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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qstUxos2cBs It's time to read the hardest book in the English canon, Finnegans Wake. This is it, the big motherfucker of literature. And we're going to read all of it, even if it kills us. Let's start around 10/30 so I can get my book from the library. Godspeed and good luck, we're gonna need it. Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Finnegans-Wak...nnegan%27s+wake (This is the only major work by Joyce not on Project Gutenburg, so be sure to check it out from your public library, since they will definitely have a copy) Smoking Crow fucked around with this message at 14:21 on Oct 21, 2014 |
# ? Oct 20, 2014 22:08 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 07:33 |
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Smoking Crow posted:(This is the only major work by Joyce not on Project Gutenburg, so be sure to check it out from your public library, since they will definitely have a copy) Actually the whole book has been online forever complete with links to each line. http://www.trentu.ca/faculty/jjoyce/fw-3.htm Admittedly it's a very 90's web experience but it works.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 22:22 |
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Earwicker posted:Actually the whole book has been online forever complete with links to each line. http://www.trentu.ca/faculty/jjoyce/fw-3.htm Thank you! I didn't know this existed. I prefer physical books, though, so I won't be using it. Smoking Crow fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Oct 20, 2014 |
# ? Oct 20, 2014 22:29 |
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Sure, why not.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 22:39 |
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I fear many words in the same place but I will face this terror with you.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 22:42 |
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Is there an illustrated version?
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 22:47 |
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everythingWasBees posted:Is there an illustrated version? Oh God I hope so
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 22:48 |
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From this link elsewhere on that website:quote:#!/usr/local/bin/perl -w drat, this IS hard. I really appreciate Joyce's usage of HTML before the concept was even developed. His prose was far ahead of its time. On a more serious note: I do not consider this in any way to be a novel, or even a thing worthy of reading. It is, in essence, a nonsensical litany of letters and (more rarely) words strung together. I appreciate novels which are written in a subversive or intriguing manner (see: House of Leaves for a less literary example) but I really think this is absolutely a fruitless read. Try Dubliners instead. There's even a centennial edition floating around which has a gorgeous cover and would look wonderful on a bookshelf, if you're into that sort of thing. Captain Mog fucked around with this message at 23:11 on Oct 20, 2014 |
# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:04 |
quote:Bygmester Finnegan, of the Stuttering Hand, freemen's mau- Looks pretty good so far.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:15 |
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Note: There are three editions of Finnegans Wake, two of which are available, the original and third editions. The third edition was meticulously revised by Joyce himself. If you have a choice, please try to get the revised edition, but if you can't, I understand.
Smoking Crow fucked around with this message at 14:21 on Oct 21, 2014 |
# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:16 |
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I will read the book, or die trying.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:21 |
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Is this like, a scheduled read-along or what? If so, what's the schedule? Sounds interesting though, I'll read it.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:22 |
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Captain Mog posted:From this link elsewhere on that website: Now I have to love it.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:22 |
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Cloks posted:Is this like, a scheduled read-along or what? If so, what's the schedule? This book is not so much a work of fiction as alphabet soup or brain vomit. Read at your own pace and we'll try and finish within six months.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:22 |
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I'm not really sure if this is a sincere thread or not and I'm not going to waste any time trying to defend FW to those people who think it's just random nonsense or "brain vomit", but for anyone actually interested in reading the book I strongly suggest reading it with a guide. In particular I recommend A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake by the mythologist Joseph Campbell, which is in fact a pretty great read just in itself.
Earwicker fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Oct 20, 2014 |
# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:27 |
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I'll read it when I'm done with some of the books I'm reading now, thank you.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:28 |
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Earwicker posted:I'm not really sure if this is a sincere thread or not and I'm not going to waste any time trying to defend it to those people who think it's just random nonsense or "brain vomit", but for anyone actually interested in reading the book I strongly suggest reading it with a guide. In particular I recommend A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake by the mythologist Joseph Campbell, which is in fact a pretty great read just in itself. Of course this thread is sincere. I love Joyce brain vomit and all. You can't tell me that the stream-of-consciousness style of writing doesn't attempt to be exactly what I said it was.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:29 |
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Also, yeah, my impression from reading people writing about Finnegan's Wake is that it's not in the least random, it is an insanely calculated book where every word has about 10 different reasons to be where it is, some of which you won't get unless you understand Russian puns on the etymology of Latin phrases.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:31 |
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The story with Joyce is that he wrote 10 words a day and agonized over how to arrange them.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:33 |
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Smoking Crow posted:Of course this thread is sincere. I love Joyce brain vomit and all. You can't tell me that the stream-of-consciousness style of writing doesn't attempt to be exactly what I said it was. Well the way you phrased it implied randomness. The words in the book are of course mostly not real English words but they aren't just random letters thrown together either, they are generally combinations of multiple words that sometimes come from languages and sometimes are onomatopoeia
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:34 |
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CestMoi posted:Also, yeah, my impression from reading people writing about Finnegan's Wake is that it's not in the least random, it is an insanely calculated book where every word has about 10 different reasons to be where it is, some of which you won't get unless you understand Russian puns on the etymology of Latin phrases. Oh I'm sure it's not random. Joyce is a wonderful writer. I just have to wonder whether Joyce himself would've laughed at everyone writing theses and guides about this thing. I bet he would've.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:35 |
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Smoking Crow posted:The story with Joyce is that he wrote 10 words a day and agonized over how to arrange them. There's a cool joke story about this and you mucked it up!
