Monday, 17 December 2018, Pages 519 - 520

The reading stopped at "... ye, ay or nay?" (520.31)

We shall continue reading about the inquisition regarding Earwicker in the new year, on Monday, 7th January 2019.

To usher in the new year of reading Finnegans Wake, we shall go to the James Joyce Pub after the reading. It will also be an occasion to bid farewell to our Charlie.

Have a nice Christmas and a good start to 2019!

Monday, 10 December 2018, Pages 517 - 518

The reading stopped at "Hull hopen for christmians?"  (518, last line)

Monday, 3 December 2018, Pages 514 - 516

Our reading stopped at "...finister started?" (516.36)

The inquisitor (one of the four inquisitors) asks Shaun to reconstruct the funeral games, as briefly as he can, inexactly the same as mind's eye view, when the old man (Earwicker?) was on his ars, the lady (ALP?) was with the lamp, and the boy (Shaun?) was in the barleybag.

Shaun is not very keen on answering because, as he says, he was drunk all lost life. But he gives in when the inquisitor starts with the opening, 'Once upon a grass and a hopping high grass it was.'

Monday,19 November 2018, Pages 511 - 512

We read as far as "... but shekleton's my fortune?" (512.28)

As on earlier pages, an inquest/enquiry is going on. A witness is being asked question after question. Who could be this witness? Who is the questioner?

At the start of this chapter 38 pages earlier (only 38 pages earlier (!), on page 474) Shaun was being interrogated by four old men, whom we have met many times in earlier chapters too. So, let us assume that the witness, the one being asked questions, is still Shaun. And that the one who is asking questions is one of the four old men. And that the entire inquest is taking place in the dream world of Earwicker.

Last week we had read about a ball that took place in the Taylors' Hall and the breakfast afterwards at Heaven and Covenant. Only two people, the bride and the priest were sober. McGraw the wedding beastsman was kicking the bedding out of the old sexton. The witness, Shaun, says that while that was going on he and some others were gickling his missus to gackles (tickling Mcgraw's wife to giggles?).
He also describes the dress the bride was wearing: a floating panel, secretairslidingdraws, a budge of knees on her schalter,...

Joseph Campbell says that here 'Joyce is describing the costume of the bride in terms of modern paintings (Dali, Klee, Croce) and esthetic philosophies.'

Monday, 12 November 2018, Pages 509 - 511

We read till "Or he was in serge?" (511.5)

Louties also genderymen, according to Joseph Campbell, my help in the matters of FW, the inquest about the incidence in the Phoenix park is continuing. A witness (we do not know who it is) is on the stand. He had watched the two girls in the park. That night there was a ballay (ball) at the Tailors' Hall. Everybody there was thomistically drunk.  In the morning they all went for breakfast at the Heaven and Covenant.The witness then describes how it was at the ball and at breakfast. He says that only the priest (the right reverend priest, Mr Hopsinbond) and the bride-elect (the reverent bride eleft, Frizzy Fraufrau) were sober.

Monday, 5 November 2018, pages 507 - 509

The reading stopped at "... outer my ear." (509.29)

Apologies for the one-line post!

Monday, 29 October 2018, Pages 505 - 507

Our reading stopped at "...would be finished with his tea?" (507.12)

Today's passage seemed mostly to be located in the Garden of Eden with references to God (Grand Precurser) Adam, Eve, Lucifer (looseaffair) turned into snake (Bomslinger) and apple tree (Upfellbowm). But it did turn in the end to HCE, a man of around fifty, struck on Anna Lynsha's Pekoe...

Joseph Campbell interprets the scene as a description "of the great World Tree, or World Axis, known to all mythologies. ... a primal symbol of Life. Eternally growing, eternally casting its dead leaves and branches, masculine and feminine and neuter at once, all-sheltering, ..."

Monday, 22 October 2018, Pages 502 - 505

Our reading stopped at "... all sides out of him, ..." (505.5)

An interrogation is taking place in Earwicker's dream. The focus is again on that infamous incidence in the Phoenix park.
A witness (?) is describing the place/day/time when the illassorted first couple first met with each other. Accordingly they met at a place fairly exposed to the four last winds (fully exposed to the wind?) There was a flagstone and a sign proclaiming 'Trickpissers will be pairsecluded" (Tresspassers will be prosecuted!) A somewhat long description of the trees, birds etc that are around there follows... to be continued in the coming reading session.

Our Exagmination Round His Factification....

