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Comment by Emigre_ | Hacker News Reader

I liked Infinite Jest and Consider The Lobster And Other Essays. Not easy reads in my opinion, especially Infinite Jest obviously, but interesting and original books.

The movie The End of the Tour (2015), although most probably inaccurate in his portrait of the man (from what I’ve read), is an enjoyable fiction that just happens to use Wallace as one of the characters. I recommend it.

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End of Tour is enjoyable and most of the words are his own, but there is a clear need to make it a story about a guy who later commits suicide, and so all the acting and tonal stuff is inflected to that end. Having read the book first, the movie just seemed so much sadder and devoid of a lot of the joy that made the book so incredible.

Yes… I enjoyed it… I think it was sad, yes, but it has been a while since I watched that movie…

I watched the movie recently and semi-liked it (actors great, plot kind of dull, and all in all not exactly that enlightening), also read some negative reviews. What was the inaccurate part, was there any massive miss or so?

I only know that a friend of Wallace, Glenn Kenny, complained about the movie, mentioning that Jason Segel’s performance was not really accurate.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/29/why-the-end-of...

I don’t know… I just enjoyed it as fiction. The problem with movies based on real events or on real people is that at, the end of the day, they are just fiction, and I guess they are inevitably going to disappoint some of those who know more about the real-life events or people they are based on. On the other hand, I can also see the value of getting the facts right and characters that respect the spirit of the real people they are based on. I don’t have a strong opinion on the matter as you can see.

Ah I see now what you mean. I guess I agree. With this movie specifically I had some moments that were close to the "uncanny valley", as the actor playing Wallace was so closely imitating media versions of Wallace (from TV interviews) that it sometimes got almost to this person, but never exactly, which feels weirdly off. I also had the feeling that he was not portraying the real person, but rather the anxious persona he showed in those interviews.

the editor for ij released his edited version of a book dfw left, or remnants of a manuscript called pale king. have you read it?

No, I haven’t… Have you?…

ive read ij, with the footnotes and it took me so long I think I forgot some of the first part of the book while reading the later part. I enjoyed it kind of like a tv series but with so many episodes I forget the first season but kept watching.

So on one hand Ive heard the hype, and it was good...but I wonder if it was shorter it could have had a bigger punch (like 1984 or something else) and while typing this I wonder if this tv show analogy ( Rick and Morty comes to mind) is a kind of good analogy? Or maybe im a philistine...

I was almost going to buy the Pale king today but ill get it soon and start reading it.

I hear you, it took me a long time too to finish it too!… :D

It’s not uncommon to page back as you get about 200 pages in to reconnect things, etc. but the book is literature and a big part of enjoying it is enjoying it for its sake. The tangents and ideas and writing - it’s just a fun book to read and imagine with it.

People get hung up on plot and other devices which make for great stories. And that’s great. IJ isn’t for everyone - but if you love literature there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy a long love making session to the book. It is extremely well crafted.

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