...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Infinite Jest
- 675 statements
- 133 feature instances
- 27 referencing feature instances
Infinite Jest | type |
TVTItem | |
Infinite Jest | label |
Infinite Jest | |
Infinite Jest | page |
InfiniteJest | |
Infinite Jest | comment |
David Foster Wallace’s relentless Doorstopper of a novel, first published in 1996. Infinite Jest takes place in the not-too-distant future, around the Enfield Tennis Academy and the neighboring Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House in suburban Boston. There are roughly four narrative threads through the novel: The lives of the students training and studying at Enfield, founded by auteur James O. "Himself" Incandenza, mother Avril "Moms" Incandenza and Avril's adopted brother Charles "C.T." Tavis. Various Boston residents such as Don Gately and Joelle Van Dyne who hit rock bottom with their drug and alcohol addictions and turn to Ennet House as well as AA and NA meetings in order to stay on the wagon. The Organization of North American Nations, or O.N.A.N and a group of radical Québécois separatists known as Les Assassins des Fauteuils Rollents' (The Wheelchair Assassins) efforts to seek a film called Infinite Jest, directed by James O. Incandenza and rumored to be so absorbing that anyone who sees loses all other interests and eventually dies. The history of the Incandenzas, with a focus on the youngest son Hal.On top of all that, the novel deals with issues like the nature of the self, family, emptiness and absence, addiction and recovery, and the minutia of tennis, there's just no way to adequately summarize this massively complex novel here. With nearly 100 pages of end notes, this may be one of the only novels for which you will need to use two bookmarks simultaneously. | |
Infinite Jest | fetched |
2024-05-14T13:30:17Z | |
Infinite Jest | parsed |
2024-05-14T13:30:17Z | |
Infinite Jest | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheDecemberists: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
Infinite Jest | processingComment |
Dropped link to ThePaleKing: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
Infinite Jest | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
Infinite Jest / int_11519098 | type |
Stop, or I Shoot Myself! | |
Infinite Jest / int_11519098 | comment |
Stop, or I Shoot Myself!: The tale of one ETA student, Eric Clipperton, who threatened to shoot himself if he lost a match. He eventually does, but not on the court. | |
Infinite Jest / int_11519098 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_11519098 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_11519098 | |
Infinite Jest / int_154aa477 | type |
Big, Screwed-Up Family | |
Infinite Jest / int_154aa477 | comment |
Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Incandenza family. They like to play up their eccentricities in front of onlookers, but Joelle Van Dyne notes that they fail to totally hide the fact that the screwed-upness goes much, much deeper. | |
Infinite Jest / int_154aa477 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_154aa477 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_154aa477 | |
Infinite Jest / int_1667cb1 | type |
Calvinball | |
Infinite Jest / int_1667cb1 | comment |
Calvinball: One of the courts at the ETA is intricately painted with a map of the Earth and all its nations. Its only use is for a training game of nuclear geopolitics called "Eschaton", which has become something of an Academy tradition. True to the trope, all that is made explicitly clear is that nuclear strikes are represented by serving tennis balls onto the map; the rest of the rules are stated to be so complex that they can only be understood through total memorization. This part of the book has actually been adapted as a music video, for "The Calamity Song" by The Decemberists. | |
Infinite Jest / int_1667cb1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_1667cb1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_1667cb1 | |
Infinite Jest / int_17ce80aa | type |
All There in the Manual | |
Infinite Jest / int_17ce80aa | comment |
All There in the Manual: The book's extensive end notes. Some of them play with the trope by being so long and complex as to effectively constitute additional book chapters. Given the novel's Anachronic Order, you could stick them almost anywhere in the narrative proper and it wouldn't change a thing. | |
Infinite Jest / int_17ce80aa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_17ce80aa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_17ce80aa | |
Infinite Jest / int_1869b4b1 | type |
Unreliable Narrator | |
Infinite Jest / int_1869b4b1 | comment |
Unreliable Narrator: Besides the usual kind, there's also a lot of information given obliquely or secondhand, or subtly contracting other things we've been told. | |
Infinite Jest / int_1869b4b1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_1869b4b1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_1869b4b1 | |
Infinite Jest / int_18867e79 | type |
The Metric System Is Here to Stay | |
Infinite Jest / int_18867e79 | comment |
The Metric System Is Here to Stay: Wallace had a definite preference for metric units, and in his universe, they've become standard in the U.S. (probably as a result of ONANite integration). | |
Infinite Jest / int_18867e79 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_18867e79 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_18867e79 | |
Infinite Jest / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
Infinite Jest / int_18d15922 | comment |
Title Drop: Zig-Zagged. "Infinite Jest" is the title of James Incandenza's brain-destroying cartridge, but said title only appears in endnote 24, his filmography. In the narration, it's only ever called "the Entertainment" or "the samizdat". | |
Infinite Jest / int_18d15922 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_18d15922 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_18d15922 | |
Infinite Jest / int_1c79ae8c | type |
Those Two Guys | |
Infinite Jest / int_1c79ae8c | comment |
Those Two Guys: The Enfield Academy custodians Kenkle and Brandt serve as this. | |
Infinite Jest / int_1c79ae8c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_1c79ae8c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_1c79ae8c | |
Infinite Jest / int_1d47dc06 | type |
Alternative Calendar | |
Infinite Jest / int_1d47dc06 | comment |
Alternative Calendar: In DFW's alternate future, even the names of years have been sold for ad space, leading to such confusing chronological reference points as the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment and the Year of the Perdue Wonderchicken. | |
Infinite Jest / int_1d47dc06 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_1d47dc06 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_1d47dc06 | |
Infinite Jest / int_1da5941e | type |
The Quiet One | |
Infinite Jest / int_1da5941e | comment |
The Quiet One: John Wayne doesn't talk much. Hal's narration frequently notes the grim, machine-like quality he has about him. | |
Infinite Jest / int_1da5941e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_1da5941e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_1da5941e | |
Infinite Jest / int_1e584efa | type |
Cruel and Unusual Death | |
Infinite Jest / int_1e584efa | comment |
Cruel and Unusual Death: Standard procedure for the A.F.R. They seem to be particularly fond of using railroad spikes. Self-inflicted by James Incandenza, who puts his head in a microwave oven, which apparently caused said head to "pop like an uncut spud". He may have been trying to destroy the cartridge implanted in his brain. | |
Infinite Jest / int_1e584efa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_1e584efa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_1e584efa | |
Infinite Jest / int_2059a430 | type |
The Hedonist | |
Infinite Jest / int_2059a430 | comment |
