I couldn't be happier - this week I firmly decided that I want to really immerse myself into the dark-humored linguistic labyrinth that is Finnegans Wake. Not just superficially - read-aloud gatherings are jovial exercises in social theater where attendees discover more about the reader than of the text. Instead, I've secured gorgeous hardcover editions of Joseph Campbell's
A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake and McHugh's similar
Annotations to Finnegans Wake. These are the two most exhaustive analytical and scholarly texts on Joyce's masterwork.
I want to explore the world's least-read great novel and develop a concrete appreciation of Joyce's sharp wit and of the novel's legendary morphemic acrobatics.
This is an exercise I aim to lose myself within. I've an addiction to cerebral projects and find myself ever-searching for the next big challenge. It is in part escapism from the "dumbed-down" mass-culture I so actively avoid. Independent academic ventures are a realm of safety where all knowledge shines brightly and wisdom is the ultimate virtue. But it is also an activity which simply appeals to my core values - my love of learning, challenges, and discovery. I am, as Cage once said, "a student from the school from which we'll never graduate."
riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs...
[EDIT] A side note to fellow readers -
Annotations is considered an academic text and as such commands an $85 price from all sellers. Astonishingly, if you visit the John Hopkins University Press website, you can purchase a new copy of the 648pp Hardback for 71% OFF - only $25! (LESS than the price of the paperback!) Today is my lucky day.