Infinite Summer at the Wild Detectives discussion

Thoughts?

So I finally read the section introducing Joelle Van Dyne. Every time I feel like this novel cannot possibly frustrate me more, there comes along a passage like this one which is just...lovely.

I loved the passage of time in this little vignette, and I loved the image of Joelle (or Madame Pyschosis, what are we calling her?) walking down the street, looking like a bride on her way to meet her groom at the altar. Except there is no groom, just time--and darkness.

This section felt so lyrical. It reminded me of a Sandra Cisneros vignette like the ones that comprise The House of Mango Street. There's this one in particular titled "Marin," which deals with a pretty girl--the prettiest in the neighborhood--who just kind of spends her evenings standing out on the porch waiting, waiting for someone to come along and rescue her from her life.

It's an image both stunning and tragic. Just like Madame Joelle. (I think that's what I'm going to call her.)

lg

Great passage! I find myself describing much of this book that way...tragic and lovely. Perhaps, that is what intrigues me so. DFW, for me, writes in a way that I feel really lets me be inside the characters' heads. As the novel unfolds, I get to peel back their layers, one by one.

Cindie, I agree. When he allows us to be inside a character's head, I am the most engaged. The passage where Hal contemplates what it means to be a tennis prodigy is another one of my favorites so far.

Yes, brilliant! I am a tennis player and I find this aspect of the novel particularly insightful.

I fell asleep reading Madame Psychosis' last bit before Orin/Hal take over again haha. But it does have strange incantatory beauty. It's not something I've read often before. I wonder why she chooses the things to read that she does. Her thoughts seem to mirror her broadcasts...?

Yes! Also, I hope we get more background on her parents. Seriously, the theme of this novel is: PARENTS REALLY FUCK UP THEIR CHILDREN. Also, I love the descriptions of how Madame Psychosis makes Mario feel.

pg. 184
"The student engineer is counting down from five on an outstretched hand he can't see how she sees. And as pinkie meets palm, she (Madame Psychosis) says what she's said for three years of midnights, an opening bit that Mario Incandenza, the least cynical person in the history of Enfield MA, across the river, listening faithfully, finds, for all its black cynicism, terribly compelling: Her silhouette leans and says 'Lo, for the Earth was empty of form and void. 'And Darkness was all over The Face of the Deep. 'And We said: 'Look at that fucker Dance.'

Anyone have any thoughts or interpretations regarding this passage?

Mervin wrote: "I fell asleep reading Madame Psychosis' last bit before Orin/Hal take over again haha. But it does have strange incantatory beauty. It's not something I've read often before. I wonder why she choos..."

Have you read any of the books mentioned here?

L.A. wrote: "Yes! Also, I hope we get more background on her parents. Seriously, the theme of this novel is: PARENTS REALLY FUCK UP THEIR CHILDREN. Also, I love the descriptions of how Madame Psychosis makes Ma..."

I laughed when I first read Hal's father referred to as Himself, to later discover Himself referred to his father as Himself. That's even funnier!

Talk about a megalomaniac!

Mike wrote: "Cindie wrote: "Mervin wrote: "I fell asleep reading Madame Psychosis' last bit before Orin/Hal take over again haha. But it does have strange incantatory beauty. It's not something I've read often ..." I got the feeling in the passage where Mario finds her opening to her radio show so compelling, it had more to do with who she was (to him and his family) than the passage itself. Are there clues in the opening as well? It seems likely.

Mike wrote: "Cindie wrote: "Mike wrote: "Cindie wrote: "Mervin wrote: "I fell asleep reading Madame Psychosis' last bit before Orin/Hal take over again haha. But it does have strange incantatory beauty. It's no..." It is!!