Day 1

My edition of the book opens on page 3. Day 1. Page 3. That's going to get annoying fast.

JFC. I already hate this book. I love a pretentious title. But man, do I hate pretentious writing. Over 30 words I had to look up, in numerous languages. And the internet keeps telling me what things mean before I've ever gotten to them.

Vaneesy is a refernce to Jonathan Swift's romantic life. Why?

Is Finnegan Swift in disguise? I don't know yet.

We already know the book is a cycle opening with the words from the end of the book. So I can't even review the first paragraph. But the next two paragraphs are filled with so many nonsense words. I feel like anyone with 17 years on their hands, could have written this autistic fever dream. This is worse than TS Elliot or Ezra Pound.

This third paragraph reminds me of Gertrude Stein. You just read it to get an intuitive sense of the work, not absorb every phrase. When I read it that way (and I read it five times) I enjoyed it more. So, I couldn't tell you anything other than someone's downfall is alluded to and compared to humpty dumpty (tumptytumtoes).

"On this side the scraggy isthmus of Europe Minor" I knew immediately that Ireland was Europe Minor. I expect a lot of allusions throughout to places, real and mythical. Lord. I feel like a safecracker, trying to unlock a story.

Turns out North Amorica is not North America, but another pun, this time an ancient Greek word for the land of the Gauls. I suspect before they were pushed to the Isles.

"Ringsome on the aquaface?"

Go fuck yourself.

Jesus shit. I used to love the modernists. 999 more days of this?

I doubt even Joyce could explain every pun in this book. Venisoon. Eat a dick, old man.

Speaking of dicks. Already two dick jokes on the page. From what I read on reddit, people missed the second dickjoke. I'm no Joyce scholar, but does that make me smarter than people who've been reading this for twelve years? 

My guess about the final paragraph of page 1 is that we are finally seeing a story form. Finnegan's fall is tied to the religious tension of the time between protestants and catholics (orange and green). I'll know more on page 2, I guess.

People call this book and experiment. Experiments are meant to test things, to see if it's possible. But I would argue this is an exercise in patience, not an experiment. Anyone with a brain would know not to write this way. I will try not to get so flummoxed with every page. Peaking at page 4, I don't think that's possible.