The last reading stopped at “all times a day.” (413.10)
Monday, 18 September 2017
Tuesday, 12 September 2017
Monday, 11 September 2017, Pages 403 - 411
We read as far as "Weak stop work stop walk stop whoak." (411.6)
Of course, we did not read all these 8 pages on one afternoon! But I want to include here all that we have read so far in Book 3 - and more - in order to extract some sense out of these 'fun' pages. I had to seek, naturally, Google's help to search for this 'sense'. I have reproduced what I found below and have listed the sources at the end. At the outset it helps to remember that we are still in the dreamland of Earwicker. He is dreaming of his son Shaun. (Shaun is referred to in FW as The Postman, and his twin brother Shem as The Penman.)
Joyce is said to have written in a letter to Harriet Shaw Weaver the following about this part: "the copying out of Shawn which is a description of a postman travelling backwards in the night through the events already narrated. It is written in the form of a via crucis of 14 stations but in reality it is only a barrel rolling down the river Liffey."*
Wikipedia's page on Finnegans Wake** has the following explanation on Book 3 / chapter 1:
"Part III concerns itself almost exclusively with Shaun, in his role as postman, having to deliver ALP's letter, which was referred to in Part I, but never seen.[71]
* Annotations to Finnegans Wake, Roland McHugh, p. 403
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnegans_Wake#Part_III
Notes:
The numbers 71 to 75 refer to the links given in Wikipedia.
There Book 3 is referred to as part III, and Book 3/chapter 1 as III.1
The first of the fourteen questions is on page 409: 'But have we until now ever besought you, dear Shaun, we remembered, who it was, good boy,.....'
*** http://www.metaportal.com.br/jjoyce/burgess1.htm
Please note that there will be no blog post next week.
Of course, we did not read all these 8 pages on one afternoon! But I want to include here all that we have read so far in Book 3 - and more - in order to extract some sense out of these 'fun' pages. I had to seek, naturally, Google's help to search for this 'sense'. I have reproduced what I found below and have listed the sources at the end. At the outset it helps to remember that we are still in the dreamland of Earwicker. He is dreaming of his son Shaun. (Shaun is referred to in FW as The Postman, and his twin brother Shem as The Penman.)
Joyce is said to have written in a letter to Harriet Shaw Weaver the following about this part: "the copying out of Shawn which is a description of a postman travelling backwards in the night through the events already narrated. It is written in the form of a via crucis of 14 stations but in reality it is only a barrel rolling down the river Liffey."*
Wikipedia's page on Finnegans Wake** has the following explanation on Book 3 / chapter 1:
"Part III concerns itself almost exclusively with Shaun, in his role as postman, having to deliver ALP's letter, which was referred to in Part I, but never seen.[71]
III.1 opens with the Four Masters' ass narrating how he thought, as he was "dropping asleep",[72] he had heard and seen an apparition of Shaun the Post.[73] As a result, Shaun re-awakens, and, floating down the Liffey in a barrel, is posed fourteen questions concerning the significance and content of the letter he is carrying. Shaun, "apprehensive about being slighted, is on his guard, and the placating narrators never get a straight answer out of him."[74] Shaun's answers focus on his own boastful personality and his admonishment of the letter's author – his artist brother Shem. After the inquisition Shaun loses his balance and the barrel in which he has been floating careens over and he rolls backwards out of the narrator's earshot, before disappearing completely from view.[75]"
Anthony Burgess has this to say: "In the first chapter he (Shaun) presents himself to the people-sly, demagogic, totally untrustworthy, obsessed with hatred for his brother and ready with another parable to figure forth the enmity-a charming tale called "The Ondt and the Gracehoper", in which he himself is the industrious insect, while Shem, the irresponsible artist, fritters the hours away in the sunshine. But Shaun is more ready to admit to himself now that his own extrovert philosophy is insufficient, that the life of the "gracehoper" has its points. Shaun can rule over space, but he cannot, like the artist, "beat time". Sooner or later, when Shaun's rule collapses, we shall be forced to move back to the father, in whom both dimensions meet and make a rounded world. Shaun rolls off in the form of a barrel: he has filled himself with the food that is his father, but it has not nourished him; he is becoming a big bloated emptiness."**** Annotations to Finnegans Wake, Roland McHugh, p. 403
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnegans_Wake#Part_III
Notes:
The numbers 71 to 75 refer to the links given in Wikipedia.
