Well, we’ve hit the first of our first Infinite Summer scheduled milestones, page 63 on Friday and page 94 yesterday. (I notice that the reading schedule allows for bigger chunks to be read over weekends, presumably because normal people probably have more time to read on weekends, but I’m so not normal, so I’m going to go ahead and aim to finish up all my Monday milestones by the Friday previous.) So far, I’m on schedule – though just barely (got most of the way through on Friday, but didn’t pick up again until late Sunday night when I jammed out the last couple of pages). Considering that I got a head start on the first week’s reading, this doesn’t exactly bode well for the rest of the summer. Guess I’ll just have to try harder.
So I survived the first 97 pages! (I actually read-ahead 3 pages Sunday night – woo!) This beats my previous attempt at reading this book by about 10 pages, so that’s something!
So far so good – there’s some really great stuff here – I loved the Erdedy the weed addict section, and the 8 page footnote (plus footnotes) of James O. Incandenza’s filmography, Wardine, the “professional conversationalist,” Hal’s introduction, the corporate sponsored year names, the Quebec separatists connection and the really bad cross-dresser, and so many more really funny, beautifully written moments.
It is all a bit overwhelming. It really does kinda feel like you’re just floating around the surface of the narrative as Matthew Baldwin suggests. I get the distinct feeling that there is so much more here that a deeper reading could reveal, but I’m just trying to stay afloat and find my way through the dense narrative and structure. But it’s all just so much fun as well!
So, week one is done. I’m going to have to work hard to keep on schedule, particularly the next couple of weeks – with Canada Day tomorrow, and then Bluesfest starting next week (!!), my reading time is going to get really limited. I’m very motivated right now – I’ve made it through what a lot of people consider to be the toughest part of the book, the first 100 pages or so… So I’m just going to keep powering through and see where I end up next week. Wish me luck!