Saturday, November 30, 2019

Bio of Harriet Shaw Weaver



https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-english-woman-who-bankrolled-james-joyce-1.4098075?mode=amp
From the Irish Times


The English woman who bankrolled James Joyce 

First Joyce and later Ireland were beneficiaries of Harriet Shaw Weaver’s generosity.


Saturday, October 26, 2019

The tragic earwig

I picked up this little gem from Clint Carroll on the Reading Finnegans Wake Facebook group.

I read that earwigs undergo “incomplete metamorphosis” ... a process called hemimetabolism. The earwig has no pupal stage and does not molt. Our earwig, then, old HCE, is incapable of complete metamorphosis or transformation. He simply is regardless of the costume he wears in the Wake or the particulars of the time or setting he finds himself in. He simply is ... like the earwig ... and this is why ALP’s speech in Book IV is so heartbreaking, so very lovely and generous and merciful.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Table of Correspondences




sigla    ∃    ∆   ⊥   ⊏   ∧
 dreamtime HCEALPIssy Shaun  Shem 
 in real life Mr Porter  Mrs Porter  Isabelle  Kevin Jerry
 organ ear hearteye right testes  left testes 
 nature mountain river stream right bank stone  left bank tree 
 art architectural  epistolary cinematic  political literary
 Egypt Osiris IsisNutHorus Set and Thoth 
 RomeCaesarCalpurniaCleopatraBrutusCassias
 EdenAdamEveLilithMichaelSatan

Note: couldn't find an HTML entity for E rotated 90 degrees to the right, so used the alternate sigla for HCE.

Monday, May 13, 2019

Now why didn't I think of this?

I've already sent this link out to our own group, but for any Wake fan that happens to drop by I thought I should mention it here also. In celebration of the 80th anniversary of the publication of the Wake, Susie Lopez put up an article on Literary Hub about her experience of annotating the Wake for her own edification and enjoyment. It looks fabulous.

Here's Finnegans Wake at 80: In Defense of the Difficult

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Finnegans Wake in Santa Cruz, 2.0


All current members of our Santa Cruz Wake group happened to be in town for our last meeting, and, not without effort, one courageous individual managed to get us to stand still long enough to take a picture for this rare occurrence. (Tip!)

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Beautiful Dreamers: The Watched Watchers of Picasso and Joyce

Pre-ramble: These musings were inspired by reading one of the essays in Other Criteria: Confrontations with Twentieth-Century Art by Leo Steinberg. The essay in question, Picasso's Sleepwatchers, raised certain resonances with Finnegans Wake. The book is vitally interesting in a general sense far beyond looting for quotatoes. A remainder floated into my awareness in the tail end of winter nap reverie.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

The Ballad of of Persse O'Reilly--page 44 and continuing

I've been a bit remiss about getting a new post up lately, but rest assured  that our group is going on full speed. I missed the meeting where the group read "The Ballad of Persse O'Reilly" aloud, but we started off our most recent meeting with this very Irish rendition, which Tom was able to dig up for us. There are some other versions out there that sound a bit lighter but I think I prefer the dourness of this one, even if it is slightly abbreviated. For your entertainment and edification, a ballad by Mr. James Joyce. Feel free to read (or sing) along.