The Pale King (Goodreads review)

Having now finished The Pale King, I can see how it might've been a better book than Infinite Jest if only DFW had found a way to finish it. His editor, Michael Pietsch, wrote in the editor's note that DFW once likened writing The Pale King to "wrestling sheets of balsa wood in a high wind," which is possibly the greatest metaphor for writing a difficult work ever conceived--and also serves as direct evidence that The Pale King was perhaps a truly uncompletable book. Because if the gifted writer who could summon offhand phrases like "wrestling sheets of balsa wood in a high wind" (and who originally modeled the structure of Infinite Jest on the Sierpinski triangle) struggled with it for over a decade with no end in sight, is there any other writer on earth who could have finished it?

As such, The Pale King is a sad book. Not the contents of the book per se (in fact, a lot of it's pretty funny), but rather what the book represents--or fails to represent. There's so much in here that's great--memorable characters, fantastic situations, that dry, inimitable brand of Wallacian wit, quotable lines ("Every love story is a ghost story"), moments of exquisite pathos, philosophical head-slappers, etc. Yet as with Kafka's The Castle , I can't help but feel that the book is incomplete. True, one of DFW's notes to himself read that he intended the novel to be "a series of setups for things to happen but nothing ever happens," and many readers have expressed disappointment that DFW's other novels (Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System ) intentionally lack what one might consider to be traditional resolutions to the story, but in this case I really get the feeling that DFW had much more in store for the characters working at IRS Post 047.

Still, despite this feeling of incompleteness I nonetheless enjoyed every moment I spent reading this book. I like to think of it as a glimpse into another DFW world, only this one still in progress, and its fragmentary nature allows me to think of Chris Fogle, Shane Drinion, the "real" David Wallace, and all other wigglers as still out there in Peoria, Illinois, sitting at their desks, turning pages, with Blumquist sitting silently, encouragingly by their sides.

I don't think you need to be familiar with DFW's other work to enjoy this novel. It wouldn't be my first recommendation to someone who hasn't read any of his work before (that would be A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again , for the record), but it's by no means impenetrable.

My one wish is that, someday, Little Brown will publish the heretofore unpublished fragments related to The Pale King (or, what the heck, any fragments written by DFW, related or not). His work is too important for the odds and ends to remain available only to those who can make the trip to DFW's archive at UT Austin....

OK, that concludes my thoughts on the book. What follows is a brief, superficial outline of each chapter in the book, which I always find helpful when I want to revisit one of DFW's books. But be warned that they do contain what some might consider spoilers, so if you haven't read the book yet please stop reading here. Otherwise you'll make me feel terrible about ruining something for you, and you wouldn't want that, would you?

***SPOILERS FOLLOW***

Ch. 1 (pp. 3-4) - Setting the stage, so to speak. A description of a field in Illinois.

Ch. 2 (pp. 5-24) - Claude Sylvanshine flies on a puddlejumper from Midway to Peoria.

Ch. 3 (pp. 25-26) - Two IRS employees, one less enthusiastically than the other, discuss masturbation habits.

Ch. 4 (pp. 27-28) - Newspaper article on Fred Blumquist's death.

Ch. 5 (pp. 29-35) - Stecyk, as a child, irritating the crap out of absolutely everyone.

Ch. 6 (pp. 36-43) - A young Lane Dean Jr. and his newly pregnant girlfriend at the park.

Ch. 7 (pp. 44-52) - Sylvanshine trapped in a van with several other IRS employees.

Ch. 8 (pp. 53-65) - A young Toni Ware and her mentally ill mother.

Ch. 9 (pp. 66-85) - Author's foreword, in which the "real" David Wallace discusses the "real" impetus behind writing this (ostensibly nonfiction) book.

Ch. 10 (p. 86) - On bureaucracy.

Ch. 11 (pp. 87-88) - List of syndromes/symptoms associated with Examinations postings lasting more than 36 months.

Ch. 12 (pp. 89-90) - The adult Stecyk, continuing to confound/annoy the hell out of people.

Ch. 13 (pp. 91-99) - David Cusk and his bouts of excessive sweating as an adolescent.

Ch. 14 (pp. 100-117) - An explanation of the PR documentary headed by Stecyk, and fourteen interview transcript excerpts.

Ch. 15 (pp. 118-121) - Claude Sylvanshine's curse of being a fact psychic.

Ch. 16 (pp. 122-126) - Lane Dean Jr. on a fifteen-minute break, and the crushing effects of job-related boredom.

Ch. 17 (p. 127) - An IRS employee on the concept of the unsung hero.

