{"product_id":"the-iron-bars-of-freedom-9783898219549","title":"The Iron Bars of Freedom","description":"David Foster Wallace's \u003ci\u003eInfinite Jest\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the most ambitious American novels of the last decade. Its huge scope, its immense array of characters, and Wallace's artful mastery of language make it a complex and sometimes difficult text that has frequently been compared with other works of magnitude such as \u003ci\u003eUlysses\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGravity's Rainbow\u003c\/i\u003e. This book aims to provide the reader of Wallace's novel with one (of many) possible thread(s) which might lead him through the textual labyrinth of \u003ci\u003eInfinite Jest\u003c\/i\u003e. It is concerned with the issues of narcissism, addiction, depression, and despair and interprets the novel within an Existentialist framework drawn from the philosophical works of Jean-Paul Sartre and Søren Kierkegaard. Hirt analyzes Wallace's portrayal of contemporary existence inside a society that, paradoxically, entraps the individual self exactly by exposing it to an unprecedented state of freedom. Furthermore, Hirt discusses the counter-proposals which Wallace weighs against postmodern culture. \u003ci\u003eInfinite Jest\u003c\/i\u003e is thus set in relation to postmodern literature, and the similarities as well as the differences between this literary period and \u003ci\u003eInfinite Jest\u003c\/i\u003e are illuminated.","brand":"Stefan Hirt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48276894843131,"sku":"9783898219549","price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/9783898219549_a35bbf36-0ed7-46fa-9007-e1806cb80727.jpg?v=1772490661","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/the-iron-bars-of-freedom-9783898219549","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}