Reading 1001 discussion

Why are the footnotes important? What information do we learn from the footnotes that is not part of the main narrative?

There were times I wondered this- especially when I got to one that was pages long. But they were important: they contained background and supplemental information that would have (I know this sounds odd) further disrupted the flow of the book otherwise. I'm sure that each one is loaded with meaning, but the important tidbits in that Pemulis math one really went over my head.

I think the footnotes explained topics and words further without interfering with the story line. I found many of them very interesting, but I found some of them unnecessary and maybe a wee bit patronizing or indulgent on DFW's part.

The footnotes actually helped gradually to make sense of several parts of the story (and some were quite frankly hilarious). I think it was important they be read as soon as they occurred. Note 24, for example, goes through the whole Incandenza cinematography and lays the ground for many explanations relating to Joelle.

I agree with Patrick on this one

Yes, some were important. 24 being one but oh, my, there are some that are just a lot of flipping back and forth. The ones about the drugs manufacturers and explanations were unimportant to me as I knew those so could breeze through those but they weren't bad though.

I thought the excessive use of endnotes was one of the annoying things about the book. You absolutely had to read the endnotes to have any hope of understanding the book, but most of the important sections could just as well have been working into the main body of the text. To the extent there was a purpose of having so much important information in endnotes (or, for pity's sake, in endnotes or footnotes to the endnotes!!) I wondered if it was to add to the disjointed unsettled feel of the book, again creating , to the limited extent possible, a literary version of an addict's perception of reality.