There Book 3 is referred to as part III, and Book 3/chapter 1 as III.1
The first of the fourteen questions is on page 409: 'But have we until now ever besought you, dear Shaun, we remembered, who it was, good boy,.....'
*** http://www.metaportal.com.br/jjoyce/burgess1.htm
Please note that there will be no blog post next week.
Tuesday, 15 August 2017
Monday, 14 August 2017, Pages 397-399
Today we completed Book II of Finnegans Wake.
It was a fitting end with a song (or is it a poem?) that had 'Led it be!" as the last line. Were the Beatles inspired by Joyce just like he inspired the Caltech physicist Murray Gell - Mann to give the name quark (Three quarks to Muster Mark, p. 383) to elementary particles that are the fundamental building blocks of matter?
The song/poem is in four parts. Each part is 'recited' by one of the four old men/ four evangelists /mamalujo. These four parts refer to the four provinces of Ireland (Matthew, from the north, is Ulster; Mark, from the south, is Munster; Luke, from the east, is Leinster; and John, from the west, is Connaught*), to four days of the week (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday respectively), and to four metals (gold, silver, copper and iron). As usual, one does not ask 'Why?'
What is clear is that these four old men are talking about Tristan and Isolde. (Hear, O hear, Iseult la belle! Tristan, sad hero, hear!). They also mention that Tristan and Isolde go off down the river in a boat leaving King Mark behind. (And still a light moves long the river.... The way is free.... Their lot is cast... Led it be!)
(Please note that there will be no blog posts in the next two weeks!)
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnegans_Wake
It was a fitting end with a song (or is it a poem?) that had 'Led it be!" as the last line. Were the Beatles inspired by Joyce just like he inspired the Caltech physicist Murray Gell - Mann to give the name quark (Three quarks to Muster Mark, p. 383) to elementary particles that are the fundamental building blocks of matter?
The song/poem is in four parts. Each part is 'recited' by one of the four old men/ four evangelists /mamalujo. These four parts refer to the four provinces of Ireland (Matthew, from the north, is Ulster; Mark, from the south, is Munster; Luke, from the east, is Leinster; and John, from the west, is Connaught*), to four days of the week (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday respectively), and to four metals (gold, silver, copper and iron). As usual, one does not ask 'Why?'
What is clear is that these four old men are talking about Tristan and Isolde. (Hear, O hear, Iseult la belle! Tristan, sad hero, hear!). They also mention that Tristan and Isolde go off down the river in a boat leaving King Mark behind. (And still a light moves long the river.... The way is free.... Their lot is cast... Led it be!)
(Please note that there will be no blog posts in the next two weeks!)
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnegans_Wake
Wednesday, 9 August 2017
Monday, 8 August 2017, Pages 396-397
We read as far as "... totam in tutu, ... " (397.32)
If you read carefully, you would be able to recognise that the event described deals with Tristan and Isolde. Or is it HCE - who is after all the guy whose dream world we have entered - and his daughter Issy, about whom he is supposed to have (had?) erotic fancies? Or do the paragraphs we read have to do with the event involving HCE, the two girls and three soldiers in the Phoenix park? Well, let the imagination run riot!
The four old men, rather the four evangelists, make an appearance again in the form of Mamalujo /Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
If you read carefully, you would be able to recognise that the event described deals with Tristan and Isolde. Or is it HCE - who is after all the guy whose dream world we have entered - and his daughter Issy, about whom he is supposed to have (had?) erotic fancies? Or do the paragraphs we read have to do with the event involving HCE, the two girls and three soldiers in the Phoenix park? Well, let the imagination run riot!
