I’ve only ever belonged to one
reading group, and for eight and a half years we’ve been reading
the same book, Finnegans Wake.
Yes, you read that right: it’s been eight and a half years. We
started the book in April of 2009 and I am thrilled to announce that
last week we finally finished James Joyce’s encyclopedic romp
through the history of everything.
Finnegans Wake (that’s not a
typo—there’s no apostrophe; think of it as a subject and verb)
may well be the most difficult English language book there is to
read, as it’s full of made-up portmanteau words
and foreign language puns, and is written in a dense,
stream-of-consciousness
style. But if you can wade through the prose, it’s wonderfully
rewarding: insightful, beautiful, and at times laugh-out-loud funny.
(For a peek at the text, click here.)
It’s helpful to read what others have
said about the work, and we bring along satchels full of literary
criticism, concordances, and annotations, which we continually
consult. We also drink Guinness, which aids in the process (our
meetings are held at an Irish pub here in Santa Cruz, the Poet and
Patriot).
So, what—you may be wondering—will
we turn to now that we’ve finished the Wake? Well, as some
of you are no doubt aware, Finnegans Wake begins mid-sentence, the beginning of which occurs at the very end of the book:
riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs....[625 pages of text]... A way a lone a last a loved a long the
As a result, we have no choice but to
begin the whole thing all over again. Which we will do (after several
months’ break). And this time it will be ever so much easier! (Not.)
A well-loved copy of the
Wake
Sláinte!
