_IJ_ questions

[Christopher James Tassava]

When Wallace was giving his talk at Barbara's Bookstore in Chicago a 
coupla weeks ago, the very first question asked pertained to the 
derivation of the title.  I forget his actual, witty reply (the guy is a 
riot, in person), but it boils down to Hamlet, act V, scene i:

"Alas! poor Yorick.  I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite 
jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand 
times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rises at it."

One of Wallace's hints at this source is the name of Himself's production 
company: Poor Yorick Entertainment Unlimited.  And this brings up the 
scene's classic staging, with Hamlet addressing Yorick's skull: the 
movement of knowledge or intellect or speech from an animate thing 
(Hamlet/the film cartridge "Infinite Jest") to a recently unanimated 
thing (Yorick's head/the viewer of "Infinite Jest").  Just a thought.

The quote is thanks to _Bartlett's_, not to any intimate knowledge of 
the Bard.  I've read in some reviews that the words "infinite jest" make 
a number of other appearances in the Canon, but this is the one Wallace 
chose to cite.

As for Wallace's use of ellipsis in the conversations between Steeply 
(the Unspecified Serviceman) and and the Quebecois terrorist Marathe: I 
had taken them to mean that Marathe, who seems to be the more expansive 
thinker in the conversation, is simply anticipating Steeply and besting 
him.  I mean, Marathe can get his wheelchair up this huge mountain and he 
can shatter (or at least crack) Steeply's/America's ideas about 
maximizing pleasure for Americans at the expense of Canadians and Mexicans.

Finally, concerning Wallace's endnoting: it's hard to tell if a 
subnarrative is actually developing in the notes, or if it's just 
random.  I'd love to hear others' ideas about it.

Xpoferens

ctass at suba.com