The Hedonist: Humans in general, judging from the anecdote about brain pleasure circuit stimulation getting tons of volunteers and the overall theme of people getting pleasure from drugs, etc. | |
Infinite Jest / int_2059a430 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2059a430 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_2059a430 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2139c878 | type |
Church Militant | |
Infinite Jest / int_2139c878 | comment |
Church Militant: The nuns in James O. Incandenza's film 'Blood Sister: One Tough Nun'. | |
Infinite Jest / int_2139c878 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2139c878 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_2139c878 | |
Infinite Jest / int_21d70919 | type |
Crapsack World | |
Infinite Jest / int_21d70919 | comment |
More likely a case of Crapsack World with regard to DRM. InterLace spontaneous dissemination and pulse (streaming) is mentioned as a capability on the more top-of-the-line devices, but the paperwork and verification needed to receive even a one-time pulse is noted to be so draconian and complex that most people just opt to rent cartridges. | |
Infinite Jest / int_21d70919 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_21d70919 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_21d70919 | |
Infinite Jest / int_24ddbe2b | type |
Saw "Star Wars" Twenty-Seven Times | |
Infinite Jest / int_24ddbe2b | comment |
Saw M*A*S*H Twenty Seven Times: Played for Drama when Steeply recounts how his late father would obsessively watch reruns of the show. | |
Infinite Jest / int_24ddbe2b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_24ddbe2b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_24ddbe2b | |
Infinite Jest / int_27690f66 | type |
Literary Allusion Title | |
Infinite Jest / int_27690f66 | comment |
Literary Allusion Title: Alas, poor Yorick.... | |
Infinite Jest / int_27690f66 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_27690f66 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_27690f66 | |
Infinite Jest / int_28cd01ca | type |
Disappeared Dad | |
Infinite Jest / int_28cd01ca | comment |
Disappeared Dad: Very common for characters in the novel. | |
Infinite Jest / int_28cd01ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_28cd01ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_28cd01ca | |
Infinite Jest / int_2cbaa888 | type |
Empty Shell | |
Infinite Jest / int_2cbaa888 | comment |
Empty Shell: The fate of those who watch "The Entertainment". | |
Infinite Jest / int_2cbaa888 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2cbaa888 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_2cbaa888 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2cd22076 | type |
Fantastic Drug | |
Infinite Jest / int_2cd22076 | comment |
Fantastic Drug: The incredibly potent DMZ. Described as "acid that has itself dropped acid", its hallucinogenic properties are rumored to be so powerful that it may cause the user to permanently lose the ability to communicate with the rest of the world. Hal and Pemulis are still eager to experiment with it. | |
Infinite Jest / int_2cd22076 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2cd22076 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_2cd22076 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2d4fa515 | type |
Ax-Crazy | |
Infinite Jest / int_2d4fa515 | comment |
Ax-Crazy: "C" insists on murdering everyone he and his junkie friends rob. The unnamed narrator of the chapter he appears in convinces him to settle for severe beatings. | |
Infinite Jest / int_2d4fa515 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2d4fa515 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_2d4fa515 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2d6f00e4 | type |
Psycho for Hire | |
Infinite Jest / int_2d6f00e4 | comment |
Psycho for Hire: Bobby C for Whitey Sorkin. | |
Infinite Jest / int_2d6f00e4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2d6f00e4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_2d6f00e4 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2edc82a0 | type |
Accidental Athlete | |
Infinite Jest / int_2edc82a0 | comment |
Accidental Athlete: Orin Incandenza, the older brother in the family, starts out playing tennis, and is really good at it. He goes to Boston University, and finding that college tennis doesn't really suit him, he tries out for the football team, only to find that he isn't big enough. As he is leaving the try-out, he punts a football, and the coach realizes he is a really good kicker...because of the tennis (tennis has a tendency to really work out one's leg muscles and often leaves one side stronger than the other, to boot). | |
Infinite Jest / int_2edc82a0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_2edc82a0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_2edc82a0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_3036294e | type |
Scary Black Man | |
Infinite Jest / int_3036294e | comment |
Scary Black Man: Roy Tony, as Erdedy finds out when his hugs are refused. | |
Infinite Jest / int_3036294e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_3036294e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_3036294e | |
Infinite Jest / int_31fa019d | type |
All Psychology Is Freudian | |
Infinite Jest / int_31fa019d | comment |
All Psychology Is Freudian: ETA's counselor Dolores Rusk approaches sessions with students as such, leading to them avoiding her. | |
Infinite Jest / int_31fa019d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_31fa019d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_31fa019d | |
Infinite Jest / int_334b7f3a | type |
Cryptic Background Reference | |
Infinite Jest / int_334b7f3a | comment |
Cryptic Background Reference: Characters' internal narration often references events from their past without explaining what they are. Most of these get an explanation as the book progresses. | |
Infinite Jest / int_334b7f3a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_334b7f3a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_334b7f3a | |
Infinite Jest / int_33c2b1e2 | type |
Best Served Cold | |
Infinite Jest / int_33c2b1e2 | comment |
Best Served Cold: Pemulis' philosophy when it comes to revenge, as Miles Penn can attest. | |
Infinite Jest / int_33c2b1e2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_33c2b1e2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_33c2b1e2 | |
Infinite Jest / int_36c64123 | type |
Gentle Giant | |
Infinite Jest / int_36c64123 | comment |
Gentle Giant: Downplayed with Don Gately, played straight with Lucien Antitoi. | |
Infinite Jest / int_36c64123 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_36c64123 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_36c64123 | |
Infinite Jest / int_393ec3f9 | type |
Zeerust | |
Infinite Jest / int_393ec3f9 | comment |
Zeerust: Although the popularity of cartridge rental anticipates Netflix, Wallace didn't seem to predict that people would rather do away with physical media altogether and just stream their entertainment. More likely a case of Crapsack World with regard to DRM. InterLace spontaneous dissemination and pulse (streaming) is mentioned as a capability on the more top-of-the-line devices, but the paperwork and verification needed to receive even a one-time pulse is noted to be so draconian and complex that most people just opt to rent cartridges. | |
Infinite Jest / int_393ec3f9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_393ec3f9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_393ec3f9 | |
Infinite Jest / int_3b39c254 | type |
Dystopia | |
Infinite Jest / int_3b39c254 | comment |
Dystopia: Downplayed in that it doesn't affect the main characters' lives much, but the O.N.A.N. is in pretty bad shape, what with the toxic waste crisis, Canadian terrorism and corporate-sponsored calendar. | |
Infinite Jest / int_3b39c254 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_3b39c254 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_3b39c254 | |
