Reading 1001 discussion

What main ideas—themes—does the author explore? (Consider the title, often a clue to a theme.) Does the author use symbols to reinforce the main ideas?

There is addiction, isolation, family, grief, finding one's place in the world.
There is also a political element hinted at, and environmental issues as well.
Circles (cycles), and so many threes! These are symbols- I read that Shakespeare (Infinite Jest comes from Hamlet- the Alas, poor Yorick speech.) used threes in some of his plays as a symbol, too.
Truthfully, there is so much packed into this book, it will take at least one reread to catch one tenth of what DFW had to say.

Just to add to Tracy's comment there is also tennis and playing tennis as a major plot point that runs through the narrative.

There are a whole lot of themes: isolation, addiction, fear, waste, communication, entertainment, colour, and Canada! I am sure I have missed some, too.

I think it is not just addiction, but also recovery and with that some religious undertones. Also beauty and the lack thereof. Many of the other themes seem to me to be set as alternative forms of addiction, or perhaps addiction as part of a continuum of activities seeking to fill the void.