I read that James, and to a lesser extent Nora Barnacle, wondered why people kept on speaking about Ulysses while he was working on, and publishing chapters /episodes of FW.
Do any of you think that that's true, that FW is better than Ulysses?
Edit: thanks for the responses I think I'm gonna start the fuckin' thing right now--I'll talk to you all next year:)
Discussion and Prompts
....one 'Ductor' [conductor/doctor/leader] Hitchcock raises his fez hat (not unlike a chalice) for silence--silence, presumably, for the singer of the coming ballad as well as for the imminent thunderword of the Loud Fellow whom we might presume to be God. And there at the turnpike [the one where Earwicker got his name, recall] the song was sung.
The pages of verses made their rounds like the Scapegoat Wren of old [see the Skeleton Key footnotes]. And Hosty spoke: "Some may call him such-and such or this-and that, but I call him Persse O'Reilly, or else nothing at all" [we are reminded of the song "I'll Name the Boy Dennis, Or No Name At All"]. Leave it do Hosty to construct fitting rhymes for a verse. Now here we go: It's coming! Glass crashes. The voice of God booms out the third thunderword: a cacophonous mish-mash of words for bad, shit, and applause (crappy and clappy, we might say). The ballad begins.
- We are showed the sheet music for "The Ballad of Persse O'Reilly" at the bottom of this page, but we will not cover the lyrics therein yet--since this verse is repeated on the next page, we will analyze the lyrics in the next discussion thread. For the moment, a question for the musically minded: What do you think of the sheet music itself, lyrics aside?
- Why a thunderword on this page? What's the reasoning, do you think, for its crashing through the page?
- What's the symbolism of the wren?
Resources
Page 44 on finnegansweb- certainly check out the hyperlink for the thunderword on this page for a useful breakdown
Thunderword #3 pronunciation tutorial and discussion by Adam Harvey. He discusses the song for a bit, but, again, we'll delve into the lyrics (as well as covers of the song!) in the next discussion thread.
A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake - in a couple of footnotes, Campbell enlightens the reader re: 'rann':
"* A rann is an ancient Celtic verse form. There are many stories of Irish poets who revenged themselves against ungenerous or brutal kings by composing satires against them; and frequently (o
... keep reading on reddit β‘Discussion and Prompts
[And now we examine the contents of the oft referenced ballad, herein named "The Ballad of Persse O'Reilly". It seems that this ballad consists of 14 stanzas and 3 brief "intermissions", we might say. Where a line begins with a "[", that appears to indicate that that line should be treated as a run-on of the preceding line.]
[p. 45] Stanza 1: Asks the chorus if they've heard of one Humpty Dumpty (a stand-in for HCE) and how he/his reputation fell in Phoenix Park (at the butt of the Magazine Wall). One should recall Earwicker's interaction with the cad earlier in this chapter.
Stanza 2: HCE was one time the King of the Castle, i.e., highly regarded, but now he's old and rotten and sentenced by the court to the Mountjoy prison.
Stanza 3: HCE was the stuttering gather/grandfather of all schemes to annoy the people, painting him as a sort of common enemy. Such schemes included slow coaches/trains, condoms for the people, prohibition of alcohol, and religious reform.
Stanza 4: Why couldn't HCE make these schemes come to fruition? I'm certain/afraid to say that this cow's butter is in his horns/that is, the cow produces no milk--that is, there is no explanation?
Intermission 1: An interjection from the chorus, make of it what you will. However, the "Balbaccio, balbuccio!" may reference the Latin word "balbus", or stuttering, hence the stuttering in the very next line.
Stanza 5: We had all these goods (good and bad) provided for us by HCE's store, though he cheated us on the prices, in his store found down Bargainway, Lower.
[p. 46] Stanza 6: So comfortably HCE slept in his hotel, but soon we'll set fire to all his trash and Sheriff Clancy will wind up to the door of HCE's shop to arrest him.
