source: http://gerrycanavan.wordpress.com/tag/infinite-jest/
Infinite Jest is the second novel by author David Foster Wallace, and was published in 1996. It is widely considered his most well-known and celebrated work.
Connections[]
Infinite Jest has many similarities and parallels with The Broom of the System.
- Central families (Beadsmans in Broom; Incandenzas in Jest)
- Estranged parents (Stonecipher III and Patrice; J.O.I and Avril)
- Coincidences
- Conspiracies, hidden or malicious plots
- Playing with language
- Jumps in time
- Therapy
- Potentially unreliable versions of historical events
- Shifts in narrators
- Deceptive doctors/counselors (Dr. Jay working for Lenore Sr.; J.O.I. as the professional conversationalist)
- Underground plots to distribute something (the pineal gland drug in Broom; the Entertainment in? Jest)
- Stories within stories (Rick’s stories; J.O.I.’s films)
- Take place in the near future of an alternate-ish timeline
- Childhood trauma (LaVache's birth in? Broom; J.O.I.'s death in Jest)
- Main characters who question their reality/state of mind
- Family members who only communicate with the main character (i.e. LaVanche and Lenore in Broom; Orin and Hal in Jest)
- Sons who might have different fathers (i.e. LaVanche in Broom; Mario in Jest)
- Heavy substance abuse
- Powerful family companies
- Substances altering the ability to communicate (i.e. Vlad the Impaler in Broom; Hal and the DMZ in Jest)
- Extreme large-scale change in an environment (i.e. the G.O.D. in Broom; the "Great Concavity"/"Great Convexity" in Jest)