Inner Demons: Session Seven of the Second Steemit Book Club, Plus Details for Session Eight

Chapter seven is probably the funniest chapter in the entire novel. Comedian Bill Hicks once said that the best kind of comedy is when you make people laugh at things they've never laughed at, and also take a light into the darkened corners of people's minds, exposing them to the light.

In that sense, the way that DFW painted the feelings of Orin contemplating suicide and subsequent conversation with Hal about taking his own life was something truly remarkable.

In the midst of the deep sadness, he can still makes you laugh, and finally pulling the rug ad surprising us with a totally unexpected form of suicide, by placing one’s own head inside a microwave oven.

Face Your Demons

Chapter Seven opens with Joelle Van Dyke, the star of Jim Incandenza's movies heading to Molly Notkin's party.

It is in that party that we witness a startling clash between two worlds, the superficial frivolity in that were present nightlife scene, and the inner demons that were born out of childhood traumas.

We get a window on the conversations that goes inside one’s head as they’re contemplating suicide while observing the trivial banalities surrounding them.

Time and time again she remembers what she’s running from, the thing she needs to face but doesn’t want to face it alone, the thing she called her cage.

Maybe she calls it The Cage because she thinks she cannot escape anymore.

You see, Joelle’s cage is born of childhood traumas. These things although scary and terrifying probably have to be faced because otherwise they can hide behind all sorts of coping mechanisms and bad habits and drag on for years.

In this case it was drugs, but it was not about the drugs.
It was about the traumatic memories from her father. Memories she tries to suffocate with other positive memories.

Memories about going to the movies with her dad when she was a kid, and which probably is the main reason she became an actress in the first place.

“If you don't deal with your demons, they will deal with you, and it's gonna hurt”. - Nikki Sixx

For more details, here’s the recording to the entire session Last week’s meeting:

https://soundcloud.com/user-655948001/infinite-jest-session-7-of-the-steemit-book-club

Details for the next meeting:

Book: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Reading Assignment: Chapter Eight “YEAR OF THE DEPEND ADULT UNDER-GARMENT” (pages 258-317)
Date: Monday, May 1st
Start Time: 6:00 p.m. PST / 9 p.m. EST / 2 a.m. GMT
Call Length: One hour.
Phone Access: (800) 719-6100 or (218) 339-7800, access code 629-1831#
Web Audio Access (sound quality isn't generally as good as phone): https://hello.freeconference.com/conf/call/6291831

P.S. You can these links to help guide you as you read Infinite Jest:
http://faculty.sunydutchess.edu/oneill/Infinite.htm (THIS LINK HAS SPOILERS)
http://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Main_Page#Page_by_Page_Annotations (No spoilers---This is the link Ahmed mentioned on the first call.)

Best,

@neilstrauss, @the-alien and the #steemit-book-club