David Foster Wallace was an amazing writer. That's about all I can say for him. he can clearly make you think about points that no one really thinks about and he gets his message across, sometimes with a bit more information than is needed. After reading the assigned editorial, "Consider the Lobster", I researched more of Wallace's writings to see for myself if these type of editorials are commonplace for this talented writer.
In doing a bit of research, I found an excerpt from his first book, Girl With Curious Hair, "Everything is Green". In this short story he tells of an older man with a younger woman. The younger woman is full of hope and optimism that the older man just doesn't have any more. The story suggests that the older man wants to let the younger woman go and live her life and he doesn't want to be selfish by keeping her and holding her back any longer. The story was published by Harpers Magazine and can be found here.
So what caused this writer to become depressed and ultimately take his own life? He had a great career and was a well respected person in his field. If one reads Wallace's first published work and Consider the Lobster, there is a notable difference in the tone of the writer. In the short story I mentioned above there isn't confusion. The older character knows that he is holding the younger woman back and is ready to let her go to be who she and wants to be; even if she does not think it is the best idea for her. The older man uses his wisdom that can only come from age over his feelings. Although Consider the Lobster is a factual review and not a work of fiction, one can tell the difference in Wallace's writing style and tone. The editorial for Gourmet Magazine was confused and completely off topic. Wallace started at the class differences in this area of Maine and ended his piece in an existential rut. Just from reading two stories from the author that are published 15 years apart I can see the confusion in Wallace's life. Maybe he thought of himself as the Lobster that was almost in that boiling pot of water. Was there some unknown force that was closing the lid on him?
Unfortunately, we will never know. With suicide comes many more questions than answers. I was going to write this journal entry mush differently today, but after doing a little homework on the man I am sorry that he won't be able to confuse us any longer.
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2 comments:
Wow--you went well above the call of duty by researching his other work. I wonder about that comparison between the fiction piece and the Lobster piece.
Does he have a reason to be orderly and on-topic in that particular piece of fiction? And does he have a reason to be off-topic and to present himself as confused with that particular Lobster essay? I have to imagine both are artificially (and intentionally) constructed...your comments grapple with whether that construction is based on what he's feeling or what he wants his reader to feel.
And DFW was a great loss, no doubt.
The research part started because I wasn't sure if this was commonplace for DFW and thats what made him unique, or if he just had a really bad day at the Maine Lobster Festival. As I delved into his writing I saw that he had hung himself and that changed the whole focus of my response. Anyway it was an enjoyable time reading new things.
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