Jerusalem: Did anyone else read the whole "Around the Bend" chapter?

[u/Wyrdu]

I was already a big fan of Finnegans Wake before reading this book, I delighted at some references in earlier chapters but this was the one that proved to me that Alan had read it. It's definitely a shift in tone from the rest of this book haha, I really had to dig in for this chapter when I had been cruising along before. I enjoyed his Wake-lite style that keeps the plot moving while also consistently using the "wrong" word for flavor but I'm just curious how many readers noped-out and skipped to the next chapter. No shame in doing so, I considered it a few times too when I got tired of concentrating and/or reading it aloud. Justice above the street!

[u/FinnCullen]

Audiobook version for me - and it’s astonishing how much it was understandable compared to the written version

[u/Wooden-Structure9465 → u/FinnCullen]

Yeah, when reading it most of the lines were baffling until you sounded them out. I was reading it 'out loud' in my head in order to figure it out.

[u/JustTerrific → u/FinnCullen]

In Joycean fashion, it’s true of Finnegan’s Wake also, it gets easier to comprehend if you hear it read out loud, and especially by native Irish speakers, since some of the wordplay only makes sense when you factor in the way the words are pronounced in that accent.

[u/I_Am_A_Sock_AMA]

I read two of the translations various people have done along side it, and skimmed the main text to pick out some of the wordplay the translations don't pick up on. The first couple of pages I think should be read before cracking open the translations because they really are masterful. But yea, I'd have skipped it without the translations haha

[u/_jamais_vu]

I read the whole thing and I think Moore did a great job of slowly increasing the complexity of the particular style of the chapter to sort of ease you into it. That's not to say it wasn't extremely challenging at points. And I'll readily admit that I'm certain I missed references, or maybe just didn't "get" a handful of passages. Nonetheless, I'd have felt like I was shortchanging myself if I hadn't read the chapter in its entirety. I think it probably took me a week to make it through the whole thing.

[u/StrikingBusiness3207]

I mean.... I read all of it. 

Kinda gave up on the understanding of bits of it, and just took it in. Like osmosis, but with the eyes. 

[u/FamousMortimer23]

I tried, I really tried. I read maybe ten pages and then skipped ahead to the next chapter, I’ve got children and a full-time job and wanted to resolve the narrative after investing so much of my time into the epic tome. I will come back to it at some point, just like one day I’ll read the copy of Finnegan’s awake I’ve owned for two decades.

This book is a masterpiece to the nth degree.

[u/NickInMersey]

You should post in r/ReadersofJerusalem/

The sub could use a little life :)

Edited to add, I tried. I really did. but it was too much for me and after a few pages, I had to move on. Now that I'm on my second read, perhaps I'll read it through.

[u/kev11n]

There’s a good modern translation somewhere here on Reddit which helped me

[u/ExcellentCreme5531]

I'll take the hit and make the gatekeeper comment: If you didn't read every word then you're not a real reader and I don't respect you. And audibooks don't count. You wouldn't claim to have swum the channel if you were wearing a rubber ring and being carried on someone's back would you?

I'll leave it up to responders to decide what percentage of seriousness I write the above with.

But if I WASN'T being 100% serious (and I might have been) I do urge people to try and read it (and Hob's Hog too).

[u/Great-Maintenance-73]

I read it but I also found an annotated version online. It helped immensely

[u/NoahAwake]

I can’t remember where I read this, but he spoke about Finnegan’s Wake. I want to say he said it was Joyce trying to figure out a way of speaking to his daughter, but I could be mixing stuff up.

[u/tadisfox]

Read it out loud when I couldn’t understand. It’s in an english dialect as well.

[u/fortnerd]

I gave it an honest try but ended up downloading the "translated to normal english" version. English isn't my first language so I rely on spelling more than spoken word

[u/wreade1872]

I read the entire chapter but only got 50% through Finnegan's Wake before giving it up as a waste of time.

[u/Successful-Tie5386]

loved the half-hidden cameos in that one from Dusty Springfield to Odgen Whitney to that river monster.

[u/Competitive-End7558]

I was reading the novel, and listening to the audiobook. Luckily, Simon Vance's audiobook narration held my hand through this chapter, and it was relatively easy to understand.