Infinite Summer

[Girl Detective]

I made it to Monday's goal of 464 (actually to the text break after it, 469) so I'm going to try and sneak in my book group book. But I'm really enjoying reading about Don Gately's early experiences in AA, and his trouble with the law. I find myself rooting for him, and hoping he continues to do well.

Also, the thing about Glenn K, the guy who has Satan as his higher power? Hilarious.

[elihoughton]

I am on p. 457, a little behind yesterday's goal. I have found myself dragging a little bit while reading it lately. Not sure why. The Eschaton section started out with WAY too much detail, but ended up being very interesting. I am now mired in descriptions of the morning practice routine. Not the most interesting stuff I have ever read.

But I am determined to persevere, knowing that it will get better soon.

I laughed out loud at the reference to 'Helen' Steeply in endnote 147, then realized I probably should have picked up on that quite a bit earlier. The clues were all there.

[Beth]

Eli, I had the exact same reaction to endnote 147. I'm glad I wasn't the only person who hadn't put 2 and 2 together until then.

[elihoughton]

I am finally caught up to exactly where we are supposed to be today. I am wondering if we have lost anyone or if everyone is still with us.

[Beth the knitter]

I'm still with you all, but since I started about a month late I'm still only in the 300s, having just recently waded through massive endnote #110. I was talking to someone at work about this book today and they said "so what's it about?" And I said "...uh..." Because I'm not sure what it's about yet. Hopefully that will make itself clear as we move into the 500s. I'm going on vacation this week so assuming I'm not averse to carrying this tome around on the beach with me, I'm hoping to get caught up soon.

[JeffKamin]

It's probably not realistic that I will finish on the summer ending schedule.
It's probably realistic that I may never finish. But if people don't mind extending the deadline, I may still continue.

[Beth]

I've had the same problem with people asking what IJ is about. "Er..." It pains me every time, but I've started just responding that it's about a kid attending a tennis academy. If I start trying to explain more than one plotline, people get glassy-eyed and uncomfortable. It's like people asking how you're doing. The vast majority of people who ask you that question don't want an expanded answer. They want something short, even if it's not entirely accurate.

Jeff - as far as I'm concerned, if you want to finish but you don't think it's going to happen by September 22, just keep going at whatever pace you can manage. But what happens to the post-Infinite Summer party if you give yourself an extension? At this point, I'm on pace and determined to make the deadline, but I'm guessing there might be quite a few people in your boat who no longer think that's a realistic goal. We could perhaps just switch the plan to an Infinite Summer happy hour somewhere and take the pressure off you as host.

[elihoughton]

pp. 538-553, wow, wow and wow! Don't know if it continues past that, since I have stopped for the night. But the Lenz section and then John (N.R.) Wayne and Mrs. Inc. Oh my!

[Beth]

You've probably discovered this by now, but we get more of Lenz's story moving forward. (Really hope I don't start having Johnnie Walker nightmares again.) I've gotten to the point where I (perilously) continue reading as I walk the three blocks from the LRT to my office.

Also, endnote 234, selected responses from Orin's interview with the lovely Helen: fantastic. I love the conversational sections of this book best because they seem to deliver the highest concentration of character and plot development. We're certainly seeing a whole new side of Mrs. Inc. Can't wait until the narrative shifts back to ETA and see how this all plays out.

[Girl Detective]

Still here, still reading, and I've got some time off this week so I may just blaze ahead and see how far I can get. I'm at 638. And Eli, the Lenz stuff just gets more and more intense till 619. Yowza.

What's it about? My take: Junior tennis, drug addiction and other recreations that are bad for us, told through a loose frame of Hamlet.

[Girl Detective]

Two questions: is there a good parent in the book?

Is Pemulis the Hamlet analog for Horatio?

Can't help but notice that the less Gately there is, the less I am into the book.

[doubtful guest]

I have a soft spot for Avril, and even a bit for J.O.I. -- Avril strikes me as trying obsessively hard not to be a bad parent, and there seems to be a real affection between Hal and her, as seen in the apple scene outside Tavis' office. And her attempts to keep in contact with Orin through desperately, pathetically fake happy go lucky missives are heartbreaking. Clearly her sexual trespasses, which have pissed off Orin and may compromise her link to Hal, ain't her high points, but they are not really parenting flaws per se, and Orin's response seems crueler than the trespass he seems to have seen. As for J.O.I., well, the dude was going insane either because of or despite the alcohol, yet what we see of him is not really intentionally cruel. Actually, quite the reverse. He takes Joelle under his wing platonically (his error being more his obvliviousness to likely boundary issues perceived by Orin than any actual cruelty or creepiness). He seems to love having Mario around, and sort of sweetly gives Mario an intense apprenticeship in filmmaking, despite likely having his suspicions that the dude isn't even his son. As for his relationship with Hal, his weird "professional conversationalist" stuff was the act of an (insane?) man desperately trying to reach out to and connect with his son whom he delusionally thought was refusing to communicate with him. Heck, I even have a soft spot for Tavis, who is so desperately trying to be helpful even when he does things like reduce Tina Echt to horrified tears by talking about taking her head apart. Oh, and doesn't Clipperton turn out to have come from a sweet old couple who were unaware of what he was doing?
_________________
Te Occidere Possunt Sed Te Edere Non Possunt Nefas Est

[Beth]

I think it's the Moms' obsession with being a good parent that actually makes her a less than ideal parent, if that makes sense. For example, in Bain's anecdote about Orin and the nubbin, I'd argue that Avril does a disservice to Orin's personal development by suppressing her own grief in order to protect Orin from the knowledge that his actions have caused her pain.

It reminds me of the high school teachers I'm sure most of us had at some point who were so concerned about being liked that they never disciplined anyone. No one respected them - or liked them, for that matter - so nothing ever really got accomplished in their classrooms.

She's obviously very loving and attentive, but she's not capable of being the authority figure her children actually need her to be. Her attempts to reconnect with Orin are heartbreaking, yes, and I do find her pitiable. But I really don't respect her.

[Girl Detective]

Good news: I finished! Less good news: I still have a slew of questions many of which I suspect are deliberately unanswered.

Re: the relationship bet. JOI and Joelle, remember, it was Orin who pushed, rather creepily, for JOI to "use" her in his films.

Re: the Moms. I agree she's trying, and failing, to be a good parent. I think this is exemplified in the mold story--she flips out, but her flipping shows more about her own mental illness than about her concern for Hal.

Re: the prof. conversationalist scene/script. As the book goes, it's revealed more and more that Hal keeps a lot to himself, tells a lot of lies. I believe that JOI's belief in Hal's not talking is metaphorical--Hal stops telling the truth, or being open, once he starts doing drugs.

[Beth]

Over at infinitesummer.org, Nick Maniatis from the Howling Fantods just welcomed us to the last 200 pages. He has some great description of how it feels to read the book at this point, as everything is falling together and it feels a little like you're careening down a very large hill toward the end. Is there anyone else still on pace and feeling the same way? Or if you're ahead, did it feel this way when you hit page 800? I'm starting to get excited (and a little sad, oddly) about how few endnotes are left.

In regard to our list of potential titles for Endurance Book Club, it would be worth checking out the Join the Tunnel Club post as well. Looks like they're thinking of turning Infinite Summer into an ongoing online book club, and they're listing off a lot of the same books we mentioned.