Searching for Stamina

Week 7, May 10-May 17, pages 80-92

Since we began this Finnegans Wake project, I’ve celebrated Easter, my wife’s birthday, and the birth of my second child. I’ve had not one, not two, but three bosses at work (don’t ask). My favorite television series of all time ended.

And Finnegans Wake rambles along. We are closing in on 100 pages, and I think it’s reasonable to say the question of stamina has been raised. How do you keep this project going when life elsewhere demands so much?  Stupid life.

JF has mentioned several times the importance of momentum.  FW is easy to read when you’re reading it. When you’re not reading, or haven’t for a couple of days, the book looks heavy, sitting there on the bedside table.  Like it might actually take some physical effort to lift the thing and peel back the pages to find the bookmark.

It’s during moments like these when you ask yourself, “Why?”  As in, “Why did I get myself into it?” Or, perhaps more frighteningly, “What am I getting out of it?”

Fair point, though. I’m still reading to the newborn, and we’ve already made our way through “The Dead,” a good chunk of Leaves of Grass (nods to JF), and about half of Salinger’s Nine Stories. I’ll be heading off on vacation next week, and I’m considering what I should read while poolside, but it’ll at least be something light with a generally agreed-upon plot.

I can tell you why I’m reading all of those things.  Either I’m going for escapism while on vacation, or I’m having a blast reading great literature to a four week old.

So what’s Finnegans Wake for?

Fear not, faithful blog reader, I’m not giving up. Because Finnegans Wake is its own reward. When I pick it up and work through a simple passage, or a few pages, it almost never lets me down. 

Why do people do thousand-piece puzzles? Is there anything to it other than putting the old noodle through a workout?

At a basic level, FW is a puzzle. If there were nothing else (and of course, there is always something else when it comes to Joyce), then the simple mental exercise of reading FW would make it all worthwhile.

From last week’s section, we have this section, page 88.21-25:

And with tumblerous legs, redipnomii-nated Helmingham Erchenwyne Rutter Egbert Crumwall Odin Maximus Esme Saxon Esa  Vercingetorix Ethelwulf Rupprecht Ydwalla Bentley Osmund Dysart Yggdrasselmann? Holy Saint Eiffel, the very phoenix!

OK, so I’m stumbling along, and I come to this long name. Hey, a capital “H”! I’m immediately on the look for HCE.  But the “E” is the second letter and again the fourth, and the “C” doesn’t show until the fifth the letter.  That’s not exactly HCE. But we’re definitely talking about HCE here. Those names are all names of royalty or rulers of men of some sort. We’re talking about HCE rising up.

Oh, it’s an acrostic!  The first letter of every name spells HERE COMES EVERYBODY.  I swear, I didn’t even care what else this section was about, I was just excited to figure that out. 

The little things keep us coming back!