"Your exagmination round his factification for incamination of a warping process."
(Finnegan's Wake, 497.2)

Wikipedia has a special webpage on 'Our Exagmination Round His Factification....' Accordingly it is a collection of essays and two letters published in 1929 and is on the subject of Finnegans Wake. Edited by Samuel Beckett, the essays were by people who knew him personally and followed the Work in Progress.

The book itself can be downloaded here!

Monday, 15 October 2018, Pages 499 - 502

Our reading stopped at "... Foxrock to Finglas." (502.35)

We covered almost 3 pages as what we read consisted mostly of single sentences and occasionally very short paragraphs.

An enquiry /examination is still going on. Many voices are speaking. Their exclamations/comments are intercepted again and again with the 'word' Zinzin. Well, I again consulted Joseph Campbell's book as to its meaning. He writes: 'This theme is associated throughout with the noise of jubilee at the wake; it accompanies the Fall theme; it is the sound of a dry leaf scratching Earwicker's bedroom window.'

The section we read hints at Tristan and Isolde and Wagner. Lewd's carol (Lewis Carroll or Xmas carols) is also alluded to. It is fun to decode the popular xmas carols from the following:
1. jusse as they rose and sprungen (502.7)
2. Lieto galumphantes (502.10)
When the above can be decoded it is easy to decode the sentence, 'Hail many fell of greats!' (502.22)

By the way, today was the 6th anniversary of our starting to read FW. Some of us celebrated the event in style here after the reading!

Monday, 8 October 2018, Pages 497 - 499

Our reading stopped at "Watch!" (499.29)

Apart from learning from McHugh that the paragraph starting with 'Bappy-go-gully' contains 29 words for death in at least 15 different languages, (don't ask for their significance! All I know is that Finnegan's Wake deals with wake i.e., death), we recognised that the four old men are still at their cross examination of Shawn, whose voice has by now been taken over by ALP, who is defending her husband against the rumours of the Phoenix park incidence.

We also thought we recognised Finnegan at his wake (Funnycoon's wick/p. 499) BUT Joseph Campbell says "... the scene is strangely amplified and magically transformed; the body on the bier seems to be, not Finnegan of primeval times, but HCE in the full glory of his empire." (P. 250 in A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake)

Monday, 1 October 2018

Apologies for not posting anything about what we read on October 1. When I synced my iPad with my Mac last week, I lost my copy of Finnegan's Wake on the iPad!

Monday, 24 September 2018, Pages 494 - 495

We stopped the reading with 'Plunk!' (495.20)

In the last post, I had written that it is pointless to ask why Joyce uses Indian origin words in one paragraph and then moves on to the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Many of us were also unsure as to who is talking. This chapter started with four old men interrogating Yawn (aka Shawn). But the voice  on page 491 was no longer Shawn's. So I took refuge in Joseph Campbell's 'A Skeleton Key to Finnegan's Wake.'

Campbell identifies this new voice has the ring of the voice of ALP. He says, 'From a deeper level of Yawn's subconsciousness a female voice now is heard.' ALP takes on the role of the two girls in the Phoenix park, the two temptresses. One of them talks with the voice using the Indian origin words. Campbell continues: 'When ALP has her say as India, one the Four Old Men, in a prayer re-echoing the periods of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, bids the other temptress aspect to let herself be heard. She speaks forth now with the voice of Ireland....'

Monday, 17 September 2018, Pages 492 - 494

We stopped at "... lazul." (494.5)

The first paragraph (starting with Capilla, Rubrilla, ...) we read today contains so many 'modified/corrupted'  Indian words that I decided to concentrate on them. (The next paragraph(s) takes things from the Egyptian Book of Dead. I guess it is pointless to ask why Joyce uses Indian origin words in the first paragraph, and Egyptian in the second!)

