Finnegans Wake

[Roland]

Out of curiosity, and because I enjoy Joyce, I glanced at Finnegans Wake last night. I was extremely intimidated.

Has anyone here had any success in comprehending, and perhaps enjoying this read?

[jcs]

I don't even like the idea of Finnegans Wake. I fail to see why one would intentionally make one's work demanding. An interesting literary device gone too far.
I plan on reading it when I'm old and have read enough to lessen the demand. I actually suspect I'll enjoy it, because I've come to enjoy some Joyce. I wonder if he wrote the book for old intellectuals...

[Stick to the Facts]

Out of curiosity, and because I enjoy Joyce, I glanced at Finnegans Wake last night. I was extremely intimidated.

Has anyone here had any success in comprehending, and perhaps enjoying this read?

The beginning is a very hard slog because of the Gaelic/English hybrid that is used. The going gets easier, but even so I've never finished it.

If you do read it I'd recommend getting another book that analyses it. And it wouldn't hurt to read the Odyssey first, Finnegan's Wake parallels it.

[Geist]

I guess (as with Ulysses) I had had one up on you all since both books are set in my home city so the slang does not require translation. I've read parts of FW for a seminar, and the only good method I got for reading it via a fellow classmate is to read it aloud. Most of the jokes/techniques/etc come to light far easier through this method. Is it worth reading? Probably not except in parts. Just dip in, and skip over anything that bores you. Its the same with Ulysses I guess.

I have a major affinity with Joyce for a variety of reasons so he means a lot to me in that sense. A lot of it is rooted in the language so I'm not sure if it translates so well.

By the way STTF the Gaelic/English hybrid is called Hiberno-English, and its not actually a hybrid of Gaelic at all so much as English imbued with a sense of Irishness (not the Irish language however although the transition from one language to the other brought about some odd ruptures in syntax which apparently comes across on the forum so I've heard).

[Ahmadinebobina]

I

I have a major affinity with Joyce for a variety of reasons so he means a lot to me in that sense. A lot of it is rooted in the language so I'm not sure if it translates so well.



You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Dizzee Rimbaud again.

sigh.

[Billy Score]

I like the folk song Finnegan's wake. not sure if it has anything to do with the book though.

[Roland]

I guess (as with Ulysses) I had had one up on you all since both books are set in my home city so the slang does not require translation.

I found A Portrait, some of the Dubliners stories, and the parts of Ulysses that I did read to be intelligible and enjoyable. I envy you in any case, though; I imagine it would be much easier if one were raised with Irish idiom and slang.

Thank you for the advice regarding reading aloud - and if I don't understand, at least saying "Gracehopper" out loud will be amusing.

[Geist]

I found A Portrait, some of the Dubliners stories, and the parts of Ulysses that I did read to be intelligible and enjoyable. I envy you in any case, though; I imagine it would be much easier if one were raised with Irish idiom and slang.

Indeed. A Portrait pretty much follows the pattern of how my own life has panned out. Its rooted in an experience I imagine Joyce knew would continue down the line for young Irish men. Passing on Joyce to new readers is something of a vocation here :rofl:

Thank you for the advice regarding reading aloud - and if I don't understand, at least saying "Gracehopper" out loud will be amusing.

Well don't take the novel too seriously. I think Joyce would have preferred the reader coming to the book in a jovial manner than a serious academic one (hell he admitted he was attempting to befuddle a whole generation of scholars). For added effect put on your best Irish accent :rofl: People in the next room will think you've gone mad.