I really want to read Infinite Jest but it's a really big book and I mostly read in bed. The version I have is a big floppy paperback and flipping between the main text and the endnotes is basically a wrestling match and the whole process is irritating. Especially as many of the endnotes seem at first glance to be pointless asides.
Can one ignore the endnotes and just read the book, or are they really necessary?

They are 100% necessary. (Really, though, 60% of them are 100% necessary). Major plot and character developments are revealed in the endnotes.

I read it (mostly) on a Kindle, which made the jumps easier.

Message edited by its author, Oct 15, 2009, 12:28pm.

Someone described it to me thus:

"The endnotes are a feature, not a bug."

Once I started thinking about it like that, I grew to really enjoy flipping back and forth with my two bookmarks, reading the endnotes then going back to the main text. They're crucial to the book and can't be skipped, but the format adds a lot to the reading experience. Just suck it up!

Thanks, that's what I feared. Inspired by the mention of a Kindle, it has occurred to me that I could read the footnotes on my iPod and the main text from the book, which might be much less painful.