Mr. K's Infinite Jest Blog
Mr. K's Infinite Jest Blog
Here are a few things that have really stood out to me from this section of the book. A lot of what we're reading about is tennis. I would say that more than anything else in the book, we read about tennis. However, we only hear about how much practice is miserable, or different rankings, how much the players do not like the coaches. I find it quite strange that after all this talk about tennis, no tennis match has actually taken place in the book. There's mention of different matches, but no tennis play has actually occurred as of yet. I would like to actually read about Hal going a few rounds after all this talk of the sport.
I think the account of the tennis players in the locker room gives a lot of insight into the world and lives of the young players. Based on the description towards the bottom of pg 104, the players' lives seem so tedious. Earlier in the section, the players talk about all the things they wish they could do, the things that they feel a normal person their age would be doing if they didn't have to practice all the time (all of page 102). Then, sitting in the locker room complaining, the text says, "they've all been just here before, just like this, and will be again tomorrow." (pg 104). That quote conveys the idea that these players lead tedious lives that they don't want to lead, and also that they are stuck without the ability or enough motivation to make a change that could relieve them from their misery.
The description starting on page 115 of the different types of people who "plateau" gives an insight into the world of struggles that the tennis players face, but also has implications outside the world of tennis. There are the Despairing, Obsessive, and Complacent types of players. The description of each of these describes the different types of players on their way to the mastery of the sport, but I read it and thought that maybe these types of people also occur in different struggles in everyday life. For example, you could view students on their way to masterying academics as possibly being a Despairing, Obsessive, or Complacent type of learner. The Despairing learner gives in and stops believing they can learn more once they begin to struggle with a subject. The Obsessive learner never wants to give up once they struggle, but end up burning out. The Complacent learner accepts mediocrity when they cannot master a subject and instead tries to build their life around their weaknesses, but the weaknesses eventually become their downfall.
I have not had a pleasant experience with the reading thus far because I can't really figure out what is going on the story. However, the short section about the construction worker's insurance claim (pg 139) was one of the most amusing sections of writing that I have ever read. I'm not sure what it has to do with anything else going on in the book, but few things are as refreshing to read as a guy colliding mid-air with 900kg of brick because of his own ignorance. It was a nice change of pace from triple agents, tennis, and drugs.
Here are a few things that have really stood out to me from this section of the book. A lot of what we're reading about is tennis. I would say that more than anything else in the book, we read about tennis. However, we only hear about how much practice is miserable, or different rankings, how much the players do not like the coaches. I find it quite strange that after all this talk about tennis, no tennis match has actually taken place in the book. There's mention of different matches, but no tennis play has actually occurred as of yet. I would like to actually read about Hal going a few rounds after all this talk of the sport.
I think the account of the tennis players in the locker room gives a lot of insight into the world and lives of the young players. Based on the description towards the bottom of pg 104, the players' lives seem so tedious. Earlier in the section, the players talk about all the things they wish they could do, the things that they feel a normal person their age would be doing if they didn't have to practice all the time (all of page 102). Then, sitting in the locker room complaining, the text says, "they've all been just here before, just like this, and will be again tomorrow." (pg 104). That quote conveys the idea that these players lead tedious lives that they don't want to lead, and also that they are stuck without the ability or enough motivation to make a change that could relieve them from their misery.
The description starting on page 115 of the different types of people who "plateau" gives an insight into the world of struggles that the tennis players face, but also has implications outside the world of tennis. There are the Despairing, Obsessive, and Complacent types of players. The description of each of these describes the different types of players on their way to the mastery of the sport, but I read it and thought that maybe these types of people also occur in different struggles in everyday life. For example, you could view students on their way to masterying academics as possibly being a Despairing, Obsessive, or Complacent type of learner. The Despairing learner gives in and stops believing they can learn more once they begin to struggle with a subject. The Obsessive learner never wants to give up once they struggle, but end up burning out. The Complacent learner accepts mediocrity when they cannot master a subject and instead tries to build their life around their weaknesses, but the weaknesses eventually become their downfall.
I have not had a pleasant experience with the reading thus far because I can't really figure out what is going on the story. However, the short section about the construction worker's insurance claim (pg 139) was one of the most amusing sections of writing that I have ever read. I'm not sure what it has to do with anything else going on in the book, but few things are as refreshing to read as a guy colliding mid-air with 900kg of brick because of his own ignorance. It was a nice change of pace from triple agents, tennis, and drugs.
posted by tanzmanl at 10:12 PM
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