Capilla: The sage Kapila, who is said to have lived around 500 BC, is revered as the founder of one the important schools of Indian philosophy, the Samkhya philosophy.
backhaul of Coalcutter: The black hole of Calcutta, an incident that occurred on June 20, 1756
hindustand: Hindustan, a Persian name for India.
Surager Dowling: Siraj-ud- Daulah, Nawab of Bengal at the time when the incidence of the black hole took place. It was Siraj-ud-Daulah, who imprisoned the Britishers in the black hole.
Sahib: A polite form of addressing a man
Syringa padham: The town, Srirangapattana, near Mysore in Southern India is known for its temple and for its ruler, Tipu Sultan, who fought with the British in 1799
Alleypulley: A city in Kerala, South India, whose original name was Alleppey, known today as Alappuzha.
rupee: Rupee, the Indian currency
riputed: ripu, a Sanskrit word, which means enemy
sambat: Samrat in Sanskrit, which means emperor
annaversary: Till India adapted the decimal system, the currency consisted of rupees, annas and paise. 16 annas made a rupee, and 4 paise made an Anna.
mayarannies: Maharanis. A maharani is a queen, the wife of a maharaja. A maharaja is a higher raja (king). Above him is the emperor (Samrat).
rawjaws: Rajas. A raja is a king.
Vikramadityationists: Vikramaditya was an emperor of ancient India. Many legends are associated with this wise emperor. More information here.
gulughurutty: Gujarati (?), the language spoken in the state of Gujarat, in Western India.

Monday, 10 September 2018, Pages 490 - 492

Our reading stopped at "... ara poog neighbours!"  (492.12)

Does 'ara poog neighbours!' stand for 'our poor neighbours!'or is the line, 'ora pro nobis' (pray for us) from Ave Maria or 'Arrah na Pogue' (Annah of the kiss) or for all the three or for something else totally different? Who is to decide?

On these pages Shaun continues to be subjected to an enquiry by the four old men. One of them is asking Shaun about his brother, Shem (your contraman).

There are hidden references to
- Ireland as sow, perhaps referring to the chapter 5 of The Portrait, where Stephen says, 'Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow.'
- King Mark in the stanza starting with 'Marak! Marak! Marak!'

and much more!

Monday, 3 September 2018, Pages 488 - 490

The last reading stopped at: “Of a redtettetterday morning” (490.27)

Monday, 27 August 2018, Pages 486 - 488

The last reading stopped at: “noughtnought nein.”  (488.26) 

Monday, 20 August 2018, Pages 485 - 486

We read as far as "... O la la!"  (486.25)

Joseph Campbell writes that Shaun's language on these pages resemble much that of Shem's, and says, "We begin to suspect that he and his brother may be essentially one."

The four old men are trying with their inquisition to find out about history as Shaun asserts, "Mine is the first personal name heard in God's doomsday book." (And, Mind Praisegad, is the first praisonal Egoname Yod heard boissboissy in Moy Bog's domesday.) They ask him, 'Are you Roman Patrick, 432?" (Are you roman cawthrick 432?). This is a way to identify him with St. Patrick who came to Ireland in 432. In answer Shaun poses the riddle, 'Quadrigue my yoke....', and says, 'I see a French pastry cook'. (I see a blackfrinch pliestrycook...)

O la la, indeed!

Monday, 13 August 2018, Pages 483 - 484

We stopped the reading with "... marecurious." (Last word on page 484)

Shaun is still going on with defending himself, answering the questions of mamalujo, the four evangelists. With regard to his relationship with Shem, he says, 'Been ike hins kindergardien?', which probably means ' Bin ich sein guardian?', i.e., 'Am I my brother's keeper?'.

After referring to them as laycreated cardonals (laymen cardinals), he accuses them that they remember only his mistakes in what he said even after he had brought them from the laps of luxury. (I brought you from the loups of Lazary and you have remembered my lapsus langways.)

Monday, 30 July 2018, Pages 481 - 483

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

As it is the annual workshop week at the Foundation

there will be no reading of FW on 6th August.

We shall continue with our reading of Finnegans Wake

on 13th August 2018.

We have stopped at ".... fifteen primes." (483.21)

The four old men are still poking the sleeping Shaun with questions. They also ask each other questions. After having posed many questions to Shaun about his father, they are now after his relationship with Shem.

The sentence, 'Me das has or oreils. Piercey, piercey, piercey, piercey!' is interesting as it hints at the myth of Midas, the miserly kind, and at Persse O'Reilly which is close to 'peace oreille' in French, meaning earwig. The connection between Midas and HCE becomes 'clear' after reading the story of Midas and his donkey's ears!

Monday, July 23, 2018, Pages 479 - 481

Our reading stopped at "... Mushame, Mushame!" (481.26)*

We are in chapter 3 of book 3, and, in my opinion, the opaqueness of the work has reached new heights! It is extremely challenging to understand who is talking to whom, and what is being said without the help of some secondary literature. For example, Joseph Campbell's 'A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake'.