Stanza 7: The waves washes ashore to Ireland the ship of that Viking [HCE]; God's curse on that day when he arrived in Dublin Bay.
Stanza 8: "Where do you come from?" challenges the Poolbeg Lighthouse of this arriving foreigner. "Copenhagen," responds the Viking. "Give me escape for me, my wife, and my family. My name old Norwegian name is Fingal Mac Oscar Onesine Bargearse Boniface." The Viking also seems to indicate that these are the names of Old Norwegian gods.
Intermission 2: Here the chorus seems to demand that Hosty lifts his voice.
Stanza 9: A look at what HCE is guilty of. Differing accounts is key here. It happened either during a graden pumping (a garden party? or a masturbation session is Pho
... keep reading on reddit β‘Hi all, I want to read Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. Does anyone have any tips to help me read and understand/ retain what I'm reading?
I'm worried it will be alot like reading Gravity's Rainbow. There was a ton of references that just flew over my head, I also found it hard to retain the information I was reading in most of the book because it seemed to jump around alot.
I've heard that it is one of the most difficult books to read and will most likely be tedious.
If you've read the book, how did you manage?
Discussion and Prompts
Page 43 continues with a description of the sections and cross-sections of the crowd gathered to hear the ballad begun on the previous page, with images of church-going ladies, clergymen, a Belgian and his spouse and dog, scholars, poplin manufacturers, teetotalers, and perhaps even the dream family themselves (at least, most likely Issy, Shaun, and Shem). The ballad, in a cross-cut meter preferred by one Taiocebo in his 'Casudas de Poulichinello Artahut' (The Fall of Punchinello's Bier?), stamped onto sheet of paper which is headed by the image of a ship, soon spread its "secret" (the rumor first spread by the cad in the park, we must presume, and the subject of this ballad) far and wide. To the sounds of the flute, which one Mr Delaney pulled from his hat...
- Page 42 featured an appearance of Browne (an avatar of Giordano Bruno), and page 43 continues with a description of a crowd full of contradictions (see: Bruno's coincidentia oppositorum). What oppositions, contraries, and disagreements can you spot within the crowd? Any thoughts on this recurring theme of coincidentia oppositorum?
Resources
Corrections of Misprints - on line 15 from top, insert comma after "who"; on line 33 from top, delete the full stops after "Mr."
Spotify playlist - several new songs or song parodies appear on this page, including "Molly Brannigan" and "A Nation Once Again"
Pozdrav svim Δitateljima i knjigofilima croreddita. Postoji li kakav hrvatski ili srpski prijevod ovog Joyceovog djela? Puno hvala
So I started this reading group on 1 January 2021 and made it 41 pages in before getting pulled out to sea by the rip current of work and the general demands of life. However, today I just posted the discussion thread for page 42 and I will attempt to work through as many discussion threads as possible this year, life's demands notwithstanding. If you have been searching for a Finnegans Wake reading group that combines discussion threads, text glosses, and helpful resource allocations, then please check out r/FiveYearsOfFW! Don't worry about falling behind--the discussion threads may be pretty detailed, but there are only 42 so far. The idea is to read this book over the course of like 5 years, so you've got plenty of time to catch up. Honestly, I guess you don't even have to read the book, as you can just read the daily discussion thread text glosses.
Anyway, feel free to join us. I'd love to have more voices in that subreddit and more encouragement to continue!
Happy New Year! You may not recognize me by my new username, but I assure you that I am your regular admin--I simply deleted my last account. New year, new me. I will soon (hopefully) be starting a new job, so I may yet fall behind in discussion threads, but I'll persevere as long and as far as I can. Remember, this is a very long-term project, as far as reading groups go. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Discussion and Prompts
....Where, the tale continues, the trio of music makers was joined by a casual and decent sort of has been who had just been paid his weekly wages; this decent man buys drinks for the trio of sycophants (figblabbers-->rumor spreaders), after which they exit the pub, flushed with friendship fostered by liquor, laughing and wiping their lips on their sleeves, shouting and playing music with perhaps an Irish nationalist slant. And the world was made all the richer by a ballad sung, the singer(s) of which the world owes a tribute for having sweetened the world with his ballad of the vilest stutterer (bΓ©gayeur) [referring to HCE, of course].
