I've always viewed Eraserhead as something of an inkblot test; what one person gets out of it is completely different from what the person sitting next to him/her got out of it. Rarely can I get anyone to sit through the entire thing with me.
Nice to see I'm not the only one who made it through Infinite Jest alive.
Interesting. I'm not familiar with Audition, but Battle Royale would certainly be a nice culture shock to expose someone to. Though the chance of someone walking out on Eraserhead seems much higher.
I tried Pynchon after reading Wallace, and I wasn't really all that impressed. I can see where Pynchon laid some of the groundwork for what Wallace was playing off of, but it just didn't come off as interesting to me. Perhaps I never gave him the chance he deserved.
You know what, I've been looking into graduate schools. Already. I need to get my MSW somewhere, and there are west coast schools with good programs. So I might be importing myself into The Great Northwest because I know a few people who have moved there and loved it. Also, I want to be in closer proximity to Canada. For when I eventually move there.
Hmm. I'm not so sure it was a matter of not getting it (I tackled _Gravity's Rainbow_), so much as a feeling of "been there, done that, what's the big deal?" while I was reading it. The language was beautiful, and I certainly wished that I could write like that, but it just struck me as strange that people were holding Pynchon as the standard when I felt Wallace smoked him in all things. Eventually I'll go back and reread, and I'll feel foolish for thinking that, but I'm young and--dammit-- the turtleneck doesn't fit me anymore.
Nice to see I'm not the only one who made it through Infinite Jest alive.