[LFW]⋙ PDF Free Oblivion Stories David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace 8601300236070 Books

Oblivion Stories David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace 8601300236070 Books

Download As PDF : Oblivion Stories David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace 8601300236070 Books

Oblivion Stories David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace 8601300236070 Books

I started my David Foster Wallace obsession several years ago (shortly after I learned of his suicide) while reading his masterwork, Infinite Jest. That book ranks as one of my favorite pieces of literature of all time, right up there with Proust's "In Search of Lost Time," and just as challenging. I have since read several of his other works, including his early novel "The Broom of the System" and 2 other collections of short works. While reading "Oblivion" my first thought was "this is my least favorite DFW work." It is very dark. One of the stories, "Good Old Neon" is devoted to suicide and a meditation on self-loathing, and a minor character named "David Wallace" is mentioned towards the end of the story. The title story ("Oblivion") completely turned on its head in the last page. With the help of Wikipedia and other on-line sites that discussed the work I was able to get a better understanding and appreciation of the stories. So, in short, this is not my favorite DFW book, but definitely worth reading if you are willing to do a little work.

I first purchased this book (from Amazon) in paperback, because even though I prefer reading on my Kindle so I can adjust the type size, I always bought DFW books in print editions due to fear of problems dealing with the footnotes and/or endnotes. However, after reading the first one or 2 stories I purchased it for Kindle due to my usual problems with eye strain. A few of the stories have footnotes--i.e. in the print version they are at the bottom of the page. Please note that in the Kindle edition they are all at the back of the book. It was not that difficult to navigate once I got the hang of it. However, I also noticed that some squiggles between sections of one of the longer stories were not in the Kindle edition--perhaps this is not an issue with the Kindle Fire.


Tags : Oblivion: Stories. David Foster Wallace [David Foster Wallace] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. OBLIVION: STORIES,David Foster Wallace,Oblivion: Stories. David Foster Wallace,Abacus Software,0349116490,Fiction - General,Modern fiction,Short Stories (single author)

Oblivion Stories David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace 8601300236070 Books Reviews

I have a mixed reaction to this my first encounter with D. F. Wallace's fiction. I'll begin with the praise. The command of prose shown in the stories is impressive, both in diction and use of viewpoint. The range of his vocabulary enables him to achieve precision both in description and in what might be called summary narration. He also demonstrates a mastery of viewpoint, such as in "Mr. Squishy" mingling first person perception with wide ranging omniscient intervals. The stories illustrate his gift for innovation prevalent in his other works as well as here. In "Good Old Neon" toward the conclusion the rambling first person commentary switches to an author's retrospect on himself.
In the land of D. F. Wallace's fiction long sentences are the norm. I quote one as a nibble of the whole. This is taken from "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature". A son comments on the effect of botched plastic surgery on his mother's appearance. The two are on a bus. The italicized two words are present in the original.

We had learned through experimental method to not sit further back in the rows of more regular seats which face frontally
because of the way certain fellow passengers would visibly react when they board and perform the seemingly reflexive action as they start moving down the aisle to a seat of briefly scanning the faces facing them from the narrow rows of seats extended backward through the bus and would suddenly see Mother's distended and soundlessly screaming face appearing to gaze back at them in mindless terror.

Longer sentences than this occur, some extending several screens of a Paper White. Now there is nothing wrong with long sentences per se; only, as in other literary quirks, percentage makes the difference between acceptable and overdone just as the amount of heat makes the difference between a roast well done and over done. And to be fair, Wallace shows in the stories he is as capable of short sentences as anyone, yet there are areas where long sentences follow each other like a crowd of millipedes.
Now here I descend to personal bias. I prefer stories with more of an Aristotelian plot line. Yes, Wallace packs his stories with vivid detail. Yes, his delineation of character shows a sure hand. Yes, his transitions as in "Mr. Squishy" between a board meeting and the ascent of a building climber are deft. But some of the stories which approach novella length puzzle me as to what their point is. There is humor in "The Suffering Channel" a tale of excrement being taken as high art, but is Wallace satirizing literary criticism or implying that art is intrinsic every where? Does my age dull or even obliterate insight into the underlying premises? Or am I too moribund in, say, the fiction of Fielding, Defoe, Dickens, Conrad, Hemingway, or Updike to perceive the gem in the soup? No one has told me more often than myself I'm no genius. Yet, I dare to think I'm capable of discerning the trust of a tale, given enough hint in the telling.
That said, I don't condemn Oblivion the collection. Wallace, as the blurb at the end lists, achieved in his relatively short life, numerous awards. Ridden by depression he hung himself at the age of 46, an age at which an author has the advantages of an apprenticeship behind him/her, and the possibility of further and greater achievements ahead. Still, what I've read so far doesn't entice me to venture further into the David Foster Wallace oeuvre.
The breadth and depth that Wallace incorporated into each of these stories is both astonishing and approaching sublime at times. Though known more for Infinite Jest or some of his non fiction, I believe that these stories are just as strong as his better-known pieces.
I was turned on to DFW after hearing an interview on Bookworm (podcast) and after reading Infinite Jest I decided to read all of his other books in publication order. I was worried about Oblivion because I had heard it was a very sad collection. But I fell in love with it. I think it is his best work, which makes his death that much sadder. He had his best work yet to do.

The stories are beautiful and absurd and more accessible

Scanning other customer reviews I saw much reference to DFW's self-indulgence. To be fair he is that, but that's what books are. To avoid self-indulgence, you need to not write. And would you rather have covert or overt self-indulgence? I want overt, because it is honest, and whatever faults he has, DFW was as honest a writer as one can ask for.
If you are considering reading the ultimate post-modernist work, Wallace's <i>Infinite Jest</i>, but you just can't commit to reading a 1,000-page novel, get a taste of it with these stories. In them, DFW experiments with facets of the techniques that make his writing unique the narcissistic neurotic who overanalyzes himself; the boring job reported in detail; the absurdities of American corporations; the speech tics that make his characters painfully real; suicide; childhood trauma; unusual physical deformities and abilities. All these themes appear here in exquisitely crafted stories that echo <i>Infinite Jest</i> and prefigure <i>The Pale King</i>.
I started my David Foster Wallace obsession several years ago (shortly after I learned of his suicide) while reading his masterwork, Infinite Jest. That book ranks as one of my favorite pieces of literature of all time, right up there with Proust's "In Search of Lost Time," and just as challenging. I have since read several of his other works, including his early novel "The Broom of the System" and 2 other collections of short works. While reading "Oblivion" my first thought was "this is my least favorite DFW work." It is very dark. One of the stories, "Good Old Neon" is devoted to suicide and a meditation on self-loathing, and a minor character named "David Wallace" is mentioned towards the end of the story. The title story ("Oblivion") completely turned on its head in the last page. With the help of Wikipedia and other on-line sites that discussed the work I was able to get a better understanding and appreciation of the stories. So, in short, this is not my favorite DFW book, but definitely worth reading if you are willing to do a little work.

I first purchased this book (from ) in paperback, because even though I prefer reading on my so I can adjust the type size, I always bought DFW books in print editions due to fear of problems dealing with the footnotes and/or endnotes. However, after reading the first one or 2 stories I purchased it for due to my usual problems with eye strain. A few of the stories have footnotes--i.e. in the print version they are at the bottom of the page. Please note that in the edition they are all at the back of the book. It was not that difficult to navigate once I got the hang of it. However, I also noticed that some squiggles between sections of one of the longer stories were not in the edition--perhaps this is not an issue with the Fire.