This ballad was first sung where the River Liffey runs and the Hill of Howth humps, under the shadow of the monument of what may be Parnell, to a huge crowd that filled the field of vision. The crowd represented all sections and cross-sections of the people of Dublin, including young Dubliners from Cut-Purse Row, truant officers, pawnbrokers, hungry tradesmen, professional gentlemen, folks from the English Pale...
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Welcome back! My apologies for the long interim between discussion threads. I have been...predisposed. Well, how has your life been? Have you persisted with reading the Wake despite the lack of discussion threads? What new knowledge can you bring to these readings in 2022?
-
What do you make of the modal themes on this page, particularly in the first paragraph? E.g., the encoded "fiat", the "fuit", the "would be"...
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The name "Browne" is mentioned in this page. Can you recall the Giordano Bruno connection to this name, from a previous discussion thread? What does the appearance of this name suggest, and what content from this page confirms that suggestion?
Resources
Corrections of Misprints - change "firestuff
... keep reading on reddit β‘Iβve been considering making a Finnegans Wake study app for some time now and Iβm getting closer to actually doing it.
I saw the copyright on Finnegans Wake doesnβt expire until 2035, but there are other websites online reprinting the text of Finnegans Wake.
Does anybody know what my options are in this matter?
Do I have to ask the copyright holder for permission to make a Finnegans Wake reading app?
Thanks
No, I canβt fully understand the book myself but the writing is past belief, here are two among many, some famous, passages from it.
ββ
Methought as I was dropping asleep somepart in nonland of whereβs please (and it was when you and they were we) I heard at zero hour as βtwere the peal of vixenβs laughter among midnightβs chimes from out the belfry of the cute old speckled church tolling so faint a goodmantrue as nighthoodβs unseen violet rendered all animated greatbritish and Irish objects nonviewable to human watchers save βtwere perchance anon some glistery gleam darkling adown surface of affluvial flowandflow as again might seem garments of laundry reposing a leasward close at hand in full expectation. And as I was jogging along in a dream as dozing I was dawdling, arrah, methought broadtone was heard and the creepers and the gliders and flivvers of the earth breath and the dancetongues of the woodfires and the hummers in their ground all vociferated echoating: Shaun! Shaun! Post the post! with a high voice and O, the higher on high the deeper and low, I heard him so! And lo, mescemed somewhat came of the noise and somewho might amove allmurk. Now, βtwas as clump, now mayhap. When look, was light and now βtwas as flasher, now moren as the glaow. Ah, in unlitness βtwas in very similitude, bless me, βtwas his belted lamp! Whom we dreamt was a shaddo, sure, heβs lightseyes, the laddo! Blessed momence, O romence, heβs growing to stay! Ay, he who so swayed a will of a wisp before me, hand prop to hand, prompt side to the pros, dressed like an earl in just the correct wear, in a classy mac Frieze oβcoat of far suparior ruggedness, indigo braw, tracked and tramped, and an Irish ferrier collar, freeswinging with mereswin lacers from his shoulthern and thick welted brogues on him hammered to suit the scotsmost public and climate, iron heels and sparable soles, and his jacket of providence wellprovided woolies with a softrolling lisp of a lapel to it and great sealingwax buttons, a good helping bigger than the slots for them, of twentytwo carrot krasnapoppsky red and his invulnerable burlap whiskcoat and his popular choker, Tamagnum sette-and-forte and his loud boheem toy and the damaskerβs overshirt he sported inside, a starspangled zephyr with a decidedly surpliced crinklydoodle front with his motto through dear life embrothred over it in peas, rice, and yeggyyolk, Or for royal, Am for Mail, R.M.D. hard cash on the nail and the most successfully carried gi
... keep reading on reddit β‘
Sorry if this counts as spamming:
I am starting work on the Finnegans Wake app I described in my previous post on this subreddit.
