mistersloane
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I've just started Finnegan's Wake using the Joseph Campbell reader, any thoughts on Campbell's take of it? Or thoughts on it in general? It's blowing my mind.
Finnegan's Wake
- Thread starter mistersloane
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Sectionfive
bandwagon house
Have not read but if you get through it here's a few bits you might be interested in.
James Joyce reading from Finnegan's Wake recorded in Paris around 1924.
On the 70th anniversary of the death of James Joyce. John Kelly had a show about John Cage's 'Roaratorio' which is based on Finnegans Wake.
I hear the Jim Norton readers are very good too as is the the 82 RTE dramatised production of "Ulysses".
James Joyce reading from Finnegan's Wake recorded in Paris around 1924.
On the 70th anniversary of the death of James Joyce. John Kelly had a show about John Cage's 'Roaratorio' which is based on Finnegans Wake.
I hear the Jim Norton readers are very good too as is the the 82 RTE dramatised production of "Ulysses".
slowtrain
Well-known member
I'm hardly an expert either, but my flatmate (who just finished Ulysses) recommending going Dubliners -> Portrait... -> Ulysses -> Finnegan's...
Because I think characters follow over and stuff.
Plus you getta see the development blah blahfaslb
mistersloane
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Wicked thanks Section, will check them out, and yeah agree with slowtrain, do them in order, or just skip the bits you're bored by and get to Ulysses, and persist with that one.
mistersloane
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Yeah I found that years back but reading it along with a reader makes it easier, doesn't feel like cheating cos I wouldn't understand it anyway and is blowing my mind just cos of the depth of detail, he broke language down into every syllable it seems.
grizzleb
Well-known member
Yeaah do it. Dubliners and Portrait are both amazing. Got about 90 pages into Ullysses before I had to turn to other things for school, but what I recall of it was pretty readable, certainly not just obtuse for the sake of it (like say, Pynchon can be). I doubt I'll ever read Finnegan's Wake but not because I don't think it would be worthwhile but because I don't have the intellectual cojones or focus.
STN
sou'wester
Ulysses goes mental at around p. 120.
mistersloane
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Not dodged it babe, just gettin it together now. It's only a breakdown of like the first four paragraphs though. Up in a bit
mistersloane
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Finnegan's Wake, first two paragraphs, broken down.
So there's a river, right, which represents the river Liffey in Dublin and also the eternal goddess and man like Joyce also refers to Adam and Eve to impress the importance of the story we're about to read, it's heavy shit like the Bible and that. Man references stuff like where he got his inspiration from - the Viconian cycle by Giambattista Vico - and suggests that this river (hence the book that we are readin, and life itself) will bring us back to our path, which is our own inevitable re-destruction of ourselves and also of HCE, who is the protagonist of this book, and also the city of Dublin itself. It's like Battlestar Galactica.
Then man fucks with tenses so that we are again travelling through a history which has happened before. He talks about Sir Tristram, another main theme of the book and a big reason for him writing it cos he wanted to fuck his daughter but couldnt say it outright so had to cloak it all in modernism. Then he starts talking about Ireland at the time of the Anglo-Norman conquest and America. Our protagonist - who isn't actually there yet - breeds alot and gets some money from somewhere. Then the great goddess declares herself to be alive - she's also the river, remember? - cos he invades her with his eternal spunk. He's talking about the movement of man across continents and through the ages.
Then a big bolt of lightning crashes out and knocks Finnegan off a ladder.
The End.
So there's a river, right, which represents the river Liffey in Dublin and also the eternal goddess and man like Joyce also refers to Adam and Eve to impress the importance of the story we're about to read, it's heavy shit like the Bible and that. Man references stuff like where he got his inspiration from - the Viconian cycle by Giambattista Vico - and suggests that this river (hence the book that we are readin, and life itself) will bring us back to our path, which is our own inevitable re-destruction of ourselves and also of HCE, who is the protagonist of this book, and also the city of Dublin itself. It's like Battlestar Galactica.
Then man fucks with tenses so that we are again travelling through a history which has happened before. He talks about Sir Tristram, another main theme of the book and a big reason for him writing it cos he wanted to fuck his daughter but couldnt say it outright so had to cloak it all in modernism. Then he starts talking about Ireland at the time of the Anglo-Norman conquest and America. Our protagonist - who isn't actually there yet - breeds alot and gets some money from somewhere. Then the great goddess declares herself to be alive - she's also the river, remember? - cos he invades her with his eternal spunk. He's talking about the movement of man across continents and through the ages.
Then a big bolt of lightning crashes out and knocks Finnegan off a ladder.
The End.
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mistersloane
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I think it gets less dense, maybe.
This is good, Robert Anton Wilson explaining why it's more important than the Bible or the Koran
http://maybelogic.blogspot.com/2009/04/robert-anton-wilson-on-finnegans-wake.html
samdiamond
Well-known member
Read Ulysses about a year ago. It was amazing. I'd like to give Finnegan's Wake a go when i've got time.
When I read Ulysses I read a guide before each chapter and then tried to read it all straight. I probably missed loads of stuff but I found it a good way to do it. I'd also recommend reading Derrida's Ulysses Gramophone.
When I read Ulysses I read a guide before each chapter and then tried to read it all straight. I probably missed loads of stuff but I found it a good way to do it. I'd also recommend reading Derrida's Ulysses Gramophone.
mistersloane
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Not sure about what reader, sorry - I just read it and skipped over bits I didn't understand and enjoyed it that way, but can see why you wouldn't want to. Careful what edition you buy, I think it's the 1961 one you want, others have been cut and they're not the full thing. A quick look says the Kindle version isn't the full version, which is shocking, and the Project Gutenberg version is the 1922 one, which isn't full either. I didn't know e-books were doing that, that makes me sad.
There's info here :
http://infinitezombies.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/which-edition-of-ulysses-is-best/
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