ThoughtGallery.org > Finnegans Wake: Approaching and Appreciating James Joyce’s Baffling Masterpiece

Finnegans Wake: Approaching and Appreciating James Joyce’s Baffling Masterpiece

Celebrate Bloomsday at The Brooklyn Brainery! After the class, we will all head over to a local bar to celebrate in fine style. 

Notoriously called the most difficult novel ever written, thought of as either a colossal joke (or waste of time) or the greatest work of genius ever – James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake has fascinated and repelled the literary world since its release in 1939.

In this class we will address ways to access and appreciate a book that no one ever claimed to understand completely (except for its author), but nonetheless can provide a rewarding reading experience like no other literary work.

We will cover an overview of:
-James Joyce’s life
-his literary canon and how his works progressed toward Finnegans Wake
-a chapter by chapter journey through the book – replete with photos, illustrations, and recordings to make it go down easier
-different ways of accessing and enjoying Finnegans Wake, including as a:

– work of music
– cosmology linking the very specific to the universal
– still-groundbreaking destroyer and inventor of language and thought
– impressionist word-painting
– depiction of dreamy night journey
– new language experience – creating the sense of being a 2-year old learning language
– seemingly endless source of album titles and band names

There will also be photos and footage of the actual places in Dublin where The Wake takes place, along with a list of helpful resources and even a look at words and phrases in Finnegans Wake that seemingly refer to the internet-based world we live in today. For example – did you know Joyce uses the word “googling” at one point in his book?

Even if you have little to no experience reading James Joyce, you might find this class fun and informative!











When: Fri., Jun. 16, 2017 at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Where: Prospect Heights Brainery
190 Underhill Ave., Prospect Heights

Price: $8
Buy tickets/get more info now
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Celebrate Bloomsday at The Brooklyn Brainery! After the class, we will all head over to a local bar to celebrate in fine style. 

Notoriously called the most difficult novel ever written, thought of as either a colossal joke (or waste of time) or the greatest work of genius ever – James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake has fascinated and repelled the literary world since its release in 1939.

In this class we will address ways to access and appreciate a book that no one ever claimed to understand completely (except for its author), but nonetheless can provide a rewarding reading experience like no other literary work.

We will cover an overview of:
-James Joyce’s life
-his literary canon and how his works progressed toward Finnegans Wake
-a chapter by chapter journey through the book – replete with photos, illustrations, and recordings to make it go down easier
-different ways of accessing and enjoying Finnegans Wake, including as a:

– work of music
– cosmology linking the very specific to the universal
– still-groundbreaking destroyer and inventor of language and thought
– impressionist word-painting
– depiction of dreamy night journey
– new language experience – creating the sense of being a 2-year old learning language
– seemingly endless source of album titles and band names

There will also be photos and footage of the actual places in Dublin where The Wake takes place, along with a list of helpful resources and even a look at words and phrases in Finnegans Wake that seemingly refer to the internet-based world we live in today. For example – did you know Joyce uses the word “googling” at one point in his book?

Even if you have little to no experience reading James Joyce, you might find this class fun and informative!

Buy tickets/get more info now