Ch. 18 (pp. 128-129) - An IRS employee talks about the return of Desk Names, courtesy of Glendenning. (As opposed to Mel Lehrl, a.k.a. the Pale King.)

Ch. 19 (pp. 130-149) - Glendenning, Stu Nichols(?), and Drinion (a.k.a. "X") stuck in an elevator, discussing '70s-era civics.

Ch. 20 (pp. 150-151) - Toni's next-door neighbor feels her wrath.

Ch. 21 (pp. 152-153) - An IRS employee explains to a taxpayer how he has caught him defrauding the IRS.

Ch. 22 (pp. 154-252) - The longest (and, to my mind, best) chapter in the book, in which "Irrelevant" Chris Fogle explains (or tries to explain, but mostly digresses from) why/how he decided to work for the IRS.

Ch. 23 (pp. 253-255) - Someone recounts a dream about his childhood, which he believes his psyche is using to teach him about boredom.

Ch. 24 (pp. 256-309) - The "real" David Wallace recounts, in prolonged detail, his excruciating arrival at Post 047 and his orientation (based on his mistaken identity), courtesy of F. Chalah "The Iranian Crisis" Neti-Neti.

Ch. 25 (pp. 310-313) - Turning the pages.

Ch. 26 (pp. 314-316) - The phantoms and ghosts of Post 047.

Ch. 27 (pp. 317-345) - Cusk, Sylvanshine, and other GS-9s attend the Rotes orientation seminar, while the "real" David Wallace (mistakenly) attends the GS-13 presentation on the minimum tax on preferences.

Ch. 28 (p. 346) - Ten laws of IRS personnel.

Ch. 29 (pp. 347-355) - Gaines, Bondurant, Gestine Hurd, Lumm, Todd Miller (and others?) on a stakeout, trading (two) stories about poop.

Ch. 30 (pp. 356-370) - A phone conversation between Reynolds and Sylvanshine, discussing what Sylvanshine has learned about Glendenning and the office politics at Post 047.

Ch. 31 (pp. 371-372) - Shinn in the IRS van, thinking about birds.

Ch. 32 (pp. 373-375) - Nugent gets his sister, Julie, to do the "Exorcist" voice over the phone for his coworkers.

Ch. 33 (pp. 376-385) - Lane Dean Jr. experiences a phantom.

Ch. 34 (p. 386) - AMT formula for corporations.

Ch. 35 (pp. 387-393) - An employee watches Gary Manshardt's infant.

Ch. 36 (pp. 394-407) - About a boy's desire to press his lips to every square inch of his own body.

Ch. 37 (pp. 408-409) - Dialogue between Russ and a date/coworker(?) at a restaurant.

Ch. 38 (pp. 410-414) - The IRS data system glitches, which led to the conflation of the two David Wallaces arriving at Post 047.

Ch. 39 (pp. 415-422) - Sylvanshine's continued "remote fact acquisition" on Glendenning, and the story of Stecyk saving his shop teacher's life in high school.

Ch. 40 (pp. 423-424) - Cusk in the psychiatrist's office.

Ch. 41 (p. 425) - A brief discussion about Cardwell, who was sent to pick up Reynolds(?).

Ch. 42 (pp. 426-430) - An IRS employee recounts his time with the Rescue Rangers in the '60s.

Ch. 43 (pp. 431-436) - The threat of terrorism, and an IRS employee fantasizes about giving Glendenning a solution to a problem, which will get Lehrl out of Glendenning's hair.

Ch. 44 (pp. 437-438) - A former cart boy muses on boredom.

Ch. 45 (pp. 439-443) - How Toni's life was saved (continuation of ch. 8).

Ch. 46 (pp. 444-509) - At Meibeyer's bar, Meredith Rand tells Shane "Mr. X" Drinion the story of how she met her husband when she was a patient at the Zeller psyche hospital.

Ch. 47 (pp. 510-516) - Toni at the Quik 'n' Ez gas station/convenience mart.

Ch. 48 (pp. 517-526) - Glendenning is interviewed by Inspections Agents Taylor and Norm Clothier (from Post 1516 in Chicago) about the "tactical incursion" and iced tea spiked with some sort of hallucinogen at the annual picnic, during which Glendenning continues to hallucinate.

Ch. 49 (pp. 527-536) - Sylvanshine and Reynolds conduct a preinterview with Fogle outside Glendenning's office (which is currently being used by Lehrl).

Ch. 50 (537-538) - "You" visit the same psychiatrist Cusk visits in ch. 40(?).