[This is part of a longer series – previous post (II.3) – next post (III.1)] After the 70+ page penultimate chapter of book II, its final entry is only 15 pages.  The drunken carousing and the tale of Buckley and the Russian general subside, and everyone in the family goes to bed.  We're left with (mostly) the four old commentators … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book II Chapter 4 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (II.2) – next post (II.4)] I believe this is the longest single chapter of Finnegans Wake - coming in at 73 pages.  There being a massive snowstorm in Chicago, however, I had nothing else to do really.  73 pages took me about 3 hours to read.  Even so, it was easier … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book II Chapter 3 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (II.1) – next post (II.3)] This is the third time I've said this but it's been true each time - this chapter was the most difficult yet.  By the end I decided that its being un-understandable was the point.  There's a sense in which that's true of the whole book … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book II Chapter 2 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (I.8) – next post (II.2)] I've now reached the part of the Finnegans Wake I've never read before.  It's strange that even though I last read what I had read almost 15 years ago, it was still easier to comprehend.  I realize that now, as the first chapter of Book … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book II Chapter 1 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (I.7) – next post (II.1)] Chapter 8 ends the first book, which is, by general consensus, the book of the Olympian-type Gods - HCE (chapters 1-4) and ALP (chapters 5-8).  That over-simplifies things, given that chapter 1 also told the story of Finnegan (in the older generation of gods), chapter … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book I Chapter 8 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (I.6) – next post (I.8)] Chapter 7 is one of the book's more readable, conventionally structured sections.  It's, more or less, a biography of Shem aka "Shem the Penman," twin brother of Shaun aka "Shaun the Postman," both sons of HCE and ALP.  Shem and Shaun are characters around which … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book I Chapter 7 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (I.5) – next post (I.7)] Chapter 6 is a Quiz with 12 questions (12 being the number of jurors, disciplines, months, etc.).  As you might imagine, this summary is not as helpful as it sounds.  The quiz has been written by a comically bad educator (or set of four I … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book I Chapter 6 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (I.4) – next post (I.6)] This chapter was somewhat easier that the preceding two, just because its style (mock-academic) is more consistently maintained. I.  Introductory Prayer The gradually accumulating motif of ALP swells to a crescendo as this chapter opens: In the name of Annah the Allmaziful, the Everliving, the … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book I Chapter 5 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (I.3) – next post (I.5)] Chapter three ended with HCE safely back in his home ("Humph is in his doge" - 74) in spite of his trial on ambiguous charges.  Chapter four is, more or less, a restatement of chapter 3, so far as I can tell, just in a … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book I Chapter 4 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (I.2) – next post (I.4)] If Chapter 2 was easier going, chapter 3 gets much harder again. I.  Hosty's Decline and Fall I'm reasonably sure it begins with a voice that's cursing Hosty for his song, and then also bemoaning his (not HCE's) fall from grace: "Chest Cee!  'sdense!  Corpo … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book I Chapter 3 →