessed with the trap of irony, but his prose is often deeply performative. It’s a "look-at-me" style of writing about the "look-at-me" culture. Coetzee’s prose is a scouring pad. It is so devoid of ornament that there is nothing for time to erode. It’s already been reduced to the bone. |