At the beginning of this chapter, we found Yawn (aka Shaun), exhausted, grandly spawning across a hillock in County Meath. He was visited by four claymen, representatives of the general public, and of the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. (In fact we had met these Four earlier, for instance, as the Four Old Men in the pub and as the Four Massores, Mattatias, Marusias, Lucanias, Jokinias (Chapter 1, Book 2). These four now hold inquests and question Yawn about himself, about his 'relationship to the old criminal of the past.'** This refers to that incidence in the Phoenix park in which HCE is said to have been involved. What happens on the pages we read last week and today, deals with the questions asked by the four claymen and Yawn's answers to the same.

* Mesdames, Monsiers! (according to McHugh)
** Joseph Campbell, First page of chapter III

Monday, July 16, 2018, Pages 477 - 479

The last reading stopped at "... ab laut!" (479.33)

Monday, July 9, 2018, Pages 475 - 477

The last reading stopped at "... Hubba's up!" (477.10)

Monday, 18 June 2018, Pages 472 - 475

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

As Fritz will be away in Trieste and Dublin,

there will be no reading of FW on 25th June and 2nd July.

We shall continue with our reading of Finnegans Wake

on 9th July 2018.

________________________________________________________________________________

In our reading of this week, we stopped at "... sweat of night blues moist upon them." (475.1)
(i.e., we completed chapter 2 of book 3, and started chapter 3 (book 3) which ends on page 554.)

The 28 biddies and Issy send Shaun finally off at the end of chapter 2. Calling him now Haun, their goodbye is peppered with praise: '... you did your strong nine furlong mile* in slick and slapstick record time.' They compare him to the phoenix bird (phaynix, Bennu) that rises out of the ashes. Then they send him off, telling him, 'Walk while ye have the night for morn', echoing the words of Jesus to his followers: 'Walk whilst you have the light, that the darkness overtake you not.'
* A mile has 8, not 9 furlongs!

Chapter 3:

Joseph Campbell writes the following about Shaun and chapter 3/book 3:
(A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake, P. 237)

"The figure of Shaun, titanic and extensive, brutal, empty, long-winded, and sentimental, repeats in grotesque parody the patterns established long ago by the father. Shaun is not creative. He is the end, not the beginning, of a mighty destiny.... Whereas HCE was always up again and around, Shaun will quickly fade....
In the present chapter we find him already exhausted, grandly spawning across a hillock in County Meath, which is the umbilical centre of the Green Isle** of the World. Known now as Yawn, he has carried into full decline the ageless dynastic line of his fathers."
** Green Isle = Ireland

monday, 4 June 2018, Pages 470 - 472

Imp: Reading will continue of Monday, 18 June 2018

We read as far as "Our Chris-Na-Murty!'  (472.15)

Juan seems to be finally leaving. The 28 +1 Biddies are passing on their good bye wishes to him; for example, they wish ' May your bawny hair grow rarer and fairer, our own only wideheaded boy!' (.... our one and only white bodied boy?). They call him by many names: Huan (= Shaun, Juan?), Joss-el-Jovan (Joss: European name for a Chinese household god; el: Old Testament name for god; Jovan: Jupiter, Jehovah)* and Chris-na-Murty (Krishnamurti)**

* Source: http://www.finnegansweb.com/wiki/index.php/Joss-el-Jovan
** Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895 -1986), a speaker, philosopher, writer, who was initiated by Annie Besant into the Theosophical Society and groomed to become its World Teacher. An experience he had in 1922 finally led him to quit Theosophical Society. Krishnamurti did become an acknowledged 'teacher' of how to lead one's life. He also established schools in India and UK, where he wanted that children will be brought up free of usual prejudices and be able to realise their true potential. (Visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti)

Monday, May 28, 2018, Pages 469 - 470

The last reading stopped at "...his own trumpet" (470.28)

Monday, May 14, 2018, Pages 467 - 469

Please note that there will be no reading next Monday, 21 May (Whitsuntide/Pentecost).

The last reading stopped at "... hearing ho." (469.1)

Monday, May 7, 2018, Pages 466 - 467

We stopped at "... worrid expressionism on his megalogue?" (467.8)

Instead of a megalogue what we have been experiencing here mostly is a monologue by Shaun. It shall undoubtedly continue for another couple of pages. At least.

