We all had copies of "A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake," the classic 1944 study by Joseph Campbell and Henry Morton Robinson, and "A Reader's Guide to Finnegans Wake" by William York Tindall. In addition to personal copies of the novel, each of us hauled in a veritable reference library, which we spread before us like winning poker hands. After struggling through those first seemingly unintelligible pages, we had come to realize that reading "Finnegans Wake" without assistance was akin to crossing the Sahara without a camel.
Only a few people had brought along copies of the book, but by the next meeting we were better prepared. We were determined to pool our considerable intellectual resources and, as a committee, actually read the formidable tome.Īt that first meeting we began by taking turns reading aloud the first of the 628 pages. He called together about a dozen Joyce enthusiasts, literary types and well-rounded scholars. Patrick's Day 1999, Bill decided that the time had come.
Well, that's with the exception of "Finnegans Wake." We always figured we would get around to it someday. Our children share the refrigerator shrine with Joyce because both Bill and I are rather proud of having read every one of his published works. Secured by magnets along with our daughters' class photos and best school papers are pictures of James Joyce, on postcards or cut from magazines. My friend Bill and I have similarly decorated refrigerators.
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