[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 →

[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 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (III.1) – next post (III.3)] This chapter continues the easy-to-read tale of Shaun begun in III.1.  The literary conventions being followed are identified with almost Victorian-realist pseudo-transparency (but things get a little murky at the end). We start with another introduction of Shaun, move to a very long speech delivered … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 2 →

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (II.4) – next post (III.2)] This was, by far, the easiest chapter to read in this book so far.  Why does Joyce reserve relatively straightforward prose for the 13th chapter of a book that the average reader most likely gives up on halfway through chapter 1?  In fact, the answer … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 1 →

[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 →