When the book is read, do try to decipher the following sentences:
'Fee gate has Heenan hoity, mind uncle Hare?' (466.29)
'The tower is precluded, the mob's in her petticoats;...' (466.32)

Monday, 30 April 2018, Pages 464 - 465

The last reading stopped at "... convict of the forest." (465.36)

Monday, 23 April 2018, Pages 463 - 464

Our reading stopped at "... with his paudeen!" (464.14)

Though unexpected happenings have kept me busy this past week, I could not resist finding out what 'paudeen' is and found out that it is an Irish nickname for Patrick. W. B. Yeats wrote a poem titled, Paudeen.

My apologies that till the last half of May the posts on this blog will be quite sporadic and will not contain much secondary explanation.

If any of you find something on Finnegan's Wake you want to share it with others, you are most welcome to post it in the comments section by clicking on the pencil sign below.

Monday, 16 April 2018, Pages 460 - 463

We stopped at the first line of page 463: "... blushing like Pat's pig, begob!"

Well, some of the things we read today were quite 'surprising'. For one thing, the Russian General seems to be back, most probably in another incarnation, as Pinchapoppapoff. Secondly Issy, who has been professing her (sisterly?) love for her Shaun (The Dargle shall run dry the sooner I you deny), who had in fact mentioned her latest lad's loveliletter and had explained why she likes him (her latest lad), says on these pages: 'I'll strip straight after devotions before his fondstare - ... and poke stiff under my isonbound ... for the night's foreign males...' What should we make of this stripping business? In particular, how should we understand this according to the interpretation of Joseph Campbell who likens Shaun to Christ?

Campbell comes to the rescue once again and explains the above as follows: 'The ecclesiastical allegory continues in Iseult's promises that though she may take up with other lovers she will remain basically faithful to her Shaun..... Iseult, as the Faith Christ left behind him, is going to be generous with her ecclesiastical favours to wooers of all denominations. High Church, Low Church, Latin, Greek, and Russian - she will embrace them all in His name.'

ah ah ah ah ...... MEN!

Apart from a number of references to Jonathan Swift and his friends Vanessa and Estella, these pages also hint at two operas by Verdi: (a) Il Travatore, (b) Falstaff. The opera, Il Travatore appears as 'The troubadour! I fremble!', which in fact is a take on the aria, 'Il Travatore, Io fremo' (Listen here to Maria Callas singing this aria. Read here the lyrics.) In my opinion, 'Eccolo me!' mentioned in the very next sentence, hints at the aria, 'Eccomi qua, son pronto' from Falstaff. (Recording of the aria here!)

Monday, April 9, 2018, Pages 458 - 460

We stopped at "O, I understand." (460.31)

Oh yes, we did understand something from this week's reading. We understood that Shaun's lecturing is over - at least for the time being -, that Issy is answering him. Last week she had mentioned her lovely hair - though kinkless, it had loops of loveliness. She had given him writing papers and had asked him to write to her (forward it back by return pigeon's pneu*) and that when he sees these writing papers, he should think of her and not of Veronique.**

In this session she professes that she will read rosary for him; she mentions her nurse, Madge, who breaks in her (Issy's) shoes when she (Issy) has trouble with the arch of her feet; and she talks of the boy (her latest lad), who fell for her lips, for her lisp, .. whereas she fell for his strength, his manhood, his do you mind? Even though she has fallen for somebody, Issy assures Shaun that she will always care for him. (The Dargle shall run dry the sooner I you deny.) Issy gives Shaun.

* and **
Jospeh Campbell interprets this request in the following way:
"Under the sentimental clownery of this scene appears very dimly the figure of Christ on his Via Crucis. Shaun has spoken of and actually eaten his Last Supper; his way is lined with women whom he exhorts not to weep, among them Veronica."

Campbell also interprets 'return pigeon's pneu' as Issy asking Shaun (i.e., Christ) to send the message back by pigeon's breath (spirit of the Holy Ghost).
(A Skeleton key to Finnegans Wake, p. 279)

Monday, March 26, 2018, Pages 456 - 458

We stopped at "... loops of loveliness." (458.31)

As I have been away last week, this post just gives reference to where we had stopped reading at the last session.

Monday, March 19, 2018, Pages 454 - 456

We read as far as "I'll stump it out of him!"  (456.35)

Shaun's monologue continues. He apparently is not in a hurry to leave. On the pages we read today, after being philosophical at the beginning, he becomes quite an Epicurian (in the modern day sense) and talks a lot about food.