Infinite Jest / int_3b9b21c9 | type |
So Beautiful, It's a Curse | |
Infinite Jest / int_3b9b21c9 | comment |
So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Joelle van Dyne is so beautiful people have serious trouble interacting with her face-to-face. It may or may not be the real reason she wears the veil. | |
Infinite Jest / int_3b9b21c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_3b9b21c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_3b9b21c9 | |
Infinite Jest / int_415b3315 | type |
Stylistic Suck | |
Infinite Jest / int_415b3315 | comment |
Stylistic Suck: Both of the segments narrated by illiterate characters (Clenette Henderson and Emil "yrstruly" Minty). The J.O. Incandenza filmography, to a certain degree. | |
Infinite Jest / int_415b3315 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_415b3315 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_415b3315 | |
Infinite Jest / int_41f45fa2 | type |
Inexplicably Awesome | |
Infinite Jest / int_41f45fa2 | comment |
Inexplicably Awesome: We never do find out who the hell E.T.A. "guru" Lyle really is. | |
Infinite Jest / int_41f45fa2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_41f45fa2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_41f45fa2 | |
Infinite Jest / int_424c9a9b | type |
Cold-Blooded Torture | |
Infinite Jest / int_424c9a9b | comment |
Cold-Blooded Torture: The gruesome demise of Eugene Fackelmann. | |
Infinite Jest / int_424c9a9b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_424c9a9b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_424c9a9b | |
Infinite Jest / int_434d893c | type |
Funny Foreigner | |
Infinite Jest / int_434d893c | comment |
Funny Foreigner: The Pakistani ETA student Idris Arslanian has a number of quirks like speaking too formally, being a devout Muslim, and smelling of hotdogs. | |
Infinite Jest / int_434d893c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_434d893c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_434d893c | |
Infinite Jest / int_43ae1aba | type |
World's Most Beautiful Woman | |
Infinite Jest / int_43ae1aba | comment |
World's Most Beautiful Woman: Or rather the Prettiest Girl Of All Time. | |
Infinite Jest / int_43ae1aba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_43ae1aba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_43ae1aba | |
Infinite Jest / int_47fea76b | type |
Butt-Monkey | |
Infinite Jest / int_47fea76b | comment |
Butt-Monkey: The aptly-nicknamed "Poor" Tony Krause. If he appears in a chapter, something nasty will happen to him. | |
Infinite Jest / int_47fea76b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_47fea76b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_47fea76b | |
Infinite Jest / int_4e3d253b | type |
Downer Ending | |
Infinite Jest / int_4e3d253b | comment |
Downer Ending: The first chapter, which chronologically serves as an epilogue to the book, ends with Hal completely incapable of forming coherent sentences or communicating with other people, and as a result losing his chance at a tennis scholarship and being put in an institution. | |
Infinite Jest / int_4e3d253b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_4e3d253b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_4e3d253b | |
Infinite Jest / int_5009999d | type |
Painting the Medium | |
Infinite Jest / int_5009999d | comment |
Painting the Medium: Word choice, diction, and other text characteristics are affected by the viewpoint of the particular character in that part, with deviations addressed in footnotes. | |
Infinite Jest / int_5009999d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5009999d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_5009999d | |
Infinite Jest / int_500ecfb7 | type |
The Big Guy | |
Infinite Jest / int_500ecfb7 | comment |
The Big Guy: Don Gately, Lucien Antitoi, Roy Tony. Teddy Schacht is a teenage version. | |
Infinite Jest / int_500ecfb7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_500ecfb7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_500ecfb7 | |
Infinite Jest / int_51561f43 | type |
Hurricane of Euphemisms | |
Infinite Jest / int_51561f43 | comment |
Hurricane of Euphemisms: A signature of Troeltsch, ETA's aspiring newscaster, who commentates matches with many synonyms for "beating" someone at a tennis game. | |
Infinite Jest / int_51561f43 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_51561f43 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_51561f43 | |
Infinite Jest / int_54fdbff5 | type |
The Eeyore | |
Infinite Jest / int_54fdbff5 | comment |
The Eeyore: Kate Gompert. Played for laughs and for drama at different points. | |
Infinite Jest / int_54fdbff5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_54fdbff5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_54fdbff5 | |
Infinite Jest / int_55940b68 | type |
Doorstopper | |
Infinite Jest / int_55940b68 | comment |
Doorstopper: This baby clocks in at a mean 1079 pages, including the (required) appendix. It's so intimidating that an on-line support group was formed to help those who'd always meant to but never quite managed to finish it, a full thirteen years after its initial publication. | |
Infinite Jest / int_55940b68 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_55940b68 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_55940b68 | |
Infinite Jest / int_56515a39 | type |
Artistic License – History | |
Infinite Jest / int_56515a39 | comment |
Artistic License – History: In-universe example by both Mario and James Sr.'s portrayals of ONAN history. | |
Infinite Jest / int_56515a39 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_56515a39 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_56515a39 | |
Infinite Jest / int_57a937f1 | type |
Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut | |
Infinite Jest / int_57a937f1 | comment |
Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut: "Brocken" is no "Bröcken" (more examples available). So Wälläce didn't do his hömewörk or, since it sounds unbelievable, did it on (whatever) pürpöse. | |
Infinite Jest / int_57a937f1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_57a937f1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_57a937f1 | |
Infinite Jest / int_57c25438 | type |
Green Thumb | |
Infinite Jest / int_57c25438 | comment |
Green Thumb: A side-effect of the annular fusion reaction, causing rapid detofixication of pollutants and subsequent uncontrolled plant growth. | |
Infinite Jest / int_57c25438 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_57c25438 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_57c25438 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5aa8d3d8 | type |
Friendly Enemy | |
Infinite Jest / int_5aa8d3d8 | comment |
Friendly Enemy: Steeply and Marathe get along. | |
Infinite Jest / int_5aa8d3d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5aa8d3d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_5aa8d3d8 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5bc1ce14 | type |
Author Vocabulary Calendar | |
Infinite Jest / int_5bc1ce14 | comment |
Author Vocabulary Calendar: A novel this size, one could be forgiven for assuming this out of hand, but nope. Aside from some Future Slang and tennis terminology (which is always explained), conversational English reigns throughout. Admittedly, there are a fair number of oddball ten-dollar words tossed in... but only where it would suit the voice of the viewpoint character, in which case it's seamlessly blended into ordinary conversational English. Played with to go along with the theme of everyone being full of things that are impossible to communicate. Say, early on, when James Incandenza mentions a few hugely important plot points, but before you have the context to know why they're important, and in such dense, obscure words that your eyes slide right off. | |
