In II.1, Shem runs off each time he is rejected by the girls. He writes and creates, coming and going three times like the Prankquean — with echoes of and references to that episode. The third time, he returns to battle his extrovert brother.
The third time, Issy — caught between the battling boys and trying to choose between them — has a fantasy that Shem becomes her tutor, teaching her all about the “book of the dark.” This short post will look briefly at this moment.
Continue readingI was reflecting recently on a paragraph in in II.1, after Shem/Glugg’s second failure, where Joyce describes night falling on the zoo in Dublin’s Phoenix Park. This post will contain a few of my musings.
Continue readingShe is fading out like Journee’s clothes so you can’t see her now.
I had the opportunity recently to attend the East Coast premiere of the black-and-white version of David Chase’s 2012 film Not Fade Away. This coming-of-age story is many things: a period piece (in fact, a piece of Chase’s own biography), a celebration of music, and an exploration of the desire to “make it” and be a success. Since I write this blog, the movie made me think of Finnegans Wake and Joyce’s work generally in several ways (especially in the film’s conversion of experience into art).
This post looks at a few resemblances I noted between Joyce’s works and Not Fade Away. My purpose is not to assert a direct influence. I’m unclear on how much familiarity Chase has with Joyce. Instead, I want to consider how two different artists, working in different mediums, treat some similar themes, especially the cycle of generations.
Continue readingThis post looks at the word “fascinate” in Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.
Continue reading
The Suspended Sentence 