Ben, I'm with you completely on the Tolkien book. I do like some fantasy and some sci fi, but this was such a struggle to finish. I haven't read the Wallace book, and I do think Great Expectations is way overrated, especially since Dickens gave in to his friend, Wilke Collins, and added a happily-ever-after ending. Great artists know when to stop, Dickens gave in and that's one reason he isn't a favorite of mine. (Although I do love his Nicholas Nickleby)

I wouldn't say that Great Expectations was overrated. It's a masterpiece in its majority, but you're right about the end. If I'm honest, the end of the book is perhaps the one thing that I can't remember about it. I read the depressive ending too, and thought that fit in with the rest of it perfectly. I suppose people had had enough of Dickens' making sad endings.

Infinite Jest is really a great book. If you're into metafiction like Pynchon and (to a point) Cormac McCarthy, then I definitely recommend it.