Infinite Jest Liveblog Part 3

So I'm officially past the halfway point - just finished page 619, so I'm considerably further along than I was in my last post about it. Cause there's so much to fit in, I'll just keep it to some point form notes, plus a few photos of my highlighting and underlining because goddamn there are so many wonderful passages in this novel.

• Although I can't pick one single favourite character by any means, every passage devoted to Mario that I've read thus far has been unquestionably excellent. He's one of the best examples of what this book is trying to get across, I think, especially w/r/t sincerity and love and what it means to be a human person. "He took citizens' kindness and cruelty the same way, with a kind of extra-inclined half-bow that mocked his own canted posture without pity or cringe"
• Marathe and Steeply's conversations continue to be endlessly fascinating - I especially liked the passage on page 319/320 on temples and freedom. Also their 418-430 section made me realize that they're essentially having a Hobbes/Rousseau argument (and, as Hal tells us in the first chapter, Hobbes is just Rousseau in a dark mirror). Plus, "Unmentioned by either man was how in heaven's name either man expected to get down from the mountainside's shelf in the dark of the U.S. desert's night" - both sides are right and wrong, and neither really know what to do about it or offer any kind of solution
• ESCHATON! The math went entirely over my head, but that's just part of what makes this book what it is, I think. If you're too hung up on understanding everything exactly perfectly, you won't be able to appreciate it (or anything, really, which I feel like is intentional on DFW's part). 
• Also, the idea that "the map is not the territory" seems to continue throughout a lot of the novel, and I don't think that the slang use of map as face (especially to do with suicide - "eliminating one's map") is coincidental. Eschaton, moving to President Gentle, moving to Clipperton, make this clearer as well. It's reasonable that de-mapping would become slang in a time that parts of the map/territory are literally being eliminated
• Also why hasn't anyone made a version of the ONANtiad puppet show, I need it
• "T'war a tard in t'loo. A rail tard" (probably one of the single funniest sections of dialogue I've ever read - and somehow it still manages to be sincere and kind of beautiful)
• "The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you"
• I had no idea that the "this is water" fish story -- albeit a rougher and more explicit version -- was used in this book (and years before the Kenyon college speech!)
• "va chier putain!" - having a working knowledge of the French language, Canadian history, and philosophy, have all been very helpful in my appreciation of this book
• ^ Also, this plus the description of the ominous squeaking and cowboy-movie-esque scene where the store is surrounded by wheelchair assassins were hilarious. The best part though was that it managed to be both funny and scary - I was breathing in through my teeth in suspense and out through my nose in hilarity (made for a strange kind of forced hyperventilation)
• Speaking of which, Lucien's death was incredibly disturbing -- probably one of the most cringe inducing sections of the novel thus far -- but at the same time absolutely beautiful, especially the last passage on page 489. All of it was another great example of how he doesn't let you look down on anyone (even aphrasiac half-cellular insurgents)
• "you gone risk vulnerability and discomfort and hug my ass or do I gone fucking rip your head off and shit down your neck?"
• More (of many many) Hamlet references, with Avril and CT being very clearly set up as Gertrude and Claudius
• Lenz. oh god. Need I say more? And you're compelled to somewhat empathize with him, even as you hate him and reel back in terror. 
• Pages 467-574. DAMN. Some absolutely A+ writing. First off (as with almost everything in this book) it's written in 3rd person omniscient, but at the same time told from a single person's perspective (the Marathe/Steeply sections, for example, use french grammar phrasing so you can tell they're from Marathe's perspective). This is used to great effect here as the whole thing is told only in sound and dialogue, because Idris is blindfolded through all of it. Also I just love that the entire thing is such an unabashed excuse for excessive exposition -- similarly to the ONANtiad puppet show. There is no exposition at all for basically the whole first quarter of the book, you're just kind of thrown into it and things are mentioned as if you understand all of it already because you live in this universe or whatever, and then when things are finally explained, they're done in such huge obvious chunks that in any other context could be seen as bad writing. But in here somehow they work? And it works better than it would if it was slowly explained as you went along, because it allows all of the different phrases and world structures and stuff to become a part of your vocabulary as you read, even if you don't necessarily understand them, and then when they are revealed and explained it's SO satisfying to put together. Like how subsidized time isn't explained until page 223, or how the convexity/cavity and feral hamsters and giant infants are mentioned casually in passing, and you have no idea what it all means and have almost dismissed it as some absurd and untied detail when it's finally explained in full
• Brucie Green is my new favourite (and apparently Gately's as well) and getting to see him opposite Lenz just puts an even bigger perspective on what a really shitty person Lenz is.
• Pages 601 to 619 are like one giant fast paced movie scene and so much happens that I was absolutely reeling by the end of it, it was so goddamn good. I probably only breathed about three times between when the 'Nucks showed up and when the passage ends on 619. I also made various noises of surprise and dread out loud -- vocalizing my reactions to this book have been another kind of surprising thing that happened without my realizing it. I do sometimes laugh out loud when I read something particularly funny, and I have been moved to tears by a couple of other books, but I'm pretty sure this is the only novel I've ever read that has caused me to vocally express pretty much my entire range of emotions (another reason, apart from the fact that it's huge and I like to write in it, that I don't carry it around with me and read it in public)