consider the lobster pre-post…

July 31, 2007 in book reviews, david foster wallace | 12 comments

okay, i have never before written a “book review pre-post”…i.e. i have not yet finished the book Consider The Lobster by David Foster Wallace…but i have to say something…

there is one problem with Consider The Lobster…i am just not smart enough to read it.  i am enjoying it immensely, and i’m actually learning (a lot actually), which is great, however i feel quite sure that if i finish it i will never write another word again (blog or otherwise).  Consider The Lobster is having the opposite effect on me that reading Soon I Will Be Invincible had.  after reading SIWBI, i felt almost invincible, i felt sure my book could be published, i felt sure that i was not a hack, because other bigger hacks were out there getting book deals (in bidding wars!) and movie deals and second book deals…oy.  however, when i read Wallace i am convinced that i am the greatest of hacks and that it would physcially hurt Mr. Wallace’s eyes to read just one of my horrible mistake ridden evil disgusting sentences. 

i guess this is what comes from aiming too high.  of wanting to be in the company of people you admire instead of people you revile.  to be the best most amazing fish in a barrel of crappy lame limpish fish or to be the crappiest lamest limpiest fish in the barrel of brilliant amazing fish.  oh me.  what to do, what to do?

suggestions?

fyi – in addition to making up words like “limpish” and my new favorite “limpiest” i also greatly overuse the word brilliant.  in some later post i’ll tally up how many times i’ve used it in this fairly new blog.  i think the number will likely be astounding…in an embarrasing way…

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12 comments

  1. kfugrip’s avatar

    kfugrip on July 31, 2007 at 7:55 pm

    We talked about this. Just because you don’t write like David Foster Wallace doesn’t mean you are a hack. You are very talented and you need to get your confidence back.

  2. 1979semifinalist’s avatar

    1979semifinalist on July 31, 2007 at 8:36 pm

    i guess i should read more Soon I Will Be Invincible type books asap. someone bring me The Devil Wears Prada…and anything by Jennifer Weiner…

    confidence here i come!

  3. Holly’s avatar

    Holly on August 1, 2007 at 12:15 am

    “Limpish?” In what context? Use it in a sentence…

  4. thejamminjabber’s avatar

    thejamminjabber on August 1, 2007 at 5:34 pm

    Wallace is an anomaly. There are like 5 people in the world who can write like that. I pride myself on being able to to tough it through almost anything, but I am currently using my copy of Infinite Jest as a doorstop.

  5. 1979semifinalist’s avatar

    1979semifinalist on August 2, 2007 at 2:05 am

    well i appreciate the support. i should note that Consider is actually quite accessible, or was, until i hit his essay/review of a new dictionary release, at which point my self-esteem plummeted.

    as said, i appreciate the kind words (and encouragment), it would perhaps be more helpful if a friend of mine who read my blog (Tom you know who you are) didn’t send me an email today saying he was enjoying it (my blog), but that he felt i should rise above the rest of the blogosphere etc., and work on my grammar. geez. so much for self-esteem, of all the things that i thought were iffy on this blog, i never would have mentioned grammar…

    nobody is going to give me any awards for grammar i know, and i certainly write in a familiar and casual style, but i didn’t know it was SO bad.

    the grapevine tells me you’re writing a script while on hiatus…do i get to check it out when completed?

  6. thejamminjabber’s avatar

    thejamminjabber on August 7, 2007 at 3:19 pm

    Sure. Turnaround’s fair play, and all that. I’m British.

  7. 1979semifinalist’s avatar

    1979semifinalist on August 7, 2007 at 3:44 pm

    turnaround? oh – you think i’m going to rip it apart because you didn’t like mine?

    please, i’m not four.

  8. thejamminjabber’s avatar

    thejamminjabber on August 7, 2007 at 5:01 pm

    I object to the term “didn’t like.” I never said that.

  9. 1979semifinalist’s avatar

    1979semifinalist on August 7, 2007 at 5:13 pm

    hmm. technically you are correct.

    although isn’t the term “turnabout” not “turnaround”?

  10. Jeff’s avatar

    Jeff on September 2, 2007 at 1:33 am

    Hi – you don’t know me, but strangely enough, I found your blog post while googling “write like david foster wallace”. I’m currently reading “Consider the Lobster” as well, and I share your despair at ever writing anything publishable in book form. You’re not alone. The thing is – if you think you’re not good enough, you usually *are* good enough. I think.

  11. 1979semifinalist’s avatar

    1979semifinalist on September 4, 2007 at 10:04 pm

    hi jeff – thanks for stopping by.

    it’s good to know other real writers share my frustration with wallace and his unreachable standards. are you on the essay that is essentially his review of a new dictionary? that was the one that killed me. i’ve been afraid to pick it up ever since.

    i’m with you though that the odds are at least in our favor, there is a definitely something to the idea that fearing we are not good enough usually means we have high expectations for ourselves, often higher than the rest of the world. hopefully this means we will (eventually) achieve some kind of publishable success.

    good luck to you!
    kelly

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