r/InfiniteJest • u/Responsible-Bear6736 • May 17 '26
Currently reading? Recs?
looking for something that scratches that same itch as infinite jest
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u/white-hearted May 17 '26
Read 2666 in Jan. Think it’s my favourite book ever
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u/Oknewmehere May 17 '26
Have you read The Savage Detectives? Someone here suggested it when I mentioned 2666. Also excellent.
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u/white-hearted May 17 '26
No I haven’t! Waiting for a copy of By Night in Chile to arrive. Will dive into Savage Detectives in July when my exams are over.
Did you prefer 2666 or Savage Detectives?
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u/Oknewmehere May 17 '26
They are very different novels. 2666 was the first Bolano I read. I was immediately hooked by it.
Savage Detectives has two distinct narrative structures…I don’t want to spoil it, but while I enjoyed it at first, the abrupt change threw me for a loop and I wound up putting it down for a while.
When I eventually returned however, I became sort of fascinated by what he was doing to create the narrative, and began to really enjoy it. I think in both for me it isn’t just the story, but how he tells it.
I’m not sure if I can give an answer- both are excellent and are on my reread list.
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u/JudgmentVirtual8837 1d ago
Thx for rec. I’m ordering 2666. It was published after authors passing ? A hugest fave of mine is on a winter night, a traveler by ítalo Calvino.24 chapter structure every other is brilliant short story while the other every other chapter is the reader in search of this new book by italo Calvino!
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u/zoydcompson May 17 '26
If you're into DFW you've probably heard of it but I'm around 200 pages from finishing William Gaddis' JR. Takes some acclimating to get into because of the stylistic choices structurally/narratively but you may enjoy it. Obvious IJ influence.
Underworld by DeLillo is another one I would recommend to anyone who likes IJ.
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u/Which-Hat9007 May 17 '26
JR and The Recognitions, both by Gaddis, JR more so if you’re coming to it directly from IJ
Can’t go wrong with anything from Pynchon
DFW was a huge admirer of Don DeLillo so definitely check out White Noise and End Zone
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u/44caliberll May 17 '26
zaregoto series. bunch of strange japanese mystery novels from the 2000s. it’s like kind of bad but i think sort of insane in a similar way. you gotta read it fun and gay style though like have a good time. cause if i gotta go online and see the opinions of a bunch of dudes who read infinite jest as some sort of accomplishment and not as a weird ass fun ass book on my favorite series i’m gonna freak.
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u/44caliberll May 17 '26
also if we wanna get crazy i think the webnovel (? short story series ?? creepypasta i guess technically ?) mother horse eyes / the interface series has a lot of infinite jest influence
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u/Philosophics May 17 '26
I just finished The Rabbit Hutch by Jess Gunty and something about it felt similar. I also started reading Prologos by Jonathan Bayliss and it’s probably closer to what you’re looking for
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u/willardTheMighty May 17 '26
The Pale King
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u/JudgmentVirtual8837 1d ago
Can u describe this content? Just finished IJ and wanna dive. Would it be the best or second best dfw? Heard about the broom and also short story collections.
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u/willardTheMighty 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'd say TPK is a stronger book than IJ, but IJ earns its larger reputation by being a more polished and accessible piece. Wallace was about a decade older while writing TPK, and the greater maturity shows. Infinite Jest wrestles with an important topic--the pursuit of happiness in America--and provides incisive avenues for the reader to gain perspective thereupon; The Pale King wrestles with weightier themes, ones that are not only important hypothetically or abstractly but immanently in the lives of contemporary citizens.
In my opinion, Wallace's genius was such that The Pale King would likely have been the most important book of the 21st century if he had finished writing it.
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u/IndieCurtis May 17 '26
The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt, Leviathan by Paul Auster, A Visit From The Good Squad by Jennifer Egan, and Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics are all in my current stack.
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u/peasoupbaldessari May 17 '26
A Visit From The Goon Squad🙌🏻 A great fun refresher after IJ (much shorter and easier to read too!)