Infinite Jest / int_5bc1ce14 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5bc1ce14 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_5bc1ce14 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5beef860 | type |
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? | |
Infinite Jest / int_5beef860 | comment |
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Orin is terrified of roaches. The A.F.R. uses this against him. | |
Infinite Jest / int_5beef860 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5beef860 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_5beef860 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5db59a03 | type |
Brown Note | |
Infinite Jest / int_5db59a03 | comment |
Brown Note: The eponymous "Entertainment" is a short film apparently so captivating that anyone unfortunate enough to see it will become hopelessly and irreversibly addicted to it, wanting to do nothing but continue watching it again and again, even at the cost of physical harm to themselves. According to a source that may or may not be reliable, it features the World's Most Beautiful Woman apologizing to her baby/the viewer, probably for killing them in their previous life. | |
Infinite Jest / int_5db59a03 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5db59a03 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_5db59a03 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5ee2f7cc | type |
My Secret Pregnancy | |
Infinite Jest / int_5ee2f7cc | comment |
My Secret Pregnancy: Avril Incandenza was not aware she was pregnant with Mario until his premature and surgically assisted birth. | |
Infinite Jest / int_5ee2f7cc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_5ee2f7cc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_5ee2f7cc | |
Infinite Jest / int_60441d9 | type |
Future Slang | |
Infinite Jest / int_60441d9 | comment |
Future Slang: Inspired by the creation of The Great Concavity/Convexity, the word "map" has come to mean "face," and so to "erase someone's map" has come to mean murder or horrible disfigurement, while "erasing your own map" refers to suicide. There's also local Boston slang, some of which (like "mitt" for "meter") is almost certainly fictional, while some (like "eating cheese" for "ratting someone out") might or might not be. | |
Infinite Jest / int_60441d9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_60441d9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_60441d9 | |
Infinite Jest / int_606244c2 | type |
Parental Incest | |
Infinite Jest / int_606244c2 | comment |
Parental Incest: Pemulis' older brother was raped by his father as a child. So was the comatose sister of one unnamed Boston AA speaker. Avril Incandenza seemingly has John Wayne role-play as Orin while they have sex. Joelle's dad is in love with her, though we don't know if he ever tried to act on his feelings. | |
Infinite Jest / int_606244c2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_606244c2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_606244c2 | |
Infinite Jest / int_61a503a7 | type |
Hell Is That Noise | |
Infinite Jest / int_61a503a7 | comment |
Hell Is That Noise: One of the creepiest things about the AFR is a sound identified as "The Squeak", coming from their wheels. Naturally, if you hear "The Squeak", you're royally screwed. | |
Infinite Jest / int_61a503a7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_61a503a7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_61a503a7 | |
Infinite Jest / int_625e9470 | type |
Cooperation Gambit | |
Infinite Jest / int_625e9470 | comment |
Cooperation Gambit: The America First and remediation platform of Gentle's CUSP was supported by both right-wing nationalists and left-wing environmentalists. | |
Infinite Jest / int_625e9470 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_625e9470 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_625e9470 | |
Infinite Jest / int_6627695f | type |
Author Appeal | |
Infinite Jest / int_6627695f | comment |
Author Appeal: David Foster Wallace was a pretty good tennis player in his youth, reaching the top levels of junior tennis in high school. It makes some sense that he'd set some of the novel around a tennis academy. Author Avatar: Hal Incandenza resembles Wallace himself in his youth to some degree. However, the trope is not used in any way beyond these resemblances simply existing. Indeed, although his empathy for the character is obvious, one would have to have read Wallace's biography and probably some of his nonfiction to even see the actual similarities. Also, James' work is described once or twice as deliberately abstruse and unentertaining, seeming in some ways hostile to the audience. | |
Infinite Jest / int_6627695f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_6627695f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_6627695f | |
Infinite Jest / int_66755d29 | type |
Author Avatar | |
Infinite Jest / int_66755d29 | comment |
Author Avatar: Hal Incandenza resembles Wallace himself in his youth to some degree. However, the trope is not used in any way beyond these resemblances simply existing. Indeed, although his empathy for the character is obvious, one would have to have read Wallace's biography and probably some of his nonfiction to even see the actual similarities. Also, James' work is described once or twice as deliberately abstruse and unentertaining, seeming in some ways hostile to the audience. | |
Infinite Jest / int_66755d29 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_66755d29 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_66755d29 | |
Infinite Jest / int_67d90683 | type |
Fictional Political Party | |
Infinite Jest / int_67d90683 | comment |
Fictional Political Party: President Gentle's Clean US Party. Yes, as in "CUSP." | |
Infinite Jest / int_67d90683 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_67d90683 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_67d90683 | |
Infinite Jest / int_6b35bdff | type |
Serious Business | |
Infinite Jest / int_6b35bdff | comment |
Serious Business: Tennis. While it's mostly justified by Enfield being a tennis academy, Schtitt's pseudo-Fichtian speeches kind of push it. | |
Infinite Jest / int_6b35bdff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_6b35bdff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_6b35bdff | |
Infinite Jest / int_6bda9a30 | type |
Meaningful Name | |
Infinite Jest / int_6bda9a30 | comment |
Meaningful Name: "Incandenza" sounds rather like "incandescent", which means "emitting visible light as a result of being heated". This relates to James's work as a light physicist and hints at how "bright" many of the Incandenzas are. | |
Infinite Jest / int_6bda9a30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_6bda9a30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_6bda9a30 | |
Infinite Jest / int_6d089995 | type |
The Shrink | |
Infinite Jest / int_6d089995 | comment |
The Shrink: Dolores Rusk and the unnamed grief counselor Hal is sent to after his dad's suicide are the well-meaning-but-useless kind. The narrative makes it somewhat murky whether they're genuinely incompetent or their patients are just refusing help, especially in the latter's case. | |
Infinite Jest / int_6d089995 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_6d089995 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_6d089995 | |
Infinite Jest / int_7043a964 | type |
Grammar Nazi | |
Infinite Jest / int_7043a964 | comment |
Grammar Nazi: Avril Incandenza, in both the best and worst possible ways. Case in point, her crusade to change "10 Items or Less" to "10 Items or Fewer" is repeatedly brought up when discussing her. Hal reads the Oxford English Dictionary for fun, and it shows. | |
Infinite Jest / int_7043a964 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_7043a964 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_7043a964 | |
Infinite Jest / int_715704e5 | type |
Jigsaw Puzzle Plot | |
Infinite Jest / int_715704e5 | comment |
Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: There's no picture on the box, and at least half of the pieces seem to be missing, but since nobody actually knows how many pieces there are supposed to be...well, good luck, kid. | |
Infinite Jest / int_715704e5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_715704e5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_715704e5 | |
Infinite Jest / int_71ff7f0d | type |
Cooked to Death | |
Infinite Jest / int_71ff7f0d | comment |
Cooked to Death: Disturbed genius filmmaker James Incadenza kills himself by rigging a microwave so he can stick his head in while it's running. The results are compared to sticking an unsliced potato in. | |
Infinite Jest / int_71ff7f0d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_71ff7f0d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_71ff7f0d | |
Infinite Jest / int_75c952bf | type |
Our Presidents Are Different | |
Infinite Jest / int_75c952bf | comment |
Our Presidents Are Different: President Johnny Gentle, former lounge singer and rabid germaphobe, but also responsible for turning a vast swath of Northeastern US and Southeastern Canada into a hazardous waste dump, falls somewhere between President Buffoon and President Lunatic. | |
Infinite Jest / int_75c952bf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_75c952bf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_75c952bf | |
Infinite Jest / int_766c1cc6 | type |
Who Would Be Stupid Enough? | |
Infinite Jest / int_766c1cc6 | comment |
Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: No one seems willing to believe that the death of Guillaume DuPlessis was just a bungled robbery. Which it was. | |
Infinite Jest / int_766c1cc6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_766c1cc6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_766c1cc6 | |
Infinite Jest / int_7ad2c23d | type |
ShoutOutToShakespeare | |
Infinite Jest / int_7ad2c23d | comment |
Shout-Out to Shakespeare: Hamlet references abound. The title is pinched from a monologue by the perplexed prince himself. Himself's film company is named Poor Yorick Entertainment. Both stories prominently feature usurped father figures. Hamlet begins with a question: "Who's there?" IJ begins by answering "I am." There's also a pair of janitors who bear a striking resemblance to Hamlet's gravedigger. | |
Infinite Jest / int_7ad2c23d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_7ad2c23d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_7ad2c23d | |
Infinite Jest / int_7eebe99c | type |
The Alcoholic | |
Infinite Jest / int_7eebe99c | comment |
The Alcoholic: James O. Incandenza, Jr. (and Sr.), and a few others besides. Junior seemed to be functioning until shortly before his death, though. | |
Infinite Jest / int_7eebe99c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_7eebe99c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_7eebe99c | |
Infinite Jest / int_80251be3 | type |
How We Got Here | |
Infinite Jest / int_80251be3 | comment |
How We Got Here: Subverted, since the reader is never told the exact nature of "here". | |
Infinite Jest / int_80251be3 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Infinite Jest / int_80251be3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_80251be3 | |
Infinite Jest / int_820ac3c5 | type |
Dysfunction Junction | |
Infinite Jest / int_820ac3c5 | comment |
Dysfunction Junction: All of the characters in the book seem to have issues growing up, with drugs, etc. | |
Infinite Jest / int_820ac3c5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_820ac3c5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_820ac3c5 | |
Infinite Jest / int_83a903f6 | type |
Stepford Smiler | |
Infinite Jest / int_83a903f6 | comment |
Stepford Smiler: One aspect of Avril Incandenza. Someone tells a story about how when Orin accidentally (and horrifically) killed her dog, she went on calmly acting as though nothing had happened in order not to upset him. | |
Infinite Jest / int_83a903f6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_83a903f6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_83a903f6 | |
Infinite Jest / int_8b568cb7 | type |
Posthumous Character | |
Infinite Jest / int_8b568cb7 | comment |
Posthumous Character: James Incandenza is the most prominent example, but there are others, such as Eugene Fackelmann. | |
Infinite Jest / int_8b568cb7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_8b568cb7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_8b568cb7 | |
Infinite Jest / int_8b6e8d7 | type |
Anachronic Order | |
Infinite Jest / int_8b6e8d7 | comment |
Anachronic Order: The book starts sometime after the end of the plot, and then cycles back through the year or so leading up to that point. And then you're still not quite sure what happened. | |
Infinite Jest / int_8b6e8d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_8b6e8d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_8b6e8d7 | |
Infinite Jest / int_8e054b09 | type |
College Radio | |
Infinite Jest / int_8e054b09 | comment |
College Radio: Joelle Van Dyne/Madame Psychosis has a program at WYYY called 60 Minutes, More or Less that consists of her reading various things aloud to the audience against a background of dark ambient music. | |
Infinite Jest / int_8e054b09 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_8e054b09 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_8e054b09 | |
Infinite Jest / int_8e20ae0d | type |
Child Prodigy | |
Infinite Jest / int_8e20ae0d | comment |
Child Prodigy: Hal Incandenza was one. He retains his prodigious photographic memory and total recall of multiple dictionary, but nowadays the focus is more on him being a tennis prodigy, having suddenly gone from a good to an incredible player at age 17 - something that almost never happens in tennis. The weight of talent and potential and the effect they have on people (Hal and his dad in particular) is one of the themes of the novel. | |
Infinite Jest / int_8e20ae0d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_8e20ae0d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_8e20ae0d | |
Infinite Jest / int_8fe6b348 | type |
Sir Swears-a-Lot | |
Infinite Jest / int_8fe6b348 | comment |
Sir Swearsalot: Eugenio Martinez, a Filipino staff member at Ennet House, accentuates his strange analogies with strong words. | |
Infinite Jest / int_8fe6b348 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_8fe6b348 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_8fe6b348 | |
Infinite Jest / int_952f8f26 | type |
Deadly Prank | |
Infinite Jest / int_952f8f26 | comment |
Deadly Prank: Pemulis tries to play an electric-buzzer-type prank on Dolores Rusk. He ends up almost killing a cleaning lady. | |
Infinite Jest / int_952f8f26 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_952f8f26 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_952f8f26 | |
Infinite Jest / int_970c790a | type |
Big Bad | |
Infinite Jest / int_970c790a | comment |
Big Bad: The closest thing the novel has to one is probably M. Fortier, Marathe's superior in the AFR and the one masterminding the search for the Entertainment. The narration notes that some people see Rod Tine as this, but within the story itself he's mostly depicted trying to contain and react to the assassins' actions. | |
Infinite Jest / int_970c790a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_970c790a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_970c790a | |
Infinite Jest / int_97926168 | type |
Rewatch Bonus | |
Infinite Jest / int_97926168 | comment |
Reread Bonus: Early references often don't have the context revealed until later in the book. | |
Infinite Jest / int_97926168 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_97926168 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_97926168 | |
Infinite Jest / int_9d6e002e | type |
Whole Episode Flashback | |
Infinite Jest / int_9d6e002e | comment |
Whole Episode Flashback | |
