Come Diventare Se Stessi. David Foster Wallace Si Racconta (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
David Foster Wallace's quotes and insights are very moving and important. His discusses the disillusionment of popularity and the dangers of attention; about the arrogance of being in your mid-twenties and being successful; about how writing for the right reasons vs. the wrong ones. He even gets into talking about where American culture is heading and the importance of reading difficult books in the modern age. David Lipsky however, writes with an inflated sense of self-importance and a disdain for the reader. By the end of the book Lipsky has pointed out to you several times that he and Wallace are smarter than you by spelling out poorly drawn-conclusions about Wallace's psyche, and reminding you how little you know about authors and language without offering explanations.He is even condescending to the people the him and Wallace meet: car service drivers, tour escorts, bookstore owners and transcribers....all unnamed, as unimportant as they are anonymous. This was a big disappointment for me, I think largely due to its style and construction. I got as far as the bit in Wallace's class where he tells his students that in the first eight pages of a story, the goal is to have the reader not want to throw the book against the wall. Here, that is exactly what I wanted to do almost immediately. I found David Lipsky's introductory material erratically presented and, honestly, irritating to read, stuffed as it was with contrived metaphors. I also agree with another reviewer that the parts seem designed to feed the cult of personality. Mostly I wish the interview parts had some organization and editing--it has less continuity than a stream of consciousness at times. I got the impression that Lipsky was trying to capture some of the spontaneity and energy of Wallace's personality by including the digressions and the heming and hawing that occurred as Wallace found his words. But I was looking for more of Wallace's thoughts (which I respect--I wouldn't have picked up this book if I weren't a fan). For me, it just wasn't worth sifting through this extra material to find the worthwhile statements and discussions that I'm sure are in there. Maybe I'm not enough of a fan to appreciate this book. Either way, I gave up after reading the first ~100 pages and flipping through the rest looking for improvement, which I did not find. So, perhaps someone with patience for (or who even enjoys) this form of presentation of information (because other than the introductory material, it doesn't seem to qualify as "writing" if it's 95% transcription) would be able to read the book. I could not.
What do You think about Come Diventare Se Stessi. David Foster Wallace Si Racconta (2010)?
It's hard to get my mind to think that this is actually the real conversation that went with David. I like how Lipsky put the words into form not jeopardizing the voice of wallace. I am at this point where I need to convince myself why i have to read this book or any book. What would the lesson be. Would I rather meet random people and hear their stories in real settings or sit with this brain ! borrow the conversation!Knowing that time is really short and trying to learn all that there is to learn ! I know i have to entertain my brain with the awesomeness and beauty that is wallace forgetting the learning part !Still have a long way to finish the book!
—is28
Interesting and illuminating road trip biographical memoir of a reclusive and private writer. There was a bit too much of the author in the book, causing the narrative to be a bit stilted and unnatural in places. The parts tath are just DFW talking are fantastic and revealing and much like his writing is. I would have preferred to read this in hard copy rather than audiobook format, as that would have helped me gloss over the rough edges and the annoying framework of Lipsky's narration and commentary. I really found Lipsky to be rather annoying and often sycophantic.
—alyn
Remarkable as an audiobook. I imagine this could be a little tedious as a straight-ahead read.
—Vaspa
