Surprisingly, James Joyce's Finnegans Wake is turning out to be one of the most fascinating and entertaining books I've ever come across. The novel strikes me as The Three Stooges of literature: it's funny, with words haphazardly thrown together, so the overall effect is one of utter ridiculousness laced with an undercurrent of art. If the novel could be a painting, Finnegans Wake might be how a schizophrenic would reveal his innermost thoughts.

Despite the book's outward chaos, I'm picking up on a steady stream of religious references buried within the text. Like the rest of the novel, it's impossible to figure out how the pieces fit, but Finnegans Wake could easily be one of the most spiritual books ever composed. Terms like "cainandabler," "Anonymoses," and "Edenborough" crop up from time to time, not to mention the countless lines and paragraphs referencing religious characters and events. For instance:

He was fafafather of all scheme for to bother us
Slow coaches and immaculate contraceptives for the populace,
Mare's milk for the sick, seven dry Sundays a week,
Openair love and religion's reform,
(Chorus) And religious reform,
Hideous in form.

Anyone familiar with Joyce's work knows that Catholicism was a large part of his fiction, and while Catholicism is certainly present in Finnegans Wake, the book is more worldly, not only in ambition but also in execution. Joyce makes references to Judaism and Islam, as well as numerous pagan religions. Joyce, being from Ireland, was undoubtedly familiar with the religious strife that's always characterized that region. It's been said that Finnegans Wake is nothing less than a history of the world, but, given the novel's overwhelming spirituality, it may actually be nothing less than a history of faith.

Comments

[bhadd]

I agree about all parts of life in the book. No doubt Irish history weighed Joyce down during his writing--sad history of Ireland mostly, not all sad however!

[Andi]

You may have driven the nail in Finnegan's proverbial coffin for me with that Three Stooges analogy.

And with that in mind, I think I'll hide the boyfriend's Three Stooges DVD collection while I'm thinking of it.

:D

[anonymoses]

Skandiknavery!