Customer Reviews

Elegant Complexity: A Study of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest

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Mr. Carlisle's Elegant Complexity is a helpful scaffolding system for an understanding of the late David Foster Wallace's Magnum opus. Elegant Complexity structures the chapters, sections, and subsections of Wallace's Infinite Jest into an organized whole. However, it is bland. But this is a good thing. It does not force an interpretation down your throat, it merely states what is what, and offers the minimalist of hints as to further exploration of meaning and interpretation. In this regard Elegant Complexity is a success.

The surest way to ruin a joke is to explain it. It seems that elegance functions similarly. This book - exhaustive on its chosen subject - lacks any praiseworthy style in writing.

To call it a study is misleading. It is only a guide, though it _is_ a commendable guide.

What it comes down to is a very explicit and formulaic cliffsnotes: summarize a passage, extract the themes, explain them ad. naus. While I don't think most of the people who read "Jest" in its entirety in the first place will need guidance with everything "complexity" offers, I think it does offer points "Jest" scholars will enjoy exploring further.

"Elegant Complexity" is neither, but this only serves to provide a little insight in less than a few thousand pages. It's good for what it is - an explicit guide. Make sure that it's what you want.

I just recieved, "Elegant Complexity: A Study Of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest" and I salute you, Mr. Carlisle! I have read, "Infinite Jest" TWICE - and David Foster Wallace is a genius! You left NO stone unturned. You answered one of the most perplexing chapters of, "Infinite Jest" (listed on chapter 22 of your book) "Triggering Situation". I am not a mathematic person, and I could NOT understand what the game, "Eschaton" was ABOUT. I am an intelligent woman, and I thought maybe I could figure it out, but it has always remained a mystery. THANK YOU SO MUCH. A MUST for any David Foster Wallace fan. FANTASTIC!

I am sure this is a great guide, but do not buy it for Kindle. This is a reference, so you want to be able to page back and forth.

Elegant Complexity is a tremendous, tremendous help to this first-time Infinite Jest reader. Sure, the chapter summaries and commentaries are useful, but the strengths of the study really are that it helps orient readers in time, and that it constantly refers readers back to previous sections of the novel to help illustrate the interconnectedness of themes, characters and plot - which, in my mind, is the true genius of the novel. This was especially valuable in the later stages of the novel, as connections were made to an event or comment or dream from 700 pages ago. It was wonderful to be able to flip back to the exact page and re-read and get that "good reader" feeling of "I get it!"

Also, breaking the novel into its sections and chapters was helpful because it makes it easier to understand, as Carlisle points out frequently, what DFW is trying (and succeeding, in my opinion!) to accomplish structurally. Rising actions, missing "Gately-sized" pieces, completing cycles, etc...

The one weakness of the book in my view is that Carlisle often, and almost gleefully, points out inconsistencies or "errors" - almost like a Star Trek fan boy. There's no explanation given for these discrepancies, other than the basic misspellings that Carlisle explains are corrected in subsequent versions. Are these "errors" simply oversights? Or is there a method to DFW's madness? They're just pointed out and left alone.

Overall, though, I can't recommend this study more highly. It's helped me gain an understanding of and appreciation for Infinite Jest that would've been nearly impossible otherwise.

I ordered this book on the strength of the reviews and an overestimation of the complexity of Infinite Jest. The fact that Elegant Complexity is promoted as "spoiler free" indicates more of a companion piece than a study of the novel itself. I do not want to take anything away from the reviewers as I can see value in this type of book if, for example, Infinite Jest was required reading and not your cup of tea. This could make it easier to comprehend, but it would certainly appear to me to take the joy out of reading Infinite Jest (and it was a joy). I read the Introduction and first chapter review and realized that Elegant Complexity was not going to enhance my comprehension of the book, but would certainly take away my enjoyment of it. Needless to say, I put the book down and spent the next several weeks thoroughly enjoying Infinite Jest. After I finished the novel, I went back and looked over Elegant Complexity to see if perhaps it could be utilized as a review and I found that it did not include much of anything I missed and failed to discuss items I would have considered relevant in a companion work like this. I found myself referring to the novel to fill the gaps left in some of the summary information in an early chapter review in Elegant Complexity, which seemed odd to me and compelled me to share my thoughts. If you are dedicated to reading Infinite Jest for pleasure, I would suggest taking your time and reading the book and skipping the "spoiler-free" guide. Infinite Jest can be complex when compared to much of today's popular novels, but it is worth the effort. I applaud the effort to make David Foster Wallace more accessible to the average reader, but I just do not see this achieving that objective and I personally expected much more.

This guide to Infinite Jest justified itself alone by being able to string together all the uses of the color blue. I had tacked Infinite Jest (IJ) this past summer and while I found it a wild ride, was left with several major questions. Elegant Complexity did not spell out the answers, but helped me see the guide wires enough to find my own way through. I was shocked at how large this guide was, it gave IJ a run for its money. I would suggest using Elegant Complexity the same way I did, as a reader for those who have already finished IJ. Elegant Complexity definitely improved and enhanced my enjoyment of IJ.