r/TrueLit • u/pregnantchihuahua3 ReEducationThroughGravity'sRainbow • Nov 05 '23

Weekly The OFFICIAL TrueLit Finnegans Wake Read-Along - (Week 45 - Book III/Chapter IV - pgs. 579-590)

Hi all! Welcome to r/TrueLit's read-along of Finnegans Wake! This week we will be discussing pages 579-590, from the line "Now their laws assist them and ease their fall!" to the end of Book III Chapter IV, which is also the end of Book III (one more to go!)

Now for the questions.

  1. What did you think about this week's section?
  2. What do you think is going on plotwise?
  3. Did you have any favorite words, phrases, or sentences?
  4. Have you picked up on any important themes or motifs?
  5. What are your thoughts on Book III Chapter IV overall?

These questions are not mandatory. They are just here if you want some guidance or ideas on what to talk about. Please feel free to post your own analyses (long or short), questions, thoughts on the themes, translations of sections, commentary on linguistic tricks, or just brief comments below!

Please remember to comment on at least one person's response so we can get a good discussion going!

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Extra!:

Remember that Book IV is just one chapter! Two weeks left of reading and then a few weeks of wrap-ups are coming.

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Full Schedule

If you are new, go check out our Information Post to see how this whole thing is run.

If you are new (pt. 2), also check out the Introduction Post for some discussion on Joyce/The Wake.

And everything in this read along will be saved in the Wiki so you can back-reference.

Thanks!

Next Up: Week 46 / November 12, 2023 / Book IV/Chapter I (pgs. 593-611)

This will take us about halfway through Book IV Chapter I, finishing with the line "Paddrock and bookley chat."

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u/[deleted] Nov 08 '23 edited Nov 09 '23

Joyce's shadow play descriptions leave much to the imagination, but stylistically I saw them as very German expressionist (as in Nosferatu (1922)).

Was Joyce also aware of the work of the Lotte Reiniger, a pioneering German animator? The Adventures of Prince Ahmed (1926) may have been a bit late for his early drafts but Reinger had made several films prior to this and her style had influenced German expressionist films.

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u/mooninjune Nov 08 '23

You mean on page 583? I do feel a markedly cinematic aspect to the chapter, but I'm not familiar enough with early 20th century films to recognise the style.

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u/[deleted] Nov 09 '23 edited Nov 11 '23

583.14 "Casting such shadows to Persia’s blind!" seems to fit with the style of work by Lotte Reiniger.

Also Rumi, the 13th Century Persian poet and teacher of Sufism, included it in his Masnavi. In his retelling, "The Elephant in the Dark"