Boyhood

Really short summary: go see this movie! Longer more thought-out review: The premise of this movie is simple: Richard Linklater filmed portions over a span of years, working with the same actors as they grew older, to create a coming-of-age narrative centering around a boy and his family. That project suggests hyper-specificity - an alternate title might have … Continue reading Boyhood →

Ezra Pound Defends James Joyce Against an Early Critic

I'm a fan of polemical writing, whatever the subject-matter. In fact, my reading of Joyce's letters and biographies has tipped me off to a future project: reading more Ezra Pound, those excerpts which have been included having been so creatively acerbic. Pound's is a name I've heard here and there but I don't really know that … Continue reading Ezra Pound Defends James Joyce Against an Early Critic →

Dubliners (and Joyce’s early career struggles)

My rereading of Dubliners was as enjoyable as always. That book reminds me of a great band's first album. Not the sort of band whose first album is their only good one, but the sort of band that, even though they go on to produce other great (even great-er) work, you always retain a soft … Continue reading Dubliners (and Joyce’s early career struggles) →

Joyce’s Earliest Writings

I'm making my way through Richard Ellmann's biography, along with the three volumes of Joyce's letters, and then also stopping to read everything else he wrote along the way. I've read most of these texts (except the letters and the biographies) many times, but re-reading brings new perspectives. The main reason for this re-reading is … Continue reading Joyce’s Earliest Writings →

Vico’s “Discovery of the True Homer”

The project of Vico’s New Science is a confusing and idiosyncratic one, but it is one for which the role of Homer and his true identity Vico takes as central. To better present Vico's arguments, I'll clarify the context in which Vico’s answer to the Homeric Question arises. Understanding its context in The New Science as … Continue reading Vico’s “Discovery of the True Homer” →

Vico on the Origin of Language

[This is last part of a longer series - previous post ("Joyce, Vico and the Homeric Question")] One of those questions that intellectuals in the 18th and early 19th century seem to have taken really seriously, one that perhaps we don't, is the question of how spoken and written language began. My sense is that most contemporary … Continue reading Vico on the Origin of Language →

Joyce, Vico, Oral Poetry and the Homeric Question – A Joyce Writing Project

[This is part of a longer series – previous post ("Deeper into the Night") - next post ("Vico on the Origins of Language")] My Master's program culminates in writing a thesis. I'm writing this post to describe what I'm planning on working on, as much to share as to work out for myself what I'm actually going to … Continue reading Joyce, Vico, Oral Poetry and the Homeric Question – A Joyce Writing Project →

Finnegans Wake – Book IV

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (III.4) - next post ("Deeper into the Night")] Book IV - Finnegans Wake's final book - contains only one chapter. It stands for the last of the four stages in Vico's theory of history - the "ricorso." The chapter read like the finale to a symphony, and also like … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book IV →

Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 4

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (III.3) – next post (IV)] I finished the whole book a few days ago but didn't get to blog about the last two chapters. I'll keep them separate just for the principle of it I guess. As HCE's final arguments from III.3 recede into the background, someone goes to sleep … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 4 →

Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 3

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (III.2) – next post (III.4)] Two times previously, Finnegans Wake has devolved into a trial - in Book I, first Finnegan, then HCE met their many accusers; in Book II it was Shem/Buckley charged with the murder of the Russian general. Now, we get the final trial - that of Shaun … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 3 →