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:39 |
CestMoi posted:There's a cool joke story about this and you mucked it up! No, I removed the one I'd inserted this morning.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:40 |
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Captain Mog posted:Oh I'm sure it's not random. Joyce is a wonderful writer. I just have to wonder whether Joyce himself would've laughed at everyone writing theses and guides about this thing. I bet he would've. I think he would've thought it's good and tehn got back to writing incestuous poop stories to his wife.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:40 |
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Not sure why I should bother reading the deranged ramblings of a dying man that people keep insisting is a book when in fact it is not.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:46 |
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blue squares posted:Not sure why I should bother reading the deranged ramblings of a dying man that people keep insisting is a book when in fact it is not. It is a book and furthermore, video games are art.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:48 |
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I'm currently reading some other stuff but I'll read it some time in the future, OP
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:49 |
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blue squares posted:Not sure why I should bother reading the deranged ramblings of a dying man that people keep insisting is a book when in fact it is not. He must have been dying for a long time, it took him like 20 years to write it
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:53 |
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I've always wanted to read In Search of Lost Time, OP.
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# ? Oct 20, 2014 23:53 |
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blue squares posted:Not sure why I should bother reading the deranged ramblings of a dying man that people keep insisting is a book when in fact it is not. I saw it on paper once. I believe in the librocity of Finnegans Wake. Smoking Crow fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Oct 21, 2014 |
# ? Oct 21, 2014 00:13 |
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Officer Sandvich posted:He must have been dying for a long time, it took him like 20 years to write it We're all dying every day mate
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 01:03 |
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amuayse posted:I've always wanted to read In Search of Lost Time, OP. Then make an In Search of Lost Time thread then, Mr. Polneroff
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 01:41 |
I'm scared of this book
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 02:09 |
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I've read it already, but if I had the time I would take part in this just for the experience. It's really hard to know what to say about Finnegan's Wake, other than that it's really confusing and there are a lot of powerful images. The magic of it is that it bends your brain into seeing things that may or may not be there. It could be nonsense or it could be exactly what Joyce was trying to make you experience. Or you could be the only person to ever understand a certain part, and never know it. I've also read all of In Search of Lost Time and it's long but completely incomparable to Finnegan's Wake because it's actually quite...let's say linear (hesitantly). I don't want to say it's less cerebral than Finnegan's Wake, only more emotional. It is indisputably one of the greatest creations of mankind. I can usually "get" why a book is called a masterpiece when I read it but I may not necessarily feel it. I feel the mastery of In Search of Lost Time. The only book I have read as an adult and loved as much as Proust is David Copperfield. I feel they have the same magnitude of greatness, though are different for many reasons. e: Earwicker posted:for anyone actually interested in reading the book I strongly suggest reading it with a guide. In particular I recommend A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake by the mythologist Joseph Campbell, which is in fact a pretty great read just in itself. Do this. The Doctor fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Oct 21, 2014 |
# ? Oct 21, 2014 02:15 |
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everythingWasBees posted:Is there an illustrated version? Yes: http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2014/mar/26/finnegans-wake-james-joyce-in-pictures Also I'd feel this thread was a lot more sincere if more than one poster could spell the book's title properly.
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 03:31 |
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House Louse posted:Yes: http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2014/mar/26/finnegans-wake-james-joyce-in-pictures I have never noticed the lack of apostrophe. I'm so used to seeing the song title that it's stuck in my brain.
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 05:24 |
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I have it in the toilet at the place I'm currently staying, which is fitting. I've opened it up a few times and chuckled more than once. That's as far as I'm willing to go. Sorry, OP, from now on you're on your own
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 08:07 |
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I'll do it. Should be an interesting experience.
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 08:31 |
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University of Adelaide has Finnegans Wake lying about, for those wanting to read it on an e-reader of some sort. I might join in on this experiment.
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 11:37 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 07:33 |
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I learned that there is a better online version than the one Earwicker linked. It even has annotations! http://finwake.com
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 14:25 |