The four old men, rather the four evangelists, make an appearance again in the form of Mamalujo /Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Tuesday, 25 July 2017
Monday, 24 July 2017, Pages 394-396
(First of all, apologies for not posting anything last two weeks.)
Today we stopped at "... tails plus toop!" (396.18)
Must admit that we all had great fun reading these pages. Our imagination ran simply riot for quite a while! Whether we were successful in coming close to what Joyce meant is immaterial. For example, I was very sure that the words, "... Itself is Itself Alone..." (394.33) were taken out of the Upanishads. This guess was cemented by the words that followed as they sounded a la Madame Blavatsky, famous for her doctrines of Theosophy. BUT these words are said to be playing with the slogan 'Sinn Féin, Sinn Féin Amhàin' that means 'Ourselves, Ourselves Alone'! There goes the idea of Upanishads out of the window!
We still had fun because we could identify that the passages we read today really relates to the story of Tristan and Isolde (rather, Narsty and Idoless (395.2)) and King Mark. Let us recall that four old men are recalling what they had seen of Tristan and Isolde on the boat. Here there is talk of 'honeymoon cabins' (395.9) and of 'dear mester John' (395.3). It is all about some hanky panky going on in the honeymoon cabin! Between Isolde and Tristan. The 'dear mester John' is said to refer to the oeuvre of Dear John Letters which is written to a man by his wife or romantic partner to inform him their relationship is over because she has found another lover. Isolde found Tristan, and it was time for her to write 'Dear John Letter' to King Mark.
There are quite a few essays written on the theme of Tristan and Isolde in Finnegans Wake. (Search in Google giving the last six words as key words! It is a pity that many of these are not available freely.) An interesting article can be found here. An essay by G. Lernout is published the James Joyce Quarterly, Vol. 38, No 1/2, Fall 2000 - Winter 2001.
Note: There is no reading next Monday, the 31st of July, due to the August Workshop at the Foundation.
Today we stopped at "... tails plus toop!" (396.18)
Must admit that we all had great fun reading these pages. Our imagination ran simply riot for quite a while! Whether we were successful in coming close to what Joyce meant is immaterial. For example, I was very sure that the words, "... Itself is Itself Alone..." (394.33) were taken out of the Upanishads. This guess was cemented by the words that followed as they sounded a la Madame Blavatsky, famous for her doctrines of Theosophy. BUT these words are said to be playing with the slogan 'Sinn Féin, Sinn Féin Amhàin' that means 'Ourselves, Ourselves Alone'! There goes the idea of Upanishads out of the window!
We still had fun because we could identify that the passages we read today really relates to the story of Tristan and Isolde (rather, Narsty and Idoless (395.2)) and King Mark. Let us recall that four old men are recalling what they had seen of Tristan and Isolde on the boat. Here there is talk of 'honeymoon cabins' (395.9) and of 'dear mester John' (395.3). It is all about some hanky panky going on in the honeymoon cabin! Between Isolde and Tristan. The 'dear mester John' is said to refer to the oeuvre of Dear John Letters which is written to a man by his wife or romantic partner to inform him their relationship is over because she has found another lover. Isolde found Tristan, and it was time for her to write 'Dear John Letter' to King Mark.
There are quite a few essays written on the theme of Tristan and Isolde in Finnegans Wake. (Search in Google giving the last six words as key words! It is a pity that many of these are not available freely.) An interesting article can be found here. An essay by G. Lernout is published the James Joyce Quarterly, Vol. 38, No 1/2, Fall 2000 - Winter 2001.
Note: There is no reading next Monday, the 31st of July, due to the August Workshop at the Foundation.
Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Monday, 26 June 2017, Pages 390-391
Note: There will be no reading of Finnegans Wake on Monday, the 3rd of July.
We stopped at "... on stamped bronnanoleum, ..." (391.20)
We started today's reading with Marcus, and went on to read about the reminiscences of Lucas. Marcus starts with a nice sentence: "The good go and the wicked is left over." He also mentions in this connection (?) the holymaid of Kunut and the haryman of Koombe.
