Infinite Jest

[Tiny Ewell]

I am currently writing a philosophy of literature thesis. My focus is David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest
I wanted to ask anybody who has read it if they would be willing to take a short survey. I need more empirical data on reader response. Here is a link to the survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5535MQM

There are only 5 very short questions and any help would be appreciated!

If anybody has anything they would like to share about their experience reading Infinite Jest, please respond to this thread. Personally I felt it was an emotionally draining experience; on the one hand, the style is often completely immersive and at others Wallace pushes back at the reader. Almost as if he's forcing us to dissociate from the book, which makes sense given the content relating to the Entertainment. Thank you for reading, if anybody did.

[Seeds]

According to your survey I guess you are interested to investigate reader's responses.

I however, am very curious whether there is some sort of detailed analyses. What intrigued me personally was the recurring mentioning of spiders throughout the book. Besides the characters and storyline are sometimes portrayed as a web, there was more to it. Spiders usually catch there pray in the web, paralyze them so to speak. As I was thinking it occurred to me that this unmovability, imprisonment, paralyses is a major theme in the book.
the entertainment itself is so compelling, you cannot get away.
addiction, which Gately refered to as 'the spider'.
odalisque vs medusa.
weelchair dudes.
It seems to me that it is all connected with a (for me personally) pivotal chapter in the book where Schtitt's opinions come to light: that there are no limitations. Further in the explanation it says: 'the containing boundaries of skill and imagination that brought one player finally down.'


Are there any known studies for interpretation? If there are not I would love to investigate it myself. It is exactly this what kept me going through the book. I was hungry to understand what plateau hopping exactly implied.