Finnegans Web & Wiki

I ran into a fellow Wake-worker last night, one who’s involved in a rather important project, and I can’t say much, other than this — if you happen to be at Burning Man this year (as in later this month!) you might want to visit IAMU at Home Rule Village at 4:15 and C. We’re easy to spot, just look for the big scaffolding tower. That is all.

I am so excited about the release of this project — 31 hours of Finnegans Wake being read aloud with MUSIC!

The Waywords and Meansigns project has been released under a Creative Commons license on archive.org. The project is available in multiple formats, which means you’re not tied to listening online — you can do as I plan to do, download the entire thing and listen on your portable device. For me, I’ll be listening during my commute, which is at least 1.5 hours each way, each day.

Every new interpretation of the Wake leads to potential new eyes and ears, as well as deeper understanding of the Wake.

Please give this project a listen.

http://www.waywordsandmeansigns.com/

http://www.gratefulweb.com/articles/jam-bands-experimental-music-and-james-joyce-finnegans-wake-set-music-unabridged

Fascinating. And free. May 4.

You know, I just realized that come next Monday, February 9, this site and its corresponding wiki will have been up and running TEN YEARS. TEN YEARS. Let me say that again. TEN YEARS.

Ten years of a FREE participatory resource on Finnegans Wake. Scholars have come and scholars have gone. Some are still around.

I’d like to celebrate that anniversary. If anyone’s in the DC area, let’s go have a pint.

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/james-joyce-s-historic-sojourn-in-nice-recalled-1.1464477

I’m here in Key West, FL, just a few blocks from Finnegans Wake, the Key West Irish pub. I hope to have a photo for you all by the time I make it home. If anyone would like to sponsor a pint for me, you may donate via Paypal at the email address [email protected].

I’d love to have one of these!

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/joyce-family-split-over-error-on-new-coin-1.1359819

I continue to be amazed at the amount of work being poured into this site by a relatively small group of rather dedicated (some might say cultish) users. Some are here for purposes involving educational coursework, while others, like myself, take a more recreational approach to the wake.

In the five plus years of the site’s existence, the amount and quality of information and presentation has increased exponentionally.

A user wrote in today to tell me of artist Stephen Crowe’s “Wake In Progress“, a growing collection of illustrations to Finnegans Wake. Funny how the Wake continues to spin off new projects so long after its publication.

There’s so much more I’d like to know about the users of this site. Where in the world are you? I wonder if I cross paths with any of you in any of my other lives here in Virginia.

While I may be flying a bit blind here as your humble webmaster, I must admit I have made an assumption about you, the end users, the real stars of this site.

I assume that the traffic spikes in late summer and fall of each year directly correlate with school studies resuming, and that a significant portion of you are visiting this site to supplement coursework on literature, Joyce specifically, or the Wake itself, if you’re lucky enough to have a course solely devoted to the Wake.

I’d like to ask a favor. Could you take a moment to shoot me an email telling me about yourself, your studies, how and when you became interested in the Wake, and your thoughts on this site? My email is bobgerman at the domain bobgerman dot com. I’m really interested in the backstory of each and every one of you, and I might use information you provide to improve the site, if good ideas come up.

I’ll start. I’m a reader. I LOVE to read. I read everything I can get my hands on, at least when I can fit it into my schedule. I came to the Wake after reading several in-jokes along my literary travels about readers getting lost in it. Lost in a book? What a concept? I was hooked by the very first page. But I’ll tell you, what REALLY hit me was when I combined reading the book with listening to it. It helped me to really grasp the dialect.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to hear from each of you soon.

This site, and its corresponding WIKI, have now been up for THREE YEARS. Congratulations too all of the contributors and Joyce fans out there.