Infinite Jest / int_9d6e002e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_9d6e002e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_9d6e002e | |
Infinite Jest / int_9dd2af4a | type |
Inspirationally Disadvantaged | |
Infinite Jest / int_9dd2af4a | comment |
Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Mario Incandenza's optimism in the face of a long list of disabilities is nearly this, but his character gets enough depth to avert it. Also averted by Marathe's wife, who is clearly a grotesque and pathetic mess. | |
Infinite Jest / int_9dd2af4a | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_9dd2af4a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_9dd2af4a | |
Infinite Jest / int_9df812ad | type |
Tiny Guy, Huge Girl | |
Infinite Jest / int_9df812ad | comment |
Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: James Incandenza states that his mother was taller than his father. Additionally, the statuesque Avril is having an affair with her diminutive stepbrother, Charles Tavis. Repeated again in The Pale King, where a character's father is shorter than his mother. | |
Infinite Jest / int_9df812ad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_9df812ad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_9df812ad | |
Infinite Jest / int_a188ac4b | type |
Overly Long Gag | |
Infinite Jest / int_a188ac4b | comment |
Overly Long Gag: A meta version with the extremely lengthy endotes, some of which are so long they contain their own footnotes (although there often is at least a little plot-relevant information buried in there somewhere). Examples include the endnote that lists James Orin Incandenza's entire filmography and the long phone conversation between Hal and Orin. | |
Infinite Jest / int_a188ac4b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_a188ac4b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_a188ac4b | |
Infinite Jest / int_a2b38d3b | type |
Eye Scream | |
Infinite Jest / int_a2b38d3b | comment |
Eye Scream: Again, what happens to Fackelmann. | |
Infinite Jest / int_a2b38d3b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_a2b38d3b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_a2b38d3b | |
Infinite Jest / int_a86069f | type |
Alternate History | |
Infinite Jest / int_a86069f | comment |
Alternate History: Diverges in the 90s, with such events like the construction of the Superconducting Super Collidernote cancelled in 1993, MIT Language Riots, the dissolution of NATO, and: | |
Infinite Jest / int_a86069f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_a86069f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_a86069f | |
Infinite Jest / int_a8a04f6f | type |
And I Must Scream | |
Infinite Jest / int_a8a04f6f | comment |
And I Must Scream: The fate of Hal Incandenza. That's not a spoiler; it's in the first chapter. | |
Infinite Jest / int_a8a04f6f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_a8a04f6f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_a8a04f6f | |
Infinite Jest / int_ab2df806 | type |
Red Baron | |
Infinite Jest / int_ab2df806 | comment |
Red Baron: E.T.A.'s Keith Freer attempts to invoke the trope by calling himself "The Viking", but most of his peers don't go along with it. | |
Infinite Jest / int_ab2df806 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ab2df806 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_ab2df806 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ab5ef919 | type |
Hermit Guru | |
Infinite Jest / int_ab5ef919 | comment |
Hermit Guru: Played with by ETA guru Lyle, who spends his time in the ETA weight room alone at night and dispenses words of wisdom to those who offer their sweat. | |
Infinite Jest / int_ab5ef919 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ab5ef919 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_ab5ef919 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ad22dd72 | type |
Elaborate University High | |
Infinite Jest / int_ad22dd72 | comment |
Elaborate University High: Enfield Tennis Academy. It's got underground tunnels. | |
Infinite Jest / int_ad22dd72 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ad22dd72 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_ad22dd72 | |
Infinite Jest / int_b2af79fb | type |
Leave the Camera Running | |
Infinite Jest / int_b2af79fb | comment |
Leave the Camera Running: James' film Cage III, which consisted of the movie audience being filmed until they got fed up and left. | |
Infinite Jest / int_b2af79fb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_b2af79fb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_b2af79fb | |
Infinite Jest / int_b434558 | type |
Video Phone | |
Infinite Jest / int_b434558 | comment |
Video Phone: Mockingly discussed in a passage which describes how widespread videophone use made people increasingly concerned about their physical appearance, leading to most people wearing elaborate masks whenever they used the phone (and, later, just switching back to normal phones). | |
Infinite Jest / int_b434558 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_b434558 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_b434558 | |
Infinite Jest / int_bf1255fa | type |
Really Gets Around | |
Infinite Jest / int_bf1255fa | comment |
Really Gets Around: By most reports, Avril Incandenza would sleep with anything male, except for her husband. Orin seems to have inherited this particular trait. | |
Infinite Jest / int_bf1255fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_bf1255fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_bf1255fa | |
Infinite Jest / int_c0afd51a | type |
Evil Cripple | |
Infinite Jest / int_c0afd51a | comment |
Evil Cripple: Les Assassins des Fauteuils Rollents, a.k.a. The Wheelchair Assassins of Southern Québec. How there's so many of these guys who need wheelchairs is explained by a game that kids in the area play: trying to jump across train tracks at the last possible second before the train comes. | |
Infinite Jest / int_c0afd51a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_c0afd51a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_c0afd51a | |
Infinite Jest / int_c2393191 | type |
Show Within a Show | |
Infinite Jest / int_c2393191 | comment |
Show Within a Show: Mario's puppet show, several excerpts from James O. Incandenza's filmography. The aforementioned puppet show, which is intended as a political satire, also serves as a framing device for most of what we know of the Gentle administration. | |
Infinite Jest / int_c2393191 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_c2393191 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_c2393191 | |
Infinite Jest / int_c25c7890 | type |
Fun with Acronyms | |
Infinite Jest / int_c25c7890 | comment |
Fun with Acronyms: In spades. For starters, America, Canada, and Mexico have merged to form the Organization of North American Nations, or O.N.A.N. Rest assured that the term 'O.N.A.Nistic' appears at some point. Also the 'Union of the Hideously and Improbably Deformed' (UHID), whose members wear a face-concealing veil in public. Let's not forget the Wounded, Hurting, Inadequately Nurtured but Ever-Recovering Survivors (WHINERS). | |
Infinite Jest / int_c25c7890 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_c25c7890 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_c25c7890 | |
Infinite Jest / int_c2ab0eaf | type |
Double Agent | |
Infinite Jest / int_c2ab0eaf | comment |
Double Agent: Remy Marathe is actually a "quadruple agent"...possibly becoming a "quintuple agent" later on. | |
Infinite Jest / int_c2ab0eaf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_c2ab0eaf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_c2ab0eaf | |
Infinite Jest / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
Infinite Jest / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: Don W. Gately shares his initials with famous film director D. W. Griffith. Likely intentional, given the prominent role film art plays in the book. The chapter concerning yrstruly, and his dealing with "C", is written in the style of William S. Burroughs, particularly Naked Lunch. | |