Deciphering these turned out to be quite interesting, mainly thanks to the website www.finwake.org and the Wikipedia. The holymaid of Kunut was the 16th Century nun, Elizabeth Barton, who was also known among other things as The Holy Maid of Kent. She was popular for her prophecies, and had met Henry VIII (our haryman of Koombe). According to the above link, 'However, when the King began the process of obtaining an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and seizing control of the Church in England from Rome, she turned against him. Barton strongly opposed the English Reformation and, in around 1532, began prophesying that if Henry remarried, he would die within a few months. She said that she had even seen the place in Hell to which he would go (Henry actually lived for a further 15 years).' She was executed finally because of this prophecy.
Lucas, whose turn is next is concerned at first about a woman, Dowager Justice, who in or around about 1132 or 1169 or 1768, dressed as a man (in wig and beard) when she appeared at the (Auctioneer's) court. He refers to the year(s) as the year of buy in disgrace. My search in the internet led me to the following explanation of 1132, the year of buy in disgrace: Saint Malachy (1094 - 1148) was an Irish saint, who was made the Archbishop of Armagh in 1132. 'Owing to intrigues, he was unable to take possession of his see for two years; even then he had to purchase the Bachal Isu (Staff of Jesus) from Niall, the usurping lay-primate.'
Note that we meet again in two weeks, on 10th July.
We stopped at "... on stamped bronnanoleum, ..." (391.20)
We started today's reading with Marcus, and went on to read about the reminiscences of Lucas. Marcus starts with a nice sentence: "The good go and the wicked is left over." He also mentions in this connection (?) the holymaid of Kunut and the haryman of Koombe.
Deciphering these turned out to be quite interesting, mainly thanks to the website www.finwake.org and the Wikipedia. The holymaid of Kunut was the 16th Century nun, Elizabeth Barton, who was also known among other things as The Holy Maid of Kent. She was popular for her prophecies, and had met Henry VIII (our haryman of Koombe). According to the above link, 'However, when the King began the process of obtaining an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and seizing control of the Church in England from Rome, she turned against him. Barton strongly opposed the English Reformation and, in around 1532, began prophesying that if Henry remarried, he would die within a few months. She said that she had even seen the place in Hell to which he would go (Henry actually lived for a further 15 years).' She was executed finally because of this prophecy.
Lucas, whose turn is next is concerned at first about a woman, Dowager Justice, who in or around about 1132 or 1169 or 1768, dressed as a man (in wig and beard) when she appeared at the (Auctioneer's) court. He refers to the year(s) as the year of buy in disgrace. My search in the internet led me to the following explanation of 1132, the year of buy in disgrace: Saint Malachy (1094 - 1148) was an Irish saint, who was made the Archbishop of Armagh in 1132. 'Owing to intrigues, he was unable to take possession of his see for two years; even then he had to purchase the Bachal Isu (Staff of Jesus) from Niall, the usurping lay-primate.'
Note that we meet again in two weeks, on 10th July.
Tuesday, 20 June 2017
Monday, 19 June 2017, Pages 389-390
The reading stopped with "That old fellow knows milk though he's not used to it latterly." (390.28)
Ah, dearo, dear, are these pages dense! There was mention of the Trinity college (catholic) and four others (protestant). The number 1132 appeared again, this time along with 1169. Anthony Burgess has a good explanation of the significance of the number 1132 here. (Even Fritz Senn says that nobody else has come up till now with a better explanation!). The number 1169 could refer to the year of the Norman invasion of Ireland.
The four old men - divorced, widowed (??) -, are still around, still narrating their recollection of Tristam and Isolde.
Ah, dearo, dear, are these pages dense! There was mention of the Trinity college (catholic) and four others (protestant). The number 1132 appeared again, this time along with 1169. Anthony Burgess has a good explanation of the significance of the number 1132 here. (Even Fritz Senn says that nobody else has come up till now with a better explanation!). The number 1169 could refer to the year of the Norman invasion of Ireland.
The four old men - divorced, widowed (??) -, are still around, still narrating their recollection of Tristam and Isolde.
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