We start the book in the interview with the University Dean and find out that, though Hal is perfectly intelligent and mentally capable, he is entirely unable to communicate in a way that does not somehow frighten and disturb people or make him seem in need of medical attention.

From there, we learn about his pot problem, about his eating of fungus, Pemulis’ sometimes overly successful revenge tactics, and caries. There is nothing within the text anywhere (and believe me, I’ve looked) that expressly states EXACTLY what is wrong with Hal or EXACTLY how it happened to be wrong with him. We can only infer that MAYBE Peems did something to Hal (ie, that freaky drug that I can’t remember the name of off-hand) and thus the reason for wanting to talk?? MAYBE the pot was keeping a weird fungus reaction at bay and thus the reason for his weird behavior after he stopped??

Basically, though, between the end of the book and the beginning of the book, there is a blank spot – things happen… important things… And we are not given any information on exactly what those things are other than vague hints. If the book were straighforward, this would be no problem to just “guess” what was going to happen. However, this bok is NOT straightforward (as you have mentioned) – it twists, turns, and in some places, completely bends. So, what I think *might* have happened is one of a thousand possibilities. None of them are wrong entirely, and none of them are really right.

If you still believe that it’s exactly laid out without any question or doubt what happens to Hal, throw me some page numbers and I’ll happily rescind that portion of this post.

Mahalo,
Monica

And no, of course the end notes weren’t really necessary. Neither was reading the book. But they were in there because Wallace wanted you to experience the book the way you experience life: in a fragmented, not entirely linear manner. Even as you try to focus on the important thing you need to do or figure out next, you are sidetracked by unwanted thoughts. The briefer, medical end notes represented this. Sometimes you are distracted, sometimes you are derailed — sometimes for the better. Sometimes, the distractions lead you to important insights.