Infinite Jest / int_c75df49a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_c75df49a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_c75df49a | |
Infinite Jest / int_c8ddff0c | type |
Gross-Out Show | |
Infinite Jest / int_c8ddff0c | comment |
Grossout Novel: There's really quite a lot of disgusting (and meticulously described) bodily stuff going on in this book. Some of it is played for drama, some of it for laughs. Sometimes both at the same time, like Gately and Fackelmann lying around in their own urine. | |
Infinite Jest / int_c8ddff0c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_c8ddff0c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_c8ddff0c | |
Infinite Jest / int_cbaa9102 | type |
Signature Headgear | |
Infinite Jest / int_cbaa9102 | comment |
Signature Headgear: Pemulis is almost never without his yachting cap, the lining of which can be detached to store drugs. | |
Infinite Jest / int_cbaa9102 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_cbaa9102 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_cbaa9102 | |
Infinite Jest / int_d028e0da | type |
An Arm and a Leg | |
Infinite Jest / int_d028e0da | comment |
An Arm and a Leg: Burt Smith loses his hands and feet to frostbite after being savagely beaten and left out in a snowstorm. He ends up staying in Ennet House with one of the perpetrators. | |
Infinite Jest / int_d028e0da | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_d028e0da | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_d028e0da | |
Infinite Jest / int_d05cf3f | type |
Footnote Fever | |
Infinite Jest / int_d05cf3f | comment |
Footnote Fever: The story proper ends at page 981, with the remaining 96 pages being taken up by 388 end notes, some of which are several pages long, and a few more which have their own footnotes and/or end notes. Readers quickly figure out that the only way to avoid permanent damage is to use two bookmarks: One for your place in the main text, and the other for where you are in the end notes. Wallace said in interviews that he wanted to fracture the text while still leaving it readable. | |
Infinite Jest / int_d05cf3f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_d05cf3f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_d05cf3f | |
Infinite Jest / int_d17eaa9f | type |
Postmodernism | |
Infinite Jest / int_d17eaa9f | comment |
Postmodernism | |
Infinite Jest / int_d17eaa9f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_d17eaa9f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_d17eaa9f | |
Infinite Jest / int_d52d28b6 | type |
Hypocrite | |
Infinite Jest / int_d52d28b6 | comment |
Hypocrite: Randy Lenz blames his continuing cocaine use on how insufferable everyone around him is. | |
Infinite Jest / int_d52d28b6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_d52d28b6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_d52d28b6 | |
Infinite Jest / int_d848560f | type |
Unusual Euphemism | |
Infinite Jest / int_d848560f | comment |
Unusual Euphemism: "Technical interviews" for interrogations (usually enhanced) and "kertwangs" referring to undesirable things happening to oneself. | |
Infinite Jest / int_d848560f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_d848560f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_d848560f | |
Infinite Jest / int_d94ff9b3 | type |
Wall of Text | |
Infinite Jest / int_d94ff9b3 | comment |
Wall of Text: 90% of the book barely have paragraph breaks. | |
Infinite Jest / int_d94ff9b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_d94ff9b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_d94ff9b3 | |
Infinite Jest / int_db33bc7e | type |
Ludicrous Gibs | |
Infinite Jest / int_db33bc7e | comment |
Self-inflicted by James Incandenza, who puts his head in a microwave oven, which apparently caused said head to "pop like an uncut spud". He may have been trying to destroy the cartridge implanted in his brain. | |
Infinite Jest / int_db33bc7e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_db33bc7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_db33bc7e | |
Infinite Jest / int_e150c4c7 | type |
Manchild | |
Infinite Jest / int_e150c4c7 | comment |
Manchild: Literally, with a group where grown men act like children in a strange form of therapy. | |
Infinite Jest / int_e150c4c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e150c4c7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_e150c4c7 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e1fa8421 | type |
Dead Person Conversation | |
Infinite Jest / int_e1fa8421 | comment |
Dead Person Conversation: The wraith of James Incandenza may be visiting one or more of the other characters. | |
Infinite Jest / int_e1fa8421 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e1fa8421 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_e1fa8421 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e1fcb183 | type |
Loony Laws | |
Infinite Jest / int_e1fcb183 | comment |
Loony Laws: Legal parking in Boston switching sides every midnight, causing a dash to move one's car to the other side of the road before traffic enforcement slaps a fine. | |
Infinite Jest / int_e1fcb183 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e1fcb183 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_e1fcb183 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e3109dae | type |
Switching P.O.V. | |
Infinite Jest / int_e3109dae | comment |
Switching P.O.V.: Occurs frequently, including once mid-paragraph (from Gately to Erdedy during the fight with the Canadians outside Ennet House). | |
Infinite Jest / int_e3109dae | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e3109dae | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_e3109dae | |
Infinite Jest / int_e542d889 | type |
Gorn | |
Infinite Jest / int_e542d889 | comment |
Gorn: The deaths of Lucien Antitoi and Eugene Fackelmann. James Incandenza gets a Gory Discretion Shot. Mostly. | |
Infinite Jest / int_e542d889 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e542d889 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_e542d889 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e663d3ef | type |
Only a Flesh Wound | |
Infinite Jest / int_e663d3ef | comment |
Only a Flesh Wound: Subverted when Don Gately is shot in the shoulder. | |
Infinite Jest / int_e663d3ef | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e663d3ef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_e663d3ef | |
Infinite Jest / int_e90f8e37 | type |
Lady Looks Like a Dude | |
Infinite Jest / int_e90f8e37 | comment |
Lady Looks Like a Dude: Ann Kittenplan is a younger ETA student with a muscular build and mustache, implied to be due to steroid abuse. | |
Infinite Jest / int_e90f8e37 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_e90f8e37 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_e90f8e37 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ea2e9f2d | type |
No Ending | |
Infinite Jest / int_ea2e9f2d | comment |
No Ending: There is something of a gap between the ending of the story and the prologue, which chronologically is also the epilogue, so most of the plot lines are left dangling. | |
Infinite Jest / int_ea2e9f2d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ea2e9f2d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_ea2e9f2d | |
Infinite Jest / int_eaf5a1ac | type |
Groin Attack | |
Infinite Jest / int_eaf5a1ac | comment |
Groin Attack: Played to a sickening degree in Gately's fight against the Canadians. | |
Infinite Jest / int_eaf5a1ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_eaf5a1ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_eaf5a1ac | |
Infinite Jest / int_eaf83237 | type |
The Grotesque | |
Infinite Jest / int_eaf83237 | comment |