Before becoming philosophical, Shaun's thoughts are still with Elysium, in particular with Seekit headup, which actually refers to Sekhet Hetep, the paradise or Elysian Fields created by the Egyptian god Ra, as an abode for people after their death. Shaun is full of praise for Seekit headup as it will be peaceful. (No petty family squabbles Up There ...). One will not observe there the old wife in the new bustle (ALP?) or the farmer shinner in his latterday paint (HCE?), these phrases being modifications of 'old wine in new bottle', 'former sinner', 'Latter-day Saints' i.e., Mormons respectively!

And there's food for refection when the whole flock's at home. What does he refect (rather, reflect) upon? Upon 'toborrow and toburrow and tobarrow' (Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow / Macbeth's soliloquy: video here, text here) , upon crass, hairy and ever-grim life, till one final haowdiedow Bouncer Naster raps on the bell with a bone...with the sceptre and the hourglass (cras: tomorrow, heri: yesterday, hodie: today).  Shaun reaches the pinnacle of his philosophical thinking when he says, 'We may come, touch and go, from atoms and ifs....'

But this kind of thinking soon gives way to thoughts of food. This change of direction comes immediately after Shaun says, 'Putting Allspace in a Notshall.' (allspice, nutshell? Note also that Nut is the Egyptian goddess of sky.) Not only straight forward references to curry, cinnamon, chutney and cloves come up here but also lots of funny modifications, such as vital-mines (vitamins), harmonies (hormones), kates (steak), eaps (peas), naboc (bacon), erics (rices), oinnons (onions), kingclud (duckling), xoxxoxo (cabbage) and xooxox xxoxoxxoxxx (boiled protestants*)

*1n 1846, during the year of the potato blight, potatoes were referred to as protestants. (see Joseph Campbell, The Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake, p. 278)

Monday, 12 March 2018, P. 453 - 454

We read as far as "Seekit headup!" (454.36)

Shaun / Jaun is leaving. We do not know where to or what for. Is he leaving to simply deliver the post? Perhaps we shall decipher what his mission is later in the book.

Right now he says, that his going will be beneficial to himself (my gala bene fit). He also asks them not to grieve his departure (let ye not be getting grief out of it) because better times await them (Lo, improving ages wait ye! In the orchard of bones.)  Does this orchard of bones (a real lovely phrase) refer to the cemetery?

He is certainly referring to afterlife in Elysium (among the fieldnights eliceam and later when he mentions seekit headup - Egyptian Elysian Fields).

Soon Shaun's thought/talk turns to Lent. Though the said purpose of Lent is self-denial, fasting, doing penance etc, Shaun advises the liddle giddles to 'Drink it up, ladies, please, as smart as you can lower it!' And then he bids them goodbye saying, 'Parting's fun.' In fact he says, 'Goodbye, swisstart, goodbye!' (Did Joyce have a Swiss tart the day he wrote this?)

Shaun/Jaun leaves. Some funny thing must have happened just then because he bursts out into a hearty laugh. (Something of a sidesplitting nature must have occurred to westminstrel Jaunathaun ...) He stops and asks the girls to pray (... my sorellies. It's prayers in layers all the thumping time.)

Monday, 5 March 2018, P. 451 - 453

We stopped in the middle of a sentence at "... Holy Prohibition and Jaun Dyspeptist..." (453.15)

Obviously we are approaching the end of Shaun's sermon to Issy and the 28 girls. It looks as if Shaun is going to leave on an errand. (... go forth.... from our nostorey house, upon this benedictine errand....). He has been thinking about it for some time, for example when he sat for his tripos (at Cambridge) where he read Tennyson's Morte d'Arthur / video of the reading here, (Tennis Flonnels Mac Courther) while he took photographs (peeking into the focus), while he listened to his phonograph and radio (pricking up ears to my phono ... and picking up airs from th'other over th'ether).... He, in fact, is looking forward to meeting a king, Erin himself.

But right now Shaun is beginning to get sunsick (I declare to Jeshuam I'm beginning to get sunsick!), him being a half Norwegian. This is something amazing as it is mentioned at the start of this episode that it was the zero-hour with mid-night's chimes ringing (see, page 403).

Well, anything is possible in the world of dreams ;)

Monday, 26 February 2018, P. 450 - 451

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM JJF:

The reading on coming Monday, 5 March 2018, starts at 4 p.m. (16.00h). The reason is that some 40 odd visitors from Milan will be occupying much of the Foundation's space that day.


