DFW - The Broom of the System (group read) discussion

This is the general discussion thread for Week 3's readings.

Here's the reading schedule:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/c...

Spoiler line for this forum is page 158 (end of Chapter 9)

I noticed that the Kindle version of Broom is once again available:

http://www.amazon.com/Broom-System-No...

1) Adore the surreality of the Gilligan's Isle pub incident. I knew something had to be coming in such an odd place.

2) Loss of identity without function is something most of my family members believe. Curious if this is true for everyone or merely Americans.

3) Also unsure of how to handle the melancholy story in the middle of this section. Are we merely what others say we are?

4) Finally, I love Vlad the Impaler. For awhile I was wondering if Wallace confused cockatiels with cockatoos because I had a hard time picturing him as the former. But Lenore specifically addresses the issue by stating that it isn't normal for cockatiels to talk much, which is true. And of course, you also have the G.O.D., which is fictitious too.

dejah_thoris wrote:

"1) Adore the surreality of the Gilligan's Isle pub incident. I knew something had to be coming in such an odd place.

Totally agree. I felt like it was a TV episode or a scene from a David Lynch movie.

2) Loss of identity without function is something most of my family members believe. Curious if this is true for everyone or merely Americans.

I think the struggle for identity is fairly universal. We live in a world of information where race, sexual orientation, preferences, taste, etc. is constantly able to be shared or challenged. You have to be a pretty clueless or confident person to know your identity with certainty.

It's not necessarily being clueless or confident; as one ages, one can understand and be certain in the idenity that you have, either by creation, reinvention, or accumulation of knowledge about oneself and how you fit into the world.

Kathleen wrote: "It's not necessarily being clueless or confident; as one ages, one can understand and be certain in the idenity that you have, either by creation, reinvention, or accumulation of knowledge about on..."

Great quote...there are so many.

Very interested in the Midwest values section. The blow up doll was a gag to distract us from the very unsettling scene. It is like DFW takes us to a place and then throws some humor in there to cut the tension. Other parts that I find interesting is how there are two Lenore's that are separated by generations. Dr. Jay is also a great psychologist and his sessions are fun to read. Like with all of DFWs work it is hard to read it now without thinking about what ultimately happened to him. How he was struggling with depression and his death. I also find it shocking that he was so young yet had such depth of insight into the human spirit. In some places in Broom it is fairly obvious that this is his first novel but in others it feels like the stories could have come from some of his later works. The themes he touches on are so consistent throughout his career but I for one don't tire of his voice and perspective. So sad that he is gone.

Kathleen wrote: "It's not necessarily being clueless or confident; as one ages, one can understand and be certain in the idenity that you have, either by creation, reinvention, or accumulation of knowledge about on..."

Reading back to what I wrote, I read it a lot more harsher than I meant it. Kathleen brings up some good points to what I wrote, so I'll try expressing my thoughts again: with so much information and culture available to us, it is very difficult to find one's self in the sea of data. In addition, the very act of questioning is cyclical thereby leading one to reinvention as mentioned. Thus, it seems difficult at any one time to have an identity.

Hopefully, that is a bit clearer.