The Grotesque: Mario, the middle Incandenza child, is bradykinetic, leptosomatic, macrocephalic, homodontic, and suffers from familial dysautonomia, among other ailments. He's also one of the kindest and most sympathetic characters in the book. | |
Infinite Jest / int_eaf83237 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_eaf83237 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_eaf83237 | |
Infinite Jest / int_eb8e4fa8 | type |
Jerkass | |
Infinite Jest / int_eb8e4fa8 | comment |
Jerkass: Orin Incandenza. | |
Infinite Jest / int_eb8e4fa8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_eb8e4fa8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_eb8e4fa8 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ed3dc201 | type |
Addiction Displacement | |
Infinite Jest / int_ed3dc201 | comment |
Addiction Displacement: Many characters, but none so horrifyingly as Randy Lenz's evening constitutionals. | |
Infinite Jest / int_ed3dc201 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ed3dc201 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_ed3dc201 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ef2fcbe1 | type |
Le Film Artistique | |
Infinite Jest / int_ef2fcbe1 | comment |
Le Film Artistique: Much of James Incandenza's filmography. | |
Infinite Jest / int_ef2fcbe1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ef2fcbe1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_ef2fcbe1 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f247d841 | type |
Intoxication Ensues | |
Infinite Jest / int_f247d841 | comment |
Intoxication Ensues: One of Pemulis' preferred methods for exacting revenge is spiking your food or drink with something mind-altering. The guys also consider spiking the cooler at a big event with the DMZ, but think better of it. | |
Infinite Jest / int_f247d841 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f247d841 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_f247d841 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f32d85ab | type |
20 Minutes into the Future | |
Infinite Jest / int_f32d85ab | comment |
20 Minutes into the Future: It's never specified, but from some references to characters' ages and the approximate beginning of "Subsidized Time," you can extrapolate that the plot takes place sometime in the first decade or so of the 21st Century, 10-15 years after the book was published. There is a reference to "the Limbaugh administration." And later a reference to a poster of Limbaugh "from before the assassination" (929). Judging by some of the dates we’re given, it seems likely that the first year of Subsidized Time would have been 2002. The Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment, when the majority of the story takes place, is probably 2009, 13 years after the book was published. | |
Infinite Jest / int_f32d85ab | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f32d85ab | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_f32d85ab | |
Infinite Jest / int_f76842b1 | type |
The Fundamentalist | |
Infinite Jest / int_f76842b1 | comment |
The Fundamentalist: Remy Marathe, judging by his conversations with Steeply on the moral health of the O.N.A.N. For example, he sees the tendency to condemn people as "fundamentalists" as proof that they are aimless and without cause. | |
Infinite Jest / int_f76842b1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f76842b1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_f76842b1 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f7cf9612 | type |
Neologism | |
Infinite Jest / int_f7cf9612 | comment |
Neologism: David Foster Wallace has a few such as ascaparticnote Based on the mythical English giant Ascapart, used to refer to characters with a large build. | |
Infinite Jest / int_f7cf9612 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f7cf9612 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_f7cf9612 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f7d4f121 | type |
Mushroom Samba | |
Infinite Jest / int_f7d4f121 | comment |
Mushroom Samba: John 'No Relation' Wayne gets dosed without his knowledge, and this is hinted as one possible cause for Hal's final condition as well. | |
Infinite Jest / int_f7d4f121 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f7d4f121 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_f7d4f121 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f96f188c | type |
Drives Like Crazy | |
Infinite Jest / int_f96f188c | comment |
Drives Like Crazy: Seemingly every motorist in Boston. | |
Infinite Jest / int_f96f188c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_f96f188c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_f96f188c | |
Infinite Jest / int_fb4e0f18 | type |
Asian and Nerdy | |
Infinite Jest / int_fb4e0f18 | comment |
Asian and Nerdy: ETA student LaMont Chu aims to be an Asian tennis star. | |
Infinite Jest / int_fb4e0f18 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_fb4e0f18 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_fb4e0f18 | |
Infinite Jest / int_fc151e9d | type |
Department of Redundancy Department | |
Infinite Jest / int_fc151e9d | comment |
Department of Redundancy Department: The Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House (sic). | |
Infinite Jest / int_fc151e9d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_fc151e9d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_fc151e9d | |
Infinite Jest / int_fc225bec | type |
Artistic License – Physics | |
Infinite Jest / int_fc225bec | comment |
Artistic License – Physics: The depiction of annular fusion relies on highly unorthodox notions of nuclear physics. | |
Infinite Jest / int_fc225bec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_fc225bec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_fc225bec | |
Infinite Jest / int_fdb3b2b5 | type |
Lady Drunk | |
Infinite Jest / int_fdb3b2b5 | comment |
Lady Drunk: Gately's mother. Pat Montesian also used to be one. | |
Infinite Jest / int_fdb3b2b5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_fdb3b2b5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_fdb3b2b5 | |
Infinite Jest / int_fe0330fb | type |
Brick Joke | |
Infinite Jest / int_fe0330fb | comment |
Brick Joke: The hatted A.D.A. who was the victim of Gately's toothbrush prank returns over 900 pages later. | |
Infinite Jest / int_fe0330fb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_fe0330fb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_fe0330fb | |
Infinite Jest / int_ff7f34c5 | type |
Pet the Dog | |
Infinite Jest / int_ff7f34c5 | comment |
Pet the Dog: James Incandenza has some moments, namely building a complex custom camera for Mario, his conversation with Orin about pornography, and arguably his conversation with Gately. | |
Infinite Jest / int_ff7f34c5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ff7f34c5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_ff7f34c5 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ffad4e9f | type |
Shown Their Work | |
Infinite Jest / int_ffad4e9f | comment |
Shown Their Work: Contains more than the average human will ever want to know about tennis, pharmaceuticals, and 12-step programs. | |
Infinite Jest / int_ffad4e9f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_ffad4e9f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_ffad4e9f | |
Infinite Jest / int_fff67ce9 | type |
Stacy's Mom | |
Infinite Jest / int_fff67ce9 | comment |
Stacy's Mom: Avril Incandenza is over 50 years of age, but this doesn't stop sundry young men from finding her "endocrinologically compelling". | |
Infinite Jest / int_fff67ce9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_fff67ce9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_fff67ce9 | |
Infinite Jest / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
Infinite Jest / int_name | comment |
||
Infinite Jest / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Infinite Jest | hasFeature |
Infinite Jest / int_name | |
Infinite Jest / int_name | itemName |
Infinite Jest |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.