I am also working on a GPT-3 app and a reading app called DeepReader.
Today I will develop DeepReader plus deploy my first app to TestFlight, a precursor to publishing the app to the App Store.
You can be an early stage supporter of making the Finnegans Wake app a reality by donating only 5 Euros now.
In the coming weeks I will be updating progress nearly on a daily basis on what important key steps in the project I have completed and whatβs next on the to-do list.
The project will become more evolved and structured over time.
Right now, itβs just getting started.
Please support me here if you want a good Finnegans Wake study app:
https://www.patreon.com/julkhami
Thanks!
https://preview.redd.it/96w6mrmxx6w71.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd44787e882a333e6385f6daaaf7e001aee493a2
I keep cringing whenever I see that redneck Monkey D. Luffy not using his power to have an ungodly amount of hardcore sex with the whole crew when his power allows him to have sex even when he's flaccid. Like what the fuck?
Hey my people, just wondering if anyone has heard anything about Antkind being based on the repeating cycle in Finnegans Wake, I know the ending might be a reflection of the beginning, and there are alot of echoes of the beginning of the book in the end. Joyce is only mentioned one time, but I haven't seen this sort of plot in very many other books or movies, and the echoes of different plot points in Antkind remind me of things like the first sentence of the wake telling the plot of the book, then the first paragraph saying it a little more, like 'kidscad buttended a bland old Isaac' being an echo of Buckley killing the Russian general. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed or maybe I just want to see it XD
The joseph campbell one is the only one iβve read and i feel like he plays it very safe, his mind and interpretations seem relatively βstraight edgeβ so youβre kind of getting a disneyfied clean version of the chaos, almost feels like a neutered version of the story. I guess iβm kind of looking for an interpretation/annotation that knows what its talking about but isnβt afraid to go all out.
Do you guys think Finnegans Wake would ever become more accepted? With the resources now available to us, such as the internet, the book is more accessible than ever before. While its often dismissed as gibberish by most people, I think even as a joke, Joyce managed to do some great things in the book. His use of language and musicality at times is awe inspiring, though there are some really dense pasages to get through that are seemingly opaque. The weakest thing about the book seems to be the plot as its not a normal narrative, rather favoring the style the book is written in. Despite all the time that has passed since it was released it still hasn't been fully solved. I have hope that with things like reddit, a group of people might come together to further the understanding people have of the book. Is that just naive wishful thinking?
I've tried looking online but I can only find the version altered by trolls. They thought It'd be funny to write random gibberish between the actual words, so that you won't understand what's going on.
Also I'd appreciate it if the PDF is properly translated, Idk which language this James Joyce guy spoke but the translator did a terrible job because they've left whole untranslated words everywhere. Like wow what do they pay you for?
Anyways If any of u guys have it I'd love to read this novel. I've already read the whole percy jackson series before so im down for a challenge. God bless
Just getting into it rn but want to be fully prepared haha
So I started this reading group on 1 January 2021 and made it 41 pages in before getting pulled out to sea by the rip current of work and the general demands of life. However, today I just posted the discussion thread for page 42 and I will attempt to work through as many discussion threads as possible this year, life's demands notwithstanding. If you have been searching for a Finnegans Wake reading group that combines discussion threads, text glosses, and helpful resource allocations, then please check out r/FiveYearsOfFW! Don't worry about falling behind--the discussion threads may be pretty detailed, but there are only 42 so far. The idea is to read this book over the course of like 5 years, so you've got plenty of time to catch up. Honestly, I guess you don't even have to read the book, as you can just read the daily discussion thread text glosses.
Anyway, feel free to join us. I'd love to have more voices in that subreddit and more encouragement to continue!
