Exploring My Bookshelves: a terrifying book

It’s Friday again! That means another “Exploring My Bookshelves” post! If you missed the last one, here’s what it’s all about:

For NaBloPoMo I’m going to be needing some help coming up with daily post ideas. So I’ll be participating in the “Exploring My Bookshelves” meme, a weekly prompt made every Friday by Addlepates and Book Nerds (check it out for instructions on how to participate!)

This week’s topic, for Friday the 13th, is a book that terrifies you to read.

I’m not someone who reads any horror, or thriller, or really anything that could be considered particularly “terrifying” in any way. This is a tough one, since none of the books on my shelves really fall under this category. So my interpretation of “terrifying” is a bit looser. And I’m going to have to go with the first obvious choice, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

Sitting ominously on my bookshelf.

I suppose I’m interpreting “terrifying” more as “intimidating,” because who isn’t intimidated by Infinite Jest? It’s huge. It ranks up there with War and Peace and Ulysses as books that people claim to have read but actually only read the Wikipedia entry. It’s one of those books that I know I should read one day but really just don’t want to, because I know it will take lots and lots of time, one of my most precious commodities. It’ll obviously take time to just get through the book, which is like over 1000 pages. But not only is it over 1000 pages, it’s over 1000 pages of really complex writing. This thing is going to take Time with a capital T.

I do have somewhat of a plan. I’ve heard that it’s good to read David Foster Wallace essays before you go on to Infinite Jest, and that’s what I plan on doing. Sort of like conditioning yourself. Reading conditioning. Sounds like so much fun.

So whether it happens 10 years from now or 30 years from now, it is on my self, and I am determined to read it. Just probably not anytime soon…

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