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Weird to realize that DFW never reached my current age

...
Chocolate gas station trust fund
  04/17/26
You just now had this realization after 10 years?
Violet Macaca
  04/17/26
? I'm 47
Chocolate gas station trust fund
  04/17/26
Sure bud, sure
Violet Macaca
  04/17/26
...
Startling impertinent deer antler jap
  04/17/26
And yet you’ve never achieved even half his literary s...
Claret odious hominid twinkling uncleanness
  04/17/26
...
Maroon glittery pit patrolman
  04/17/26
cr. also jimi hendrix, schubert, mozart, keats
Very Tactful Field Halford
  04/17/26
I started reading Infinite Jest last week btw https://imgur...
Chocolate gas station trust fund
  04/17/26
let us know how far you get. i dont think anyone has complet...
Deranged Blood Rage Spot
  04/17/26
...
racy community account national
  04/17/26
(lebron james reading first page of book)
House-broken big gaping space
  04/17/26
Do I have to beg for attention on xo, or?
Chocolate gas station trust fund
  04/17/26
hes irrelevant and no one has read his "book"
Hairless Internal Respiration
  04/17/26
I’ve read IJ twice and everything he’s written a...
Claret odious hominid twinkling uncleanness
  04/17/26
CR I'm on my first readthru of IJ and already know I need to...
Maroon glittery pit patrolman
  04/17/26
sure breh
Hairless Internal Respiration
  04/17/26
...
racy community account national
  04/17/26
...
House-broken big gaping space
  04/17/26
And he accomplished a million times more than you ever would...
passionate magical ape idea he suggested
  04/17/26
his father was a philospohy professor at an irrelevant state...
Hairless Internal Respiration
  04/17/26
OP chopped his kids dicks off and sues people for a living.
passionate magical ape idea he suggested
  04/17/26
i feel like that's a bad idea but i guess if your dad REALLY...
Hairless Internal Respiration
  04/17/26
...
passionate magical ape idea he suggested
  04/17/26
...
cyan telephone
  04/17/26
He wrote a seminal (heh), 1,000+-page work of postmodern lit...
racy community account national
  04/17/26
no one read that book, and the people whom "read" ...
Hairless Internal Respiration
  04/17/26
...
Startling impertinent deer antler jap
  04/17/26
DFW was a true 180.
Laughsome coffee pot
  04/17/26
I asked AI to weigh in on which of DFW's Infinite Jest (1996...
Laughsome coffee pot
  04/17/26


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Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 2:05 PM
Author: Chocolate gas station trust fund



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49823683)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 2:06 PM
Author: Violet Macaca

You just now had this realization after 10 years?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49823685)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 2:07 PM
Author: Chocolate gas station trust fund

? I'm 47

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49823686)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 2:13 PM
Author: Violet Macaca

Sure bud, sure

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49823703)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 2:16 PM
Author: Startling impertinent deer antler jap



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49823707)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 2:09 PM
Author: Claret odious hominid twinkling uncleanness

And yet you’ve never achieved even half his literary success.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49823693)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 6:49 PM
Author: Maroon glittery pit patrolman



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49823916)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 6:56 PM
Author: Very Tactful Field Halford

cr. also jimi hendrix, schubert, mozart, keats

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49823934)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 7:06 PM
Author: Chocolate gas station trust fund

I started reading Infinite Jest last week btw

https://imgur.com/a/4nh16ZE

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49823959)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 7:17 PM
Author: Deranged Blood Rage Spot

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#49823967)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:32 PM
Author: racy community account national



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824088)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 10:05 PM
Author: House-broken big gaping space

(lebron james reading first page of book)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824273)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 11:05 PM
Author: Chocolate gas station trust fund

Do I have to beg for attention on xo, or?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824366)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 7:07 PM
Author: Hairless Internal Respiration

hes irrelevant and no one has read his "book"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49823960)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 7:56 PM
Author: Claret odious hominid twinkling uncleanness

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#49824036)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:19 PM
Author: Maroon glittery pit patrolman

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#49824071)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:19 PM
Author: Hairless Internal Respiration

sure breh

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824072)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:32 PM
Author: racy community account national



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824089)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 10:05 PM
Author: House-broken big gaping space



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824275)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:22 PM
Author: passionate magical ape idea he suggested

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#49824076)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:23 PM
Author: Hairless Internal Respiration

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#49824077)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:26 PM
Author: passionate magical ape idea he suggested

OP chopped his kids dicks off and sues people for a living.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824080)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:30 PM
Author: Hairless Internal Respiration

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#49824086)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:34 PM
Author: passionate magical ape idea he suggested



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824091)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 9:08 PM
Author: cyan telephone



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824158)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:52 PM
Author: racy community account national

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.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824124)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:55 PM
Author: Hairless Internal Respiration

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#49824127)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 8:57 PM
Author: Startling impertinent deer antler jap



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824135)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 11:15 PM
Author: Laughsome coffee pot

DFW was a true 180.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824373)



Reply Favorite

Date: April 17th, 2026 11:29 PM
Author: Laughsome coffee pot

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.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5857861&forum_id=2#49824382)