Back to Shaun's sermon:
We stopped at "Not a spot of my hide but you'd love to seek and scan again!" (451.26)

We read last week that Shaun had gone musical and had recited, 'do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si' to his sister Issy. Of course, he did not do it so straightforwardly, and recited in the fashion of FW, 'I give, a king, 
to me, she does, alone, up there, yes see'. (For those who missed the reading on the 19th February these are the translations of Italian words do, re, mi, etc into English!)

The history or origin of this system of musical syllables is interesting in its own way. They are taken from a medieval hymn in Latin (reproduced below) for John, the Baptist.

Ut queant laxis
resonare fibris,
Mira gestorum
famuli tuorum,
Solve polluti
labii reatum,
Sancte Iohannes

Read more about it here!

Shaun is boasting about his musical abilities, saying, '... you can't cadge me off the key. I've a voicical lilt too true!....I'm athlone in the lillabilling of killarnies.' (He never goes off key.... he is at home in singing Lily of Killarney...). He thinks of John McCormack, the tenor (I sport a what youmacormack in the latter part of my throughers.)

Suddenly we are transported into the world of poisons, of heimlocked, laburnums, Belladama (hemlock, laburnum, belladonna) because 'What's god for the gorse in a goad for the garden ' (What is good for the goose is good for the gander)!

There is of course much more to be discovered / uncoded on these pages. Have fun!

Monday, 19 February 2018

Stopped at "... all eclosed asong with them." (450.21).

It was in fact asong, i.e, song/music system that Shaun wants the liddle giddles to sing/learn. He tells them, 'I give, a king, to me, she does, alone, up there, yes see, I double give,.... In other words he is teaching them 'do re me fa sol la, si, do'...., the tonic sol-fa system of music.

Still talking to his sister, Shaun confesses that he would ask no greater kindness from fate than to stay where he is, with his tinny of brownie's tea, under the invocation of Saint James Hanway, servant of Gamp...
Of course, he does not mean a tin of Brownies and tea! According to McHugh, brownies stand for junior girl guides. Saint Jamas Hanway is Jonas Hanway, who was the first man to carry an Umbrella in London. That Jamas Hanway is linked to Jonas Hanway is underscored by the qualification given to him as 'servant of Gamp.' Mrs Gamp is a well known character from the novel, Martin Chuzzlewit, by Charles Dickens. It is said in that novel that Mrs. Gamp always carried an umbrella.

Mrs Gamp
Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sairey-Gamp

Shaun is also looking for girl (the nippy girl of my heart's appointment) but he can wait with patience (I am in no violent hurry). Meanwhile he will listen to birdcalls (lots of names of birds follow this announcement) and go fishing (a variety of fish is mentioned at this point!)

Monday, 12 February 2018

We stopped at "Do you know what, liddle giddles?" (448.25)

The question is do we - even if we are no liddle giddles - know what these pages tell us! Brother Shaun, who has been lecturing sister Issy, has progressed from announcing, 'I'll tear up your lampshades and lock all your trotters in the closet, I will, and cut your silk-skin into garters,' to proclaiming, 'Iy waount yiou!' as after all 'Aerwenger's (Earwicker) my breed...' Of course, on one level, this is quite a bit incestuous...

Soon Shaun's interest in Issy becomes more prosaic. He wants her to join him in rendering social service, to adopt fosterlings with him. Along with her, he wants to circumcivicise (circumcise? civilise?) all Dublin country. He is obviously bothered by how dirty Dublin is, wondering when it will get its wellbelavered white like l'pool and m'chester (washed white like Liverpool and Manchester.)

Shaun also asks them, the vocational scholars - is he addressing here Issy and the as many as twentynine hedge daughters out of Benent Saint Berched's national nightschool, whom we had met at the beginning of this chapter? -, to write essays, mentioning a varied number of suitable topics such as 'Explain why there is such a number of orders of religion in Asia! Why such an order number in preference to any other number? Why any number in any order at all!'

Naturally umpteen number of songs build the background to the utterings of Shaun here!  

Monday, 5 February 2018

Apologies for not being able to update the blog for this day. I was not present at the reading!

Monday, 29 January 2018

We read as far as "Fair man and foul suggestion." (445.9)

As Shaun seems to have gotten increasingly aggressive about what he will do, how he will treat anyone who sings/says (?) 'Charley you're my darling'* to his sister, Issy, we started wondering about the context of all these vicious threats and asking ourselves whether Shaun is really such a sadistic person. After all he himself proclaims, 'I'll have plenary satisfaction,...'

