The Pale King

Lately, when I'm not reading Dracula, I've been reading this tome by the late David Foster Wallace.


 



At a whopping 557 pages, this is definitely the longest book I will have ever read (please note here, that I have not as of yet finished Moby Dick, but plan on doing so...someday).  There has been a lot of hype surrounding this book because a) David Foster is no longer with us after committing suicide in 2008 b) This book was published posthumously c) He worked on this book for many years, and was working on it at the time of his death d) David Foster Wallace is/was an amazing writer and social commentary making badass.

I can't really explain what my fascination is with David Foster Wallace.  It all started a few years ago when Jason brought home a graduation speech that DFW made to Kenyon University grads in 2005.  I was so taken aback by his commentary on life.  Cautioning us against the dangers of living on our "default setting" which would have us programmed to be selfish, he describes a very real and very mundane scenario that we have probably all been through.  He explains how doing the most routinized of tasks can sometimes elevate us to a point that pisses us off so much because whatever selfish intention we have is somehow being thwarted by "everyone else".  He goes on to say that life is full of things that will piss us off and if we choose to be mad at them, we will end up of being mad our whole lives or lapse into our default setting just to cope.

Not only do I love what he says and have lived those moments myself, but I love that he stood up in front of a group of bright eyed and bushy tailed college graduates and had the balls to tell them that: hey life sucks, but don't let it get to you, get over it and try to be happy by cultivating a sense of self that allow you to see more:

But if you've really learned how to think, how to pay attention, then you will know you have other options. It will be within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same force that lit the stars - compassion, love, the sub-surface unity of all things.

The real irony of all this is that (I suppose) the rote-ness of  life did eventually get to DFW.   He chose a permanent escape from his life in 2008.  There are many people who are truly troubled and ill and choose to commit suicide.  However,  I believe that there is a smaller group of people who have committed suicide because they knew too much and couldn't handle it.  People who have a heightened awareness of things or some kind of elevated sense of intelligence that was too much of a burden to bear on a daily basis.  To me, this is the most tragic kind of death: the loss of a visionary.  This is what I'd like to believe about DFW.  I could be wrong.  I didn't know the man, and I'm sure those from his inner circle may have different things to say.  I've read that he was deeply depressed at times, but he was also a genius.

So, back to the The Pale King.  

 I am loving this book and finding myself wanting to write down every little thing in it.  After being inspired by another couple's endeavor to keep a sort of a reading log, Jason and I started a Book of Books several months ago.  The Book of Books is a notebook in which we write meaningful, interesting, insightful or just plain funny passages that we read in our respective books.  It's really helpful when wanting to remember awesome things that you read.  It's also fun to see what the other person writes down in the book.  I don't put much in the Book of Books.  Jason will write down just about anything, but something has to really wow me or deeply resonate within me for me to want to take the time to write it down.  While reading The Pale King, I find myself wanting to write down almost every sentence.  Much like his Kenyon Speech, The Pale King has this way of perfectly articulating social commentary via sentences that crescendo leaving us gasping for a breath.