Monday, 28 January 2019, Pages 527 - 529

We read as far as "... from their last situations?" (529.14)

From last week's topic of 'fish', we have moved on to the topic of 'Virgin Mary,' reciting Joyce's version of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

Joyce's version vs (Version of the original litany)

Mirror do justice,      (Mirror of justice)
taper of ivory,            (Tower of ivory)
heart of the conavent,  (Ark of the covenant)
hoops of gold!            (House of gold)

The litany is available here!

Or is this Issy talking to herself, watching her reflection in the mirror (water) as at the very beginning of the paragraph she tells herself, '... you are a viry vikid girl...'? (Why does she suddenly mention here 'Bartolo mio?' Bartolo is the doctor who has designs on marrying his beautiful ward, Rosina  in Rossini's opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia (A wonderful recording of this opera can be watched here!) Most probably Issy is talking here of the apostel Bartholomew and not of Dr. Bartolo of the above opera!)

McHugh also interprets this scene as Tristan returning disguised to Cornwall to meet Isolde. There you go!

Monday, 21 January 2019, Pages 525 - 527

We stopped the reading at "Chic hands." (527.17)

It was mainly about various kinds of fish - including fishnoo! Have not had time to think about what it  - apart from fishnoo - meant :(

Monday, 14 January 2019, Pages 523 - 525

The reading stopped at "... neat zoo?" (525.20)

Monday, 7 January 2019, Pages 520 - 523

We stopped at "... Mrs's MacMannigan's Yard." (523.18)

There are some interesting phrases, sentences, snippets of sentences on the pages we read.
Example:
- cabbage or paperming comfirts (520.36)
- staggerjuice or deadhorse (521.12)
- Playing bull before shebears or the hindlegs off a clotheshorse (522.15)
- orangepeelers or greengoaters (522.16)
- tonedeafs in our noses to boot (522.28)
- pigeonstealer (522.36)
- groomed by S. Samson and son, bred by dilalahs (523.16)

Of all the above, I was (and am) intrigued by the sentence, 'playing bull before shebears or the hindlegs off a clotheshorse'. I wonder, what do these apparently two parts of the sentence mean and how are they related?

In a way, I think, this sentence summarises the quintessence of Finnegans Wake. One can interpret it on multiple levels as can be read below:
1. Roland McHugh gives the meaning as "Bulls and Bears: speculators on rises and falls, respectively, on Stock Exchange. He also equates 'shebears' to 'Sheba'.

2. Our co-reader, Anna, summarises it as follows:
It could refer to stockbrokers. They are good at persuading people by talking them into buying bonds. That is to say:
"playing bull and bear":  'playing' in the sense of 'gambling' on the stockmarket. 'Bull' market is when the stockmarkets are going up, and 'bear' market when stocks are going down.
"the hindlegs off a clotheshorse": there is an expression in English "to talk the hindlegs off a donkey". That is to say people who persuade you into something by talking incessantly. The 'donkey' has been changed into 'clotheshorse' which fits in with the 'she' of 'shebear'. in the sense that she has nice clothes and hangs them on a clotheshorse, sometimes also called a 'garment donkey'... There is also, of course, the sexual interpretation. The male 'bull' impregnates her and then she bears (a child). She has put her garments on the clotheshorse and been talked into it.

3. According to Kitcher et al (Joyce's Kaleidoscope: An Invitation to Finnegans Wake), the sentence refers to the story of the incident in the park and the tale of Buckely and the General. 
(Shaun/Yawn who is being interrogated by the four old men in this whole chapter is given the option to choose between these two alternatives.)

4. I found a nice story about bulls and bears. Read The Bull and the Bear here.

Admittedly, Finnegans Wake is teeming with sexual hints, - sometimes explicit, often hidden - and the incidence in the park is one of the main pillars of the book. Still, I personally prefer to interpret the sentence intriguing me based on the story of the bull and the bear!

In any case, here is a photograph of the bull and the bear in front of the New Stock Market in Frankfurt. You are all invited to make your interpretations of 'playing bull before shebears'!

(Source: url)

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.'