Below is what Joseph Campbell** writes about the general context of Finnegans Wake:

"Running riddle and fluid answer, Finnegans Wake is a mighty allegory of the fall and resurrection of mankind. It is a strange book, a compound of fables, symphony, and nightmare - a monstrous enigma beckoning imperiously from the shadowy pits of sleep. Its mechanics resemble those of a team, a dream which has freed the author from the necessities of common logic and has enabled him to compress all periods of history, all phases of individual and racial development, into a circular design, of which every part is beginning, middle, and end.
In a gigantic wheeling rebus, dim effigies rumble past, disappear into foggy horizons, and are replaced by other images, vague but half-consciously familiar. On this revolving stage, mythological heroes and evens of remotest antiquity occupy the same spatial and temporal planes as modern personages and contemporary happenings. All time occurs simultaneously; Tristram and the Duke of Wellington, Father Adam and Humpty Dumpty merge in a single percept. Multiple meanings are present in every line; interlocking allusions to key words and phrases are woven like fugal themes into the pattern of the work. Finnegans Wake is a prodigious, multifaceted mono myth, not only the cauchemar of a Dublin citizen but the dreamlike saga of guilt-stained, evolving humanity."

Personally I find consolation when I think of what we read as taking place in a big dream world!

* Charlie, He's my Darling is a Scottish song and is available in many versions. Here is one that is attributed to the Scottish poet and lyricist, Robert Burns (1759 -1796).
** 'A skeleton key to Finnegans Wake, Unlocking James Joyce's Masterwork' by Joseph Campbell & Henry Morton Robinson, New World Library, p.3, 2005, ISBN 1-57731-405-0

Monday, 22 January 2018

We read till "... twelve good and gleeful men." (443.12)

Shaun is acting in quite a rough and tough manner with Issy. His intentions of what he will do to anybody who makes any improper advances to her is very, very clear. He tells her, 'we'll dumb well soon show him what the Shaun way is like....'  Shaun proclaims that he will break his outsider's face for him, that he will burst his mouth like Leary to the Leinsterface and will ournhisn liniments to a poolp.

Joyce is said to have noted the following regarding  'Leary to the Leinsterface':
'Kinane: St. Patrick 111: (quoting Petrie's Tara) 'The body of Laeghaire was... interred... with his face turned southward upon the Lagenians as it were fighting with them, for he was the enemy of the Lagenians (men of Leinster) in his lifetime'.

McHugh offers an explaination to 'liniments'. Accordingly Joyce took 'liniments' from the poem, 'A Question Answered' by William Blake (1757 - 1827).

The poem, A Question Answered':

What is it men in women do require?

The lineaments of gratified desire.

What is it women in men do require?

The lineaments of gratified desire.

McHugh notes that Joyce used the phrase 'lineaments of gratified desire' in Ulysses too. This phrase is used by Stephen in reference to Buck Mulligan in episode 11, Scylla and Charybdis, the library episode.

Monday, 15 January 2018

We read as far as "... nullity suit." (441.2)

Shaun's sermon or as he tells her, 'a brokenly advice' (a brotherly advice) to Issy is continuing. He has many gems of advice to offer her: '... if they tingle you either say nothing or nod', 'Trip over sacramental tea into the long lives of our saints...', because after all 'A head in need is aye a friendly deed.'

In other words, he is telling her to be on her guard, to read selected books, ...

Saturday, 13 January 2018

On Saturday, 13 January, on the 77th anniversary of Joyce’s death, the FRIENDS are celebrating Fritz Senn’s 90th birthday with an apéritif riche at the Zürich James Joyce Foundation.

Starts between 11 a.m and 3 p.m. at Augustinergasse 9 – open end

1 January 2018

As you may be aware, Fritz Senn turned 90 on Monday, 1 January 2018. Several newspapers have published articles to commemorate the occasion, a few of which are linked below: 

NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung):
https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/fritz-senn-bei-joyce-darf-man-nicht-allzu-pompoes-sein-ld.1340950

The Irish Times:
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/happy-returns-an-irishman-s-diary-on-joyce-scholar-fritz-senn-1.3342036

SZ (Süddeutsche Zeitung):
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/fritz-senn-froehliche-wissenschaft-1.3807627

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with this blog's interim host here to suggest an addition. Thank you for your interest and a good New Year.