Welcome!
This blog is intended both as companion, and as a stand-alone space for a group project to attempt the impossible...to read the entirety of Finnegans Wake.
I'm (hopefully) a little bit naive, but believe that it's possible to tap into the vastness of Joyce's novel (if that's the right word) and make it accessible and interesting both to people in the academic community (this shouldn't be too hard) but also to people not involved in the academy in any way.
The only thing I can guarantee is perserverance—I'm intent on reading the entirety of the Wake because, no matter how stupid it sounds, I'm embarassed I haven't read it yet.
Meetings will run at UWS Bankstown (hopefully in the Writing and Society Research Group's new meeting space) beginning in a month or two.
I will update this blog with my impressions and all feedback and suggestions I receive. I will also attempt to provide a nuanced reading of the section we will read each week, and provide links, or guidance, to extra material that assists in grasping the text.
Any text of Finnegans Wake is appropriate for reading the work. For reference I will be referring to the latest bog standard Penguin Classics version which cost me twenty bucks on the net.
You can buy a new copy HERE.
Or for the student population, second hand copies HERE.
For more information, e-mail me at j dot gourley at uws dot edu dot au.
And for a touch of Joycean humour, check out this short film from the Irish Film Board on Joyce and his golfing buddy, Samuel Beckett.