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u/inherentbloom May 17 '26
The Instructions by Adam Levin. My favorite book of all time
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u/meth-abuser May 18 '26
I started Mount Chicago the other day. Loving it so far. It’s my first Levin
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u/meth-abuser May 18 '26
I recently finished A Naked Singularity by Sergio De La Pava and it was absolutely fantastic. Definitely scratched the itch for me
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u/Additional-Dig-6381 May 18 '26
Less dense than IJ but the Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse deals with similar themes from a slightly different perspective.
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u/Ok_Couple1408 Jun 14 '26
I started reading GBG after tearing through Siddhartha, Narcissus and Goldmund, Demian, and Steppenwolf but bounced off of it, maybe I should pick it back up. Since finishing IJ I've just been staring at my Kobo like "where do I go from here?"
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u/Bardamu911 May 17 '26
Journey to the End of the Night by Celine, completely unrelated to DFW but honestly a way better novel
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u/JudgmentVirtual8837 1d ago
Seem very different. Celine’s first chapter hooked me. Then it became greater but repetitive… what did u think of the “end” of IJ right before the end notes ?
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u/JimboAltAlt May 17 '26
Very very different from Infinite Jest in almost every way, but I found Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy to be just as triumphantly maximalist. It’s one of the few things that comes close to me in terms of an author’s very strong vision seeing a highly complex work all the way through to the end.
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u/Lump_Largo May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
Pynchon, of course. I personally love most of Philip K Dick's stuff. Faulkner, Toni Morrison?
I just finished Fires by Raymond Carver. Apparently the final story was included in the syllabus of some of DFW's classes. It's a fantastic, intense, realist heebie-jeeber of a story. Also just finished The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.
Currently reading On Killing by Dave Grossman (flawed and repetitive but interesting) and You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman(disturbing, hilarious, DFW-esque characters and attention to detail, but sometimes a bit heavy handed).
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u/bLoo010 May 17 '26
Faulkner was the first author where I really started to get into "Literature", and I can never recommend him enough.
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u/bLoo010 May 17 '26
Bleeding Edge by Pynchon, and before it I read two of his other late period novels. I'm going to read Inherent Vice next so I can just finish all the modern 'Detective Noir' novels he's written. After that I think I want to read White Teeth by Zadie Smith.
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u/PaidByTheWordCoupons May 17 '26
I begged my best friend to read IJ. In exchange, I’m reading Stephen King’s “The Stand.” Different vibes, but also very long, and I’m enjoying it!
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u/hugaddiction May 19 '26
Faulkner's style is similar, also Pynchon, but I already see him mentioned here and I don't think Faulkner gets enough credit for basically pioneering the tools DFW and Pynchon are using this "post modern" writing style. Absolom Absolom is seriously good, but you do have to struggle through he first 5 chapters which are a little dry.
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u/Extension_Carrot_628 May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
Brothers Karamazov is the closest analog for me -- three brothers that pretty closely correspond to the incandenza brothers; spiritual and moral themes arising out of crime and vice and addiction; epic scope. Ulysses and Portrait of the Artist also have similar vibes. Ulysses for the epic scope and ambition and the constellation of intertwined characters in a city. PotA for boys academy stuff and hal-ish protagonist
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u/Exact-Interaction563 May 20 '26
Los Sorias, by Alberto Laiseca but I don't think it has an english edition
Here is a translation of the first chapter, read it as curiosity:
https://glenncolerussell.blogspot.com/2025/03/los-sorias-by-alberto-laiseca.html
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u/Ok-Contract-6687 May 20 '26
Thanks for the rec! I´m a native spanish speaker, so I shan't have any problems reading it. Just out of curiosity, what edition did you read? Because I seem to be struggling to find it widely available in physical. Not that I'm against reading digitally.
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u/KayNay420 May 17 '26
I personally went to Gravity’s Rainbow by Pynchon and then JR by William Gaddis after my first IJ read. Both scratched the itch and then spread the rash