From the Bookshelf of DFW - The Broom of the System (group read)…
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I've seen reviews of this book that say to read it before attempting Wallace's mammoth and more popular "Infinite Jest". I would have to agree, and it makes sense considering that "Broom of the System" is the author's first novel.
Broom is similar in many ways to Infinite Jest, but in a much less verbose package and doesn't have the infamous foot-notes. Like Jest, It explores themes such as Corporate America, the environment, and disconnect (both technological and human) without ever forgetting t ...more
Broom is similar in many ways to Infinite Jest, but in a much less verbose package and doesn't have the infamous foot-notes. Like Jest, It explores themes such as Corporate America, the environment, and disconnect (both technological and human) without ever forgetting t ...more
This is a hard one to judge because I'm judging it against his later works. The fact that he wrote this at my age is infuriating and amazing, and it is a quick and funny read. I think it gets bogged down a bit in the philosophy in parts but the prose is lively and smart, and the world he builds is like our world plus, with weird details and hyperbole that would become such a delightful staple of his later fiction.
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I love Wallace but this isn't my favorite piece. The characters often read like a morality play instead of the bright, vibrant people he creates in Pale King and Infinite Jest. Some characters, like the Antichrist and Vlad the Impaler, redeem the work, but the character we get the most depth on is also the most annoying (Rick Vigorous). And the characters we want to know the most about, the two Lenores, remain as mysterious at the end as the beginning. Well, at least I learned how not pester fut
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enjoyed it because it is david foster wallace. parts were much stronger than the other.
May 08, 2012
Kevin
marked it as to-read
Oct 08, 2011
Johnmucklerzen Lapointe
is currently reading it
