It wasn’t until recently that I realized I’d long ago been deeply and irrevocably in love with the English language. How could I have been oblivious to it for so long?
I didn’t realize it when I decided I want to be a writer and write in English.
I didn’t realize it even though most of my favorite books are written in English.
I only realized it this August through reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. It was a book selection that my book club unanimously voted to read because it was highly recommended by one book club member who read it and enjoyed it, incredibly well rated on goodreads, and is in the comedy category (my book club rotates categories).
That’s not to say I enjoy reading Infinite Jest because it’s a constant reminder of how lacking my vocabulary is for a writer. Nearly every page contained words I could not define even using context clues. For example, check out this one sentence from Infinite Jest:
“That your quote-unquote ‘complimentary’ Dunlop widebody tennis racquets’ super-secret-formulaic composition materials of high-modulus-30 graphite-reinforced polycarbonate polybutylene resin are organochemically identical I say again identical to the gyroscopic balance sensor and mise-en scene appropriation card and priapistic-entertainment cartridge implanted in your very own towering father’s anaplastic cerebrum after his cruel series of detoxifications and convolution-smoothings and gastrectomy and prostatectomy and pancreatectomy and phalluctomy…”
Most of the writing in Infinite Jest is similar to the sentence above. It’s a collection of various jargon, archaism, neologism, and sesquipedalia that wordsmiths will love.
It seems to me that David Foster Wallace delights in being specific. It isn’t enough for him to say someone raised their eyebrow, instead he says they circumflexed (raised their eyebrow akin to the degree of the ^ mark) their eyebrow.
I’m torn between finding the book frustrating and admiring the sheer amount of words David Foster Wallace must know in order to write the Infinite Jest. One book club member who is a prolific reader and who has never not finished a book decided to break their perfect record and not finish reading Infinite Jest because it’s making them hate reading!
Currently, my admiration is winning over my frustration because I’m continuing on at a snail’s pace. I have developed a soft spot for Infinite Jest because otherwise, I wouldn’t have realized how deeply I love the specificity, clarity, and vividness of the English language.
For example, the word defenestration is the action of throwing someone out of a window. How many times did it need to occur for a word to be invented for it?
Or for regarding body positioning, prone means lying flat generally with the face downward, prostrate means laying oneself flat on the ground face downward (especially in reverence or distress or exhaustion), and supine means lying on your back with your face upward. It’s incredible to me that one word can offer up so much vivid detail and information!
Thanks to my friend Brink for recommending Infinite Jest, to my book club for voting for it, and to Infinite Jest to help me realize my deep love for the English language.
10/17/2022 Update: I’ve decided to stop reading Infinite Jest because it’s not the type of vocabulary or sentence structure that I see myself using in the future.
