help with finnegans' wake connection

[Lucy Weaver]

Hello, I am new to this forum and am hoping I can find an answer to a question that is stumping me.

I recently (in the last 6-12 months) read a book in which one of the main characters was reading, studying or quoting from Finnegan's Wake. I have reviewed many of the books I have read and have not been able to find any mention of FW. Can anyone help me? Some of my most recent books are:

Waiting for Snow in Havana
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
City of Falling Angels
The Glass Castle
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
The Mermaid's Chair
The Rule of Four
A Widow for One Year
The Master
How Green is My Valley
The Good Mother
Little Children
Ella, Minnow, Pea
The Photograph
Bookseller of Kabul

[Bandini]

Very tired (and in wine) - so not sure if what you are asking is this straightforward; it's a novel by James Joyce - but surely you would have googled that?

[Bandini]

H
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates

The mind boggles! I am assuming that this is a translation!

[Xamonas Chegwe]

Are you trying to find which of the above books mentions FW?

If not, I can't understand your post at all. If so, I have read none of them, so why am I bothering to answer?

[Scheherazade]

Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates

[Lucy Weaver]

I will try to clarify my original question. In the last 6-12 months I remember reading a book in which one of the main characters was reading, qoting or studying FW. I cannot remember in which book this occurred however. That is why I listed some of the books I have read in the recent past in case anyone had read them too and remembered FW being mentioned in the book. I am trying to find the name of the book in which the character was reading FW. I hope this clarifies my question and someone can help with it because I am obsessed with trying to figure it out.

[Bandini]

Ah! It clarifies the question, but I have no idea of the answer.

[Geoffrey]

Simply read Finnegan's Wake and you will find yourself an entire novel that you will be obsessed with trying to figure out... As for your question, I've got no clue - Sorry!

[Scheherazade]

Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates

As I posted before too, it is Bobby in Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, who reads Finnegan's Wake.

[Lucy Weaver]

Thank you, that's it!

[Velouria]

I'm afraid to my mind FW is one of the most (un?)intentionally unreadable, obscurantist and - well- rubbish- novels written in English. I know I am not alone. Ulysses is a primer, in comparison. And it, too is awful. Pretentious, moi? No, Joycey boy, I'm sorry.

I have no idea, really, as an English major, why this stuff is considered literature.

Possibly it's the usual Irish sympathy vote.

Bye now!!

[Finn.Rhies]

I have no idea, really, as an English major, why this stuff is considered literature.

If you have a major in English and you don't consider this literature then something is very wrong.



Finn

[StayGolden]

I'm afraid to my mind FW is one of the most (un?)intentionally unreadable, obscurantist and - well- rubbish- novels written in English. I know I am not alone. Ulysses is a primer, in comparison. And it, too is awful. Pretentious, moi? No, Joycey boy, I'm sorry.

I have no idea, really, as an English major, why this stuff is considered literature.

Possibly it's the usual Irish sympathy vote.

Bye now!!

As a fellow English major, I'm curious as to how you can say James Joyce's works aren't literature. I mean, surely you can appreciate their literary value even if they're not exactly your cup of tea?

[Haven]

Hi Finn & Stay Golden
You obviously both feel very strongly about this and I do think that Velouria also feels as strongly but polarised from your point of view. So probably a no win situation. But that is the beauty of art, it provokes feelings and inspires conflicted feelings within us. Art as we all know is representational, and it is our choice as to the way that we respond to the 'work'. IMO this is the finest attribute of art. It's influence in the public sphere is limitless. Do you love paintings for instance by all artists who have a genuine and real place in this hierarchical field... ? No of course you don't. You have your opinions and make your choice based on your inner resonance. That's all. Said my piece.

Also !!!! Big welcome to you both. I am sure that you will find a lot to engage you on this most wonderful site.

[StayGolden]

Haven, thanks for the welcome.

In regards to your post: I may not be a 'fan' per se of certain artists, but I wouldn't have the audacity to say that because their works weren't something I enjoyed they weren't truly artists. That was my main gripe with Velouria's post - that instead of simply giving an honest opinion in regards to this novel, they continued on to say that because they didn't like it, it shouldn't be considered literature.

Joyce's works are tedious and can be difficult for some people to understand, I'm certainly not denying that. One can't, however, say that they're not literary masterpieces simply for that reason.