4 ms·
I really wish there were an edition with the footnotes inserted into the main body in some clean way. Like a quarter of the book is in those notes and many plot
by laxatives 10y ago
I really wish there were an edition with the footnotes inserted into the main body in some clean way. Like a quarter of the book is in those notes and many plot critical segments are buried back there.
- chipgap98 10y agoIsn't that the point though? Its not meant to be an easy read. The writing requires a lot of attention in order to absorb its message and the book itself is physically difficult to read. The endnotes are Wallace's way of talking about two things at once. Also there are multiple endnotes that you read more than once, so I'm not sure putting it in text would work.
- mercer 10y agoYeah, I get the same feeling. Some footnotes are chapters in themselves (or have their own footnotes), and I couldn't shake the feeling that the confusion I felt upon realizing that I had still been in 'footnote territory' was entirely intentional, similar to his run-on sentences that have a very specific effect. I rather liked how reading an ebook version made it even easier to forget I was reading footnotes. Also, one of my favorite jokes wouldn't work if he'd put the footnotes at the bottom of the pages.