"Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man." -- Heidegger
9.13.2008
DFW commits suicide at 46
This is very shocking and sad. I know people have mixed views on him, but when I read Infinite Jest, it was one of those thrilling, eye-opening moments for me -- like, you're allowed to do this in a book? I loved it.
"But most days, if you're aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line. Maybe she's not usually like this. Maybe she's been up three straight nights holding the hand of a husband who is dying of bone cancer. Or maybe this very lady is the low-wage clerk at the motor vehicle department, who just yesterday helped your spouse resolve a horrific, infuriating, red-tape problem through some small act of bureaucratic kindness. Of course, none of this is likely, but it's also not impossible. It just depends what you what to consider. If you're automatically sure that you know what reality is, and you are operating on your default setting, then you, like me, probably won't consider possibilities that aren't annoying and miserable. But if you really learn how to pay attention, then you will know there are other options. It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred, on fire with the same force that made the stars: love, fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down."
Never really knew his work -- tried Infinite Jest, and it wasn't my cup of tea. But am so terribly sad that he wasn't able to find another means of relief from his depression.
5 comments:
Irrational anger in the first comment, bad typo in the second. I give up. God speed, Deeferdubs!
I really liked his 2005 Kenyon College commencement speech.
Especially this part:
"But most days, if you're aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line. Maybe she's not usually like this. Maybe she's been up three straight nights holding the hand of a husband who is dying of bone cancer. Or maybe this very lady is the low-wage clerk at the motor vehicle department, who just yesterday helped your spouse resolve a horrific, infuriating, red-tape problem through some small act of bureaucratic kindness. Of course, none of this is likely, but it's also not impossible. It just depends what you what to consider. If you're automatically sure that you know what reality is, and you are operating on your default setting, then you, like me, probably won't consider possibilities that aren't annoying and miserable. But if you really learn how to pay attention, then you will know there are other options. It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred, on fire with the same force that made the stars: love, fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down."
Never really knew his work -- tried Infinite Jest, and it wasn't my cup of tea. But am so terribly sad that he wasn't able to find another means of relief from his depression.
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