This post looks more closely at the word “Amsad,” which appears in III.3 as an anagram for other words that I quoted in my last post.
Continue readingMadas / Sadam
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Category Archives: Close Reading
Bushes Have Eyes, Don’t Forget
This post reflects on the motif of looking and watching in Finnegans Wake.
Continue readingKindlelight
About two years ago, I was writing a piece where I wondered if my creativity had gone out. Perhaps, I speculated, I had become nothing more than a “keeper of the flame” that burned back in the day, editing my old pieces of writing, planning to publish my older work, etc.
But then I was struck by the thought that my creativity hadn’t left me at all. I was writing so many new, creative things still, especially when it came to explicating Finnegans Wake. Why couldn’t scholarly writing be considered creative as well?
I’m not tending a flame, I thought. I’m the kindling. The fire burns from inside me, not unlike a phoenix.
This post looks at this idea in HCE’s speech in II.3, where he defends the Russian General.
Continue readingThings Fall Apart
In October of 2021, my copy of Finnegans Wake began to fall apart. I had owned the book for nearly fifteen years at that point, and I had spent the previous year and a half reading and re-reading and annotating it over and over again. So it wasn’t a surprise. Most of this post was written then.
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The Suspended Sentence 