Book #27: Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce

Finnegan’s Wake. Oh boy. I don’t know why I did this to myself. If you are a literary fiend, like me, you are well aware that Finnegan’s Wake is considered one of the most difficult books to read in the English language (if you can call what you are reading English). I would take War and Peace AND David Copperfield over this book any day and that is really saying something.

It has taken me awhile to get to writing this post. For one, it took me a good long month (or two) to get through Finnegan’s Wake. After that, well,…I procrastinated. I am not going to lie, I was

The cover of my copy of Finnegan's Wake

just like my students and just could not get myself motivated to write this post. I enjoy writing, but when I do not enjoy what I am writing about (or if I don’t have a firm deadline), it can be hard for me to find the motivation. Plus, I had no idea what I would write about for this post since I had no idea what was going on throughout this entire novel. I can’t even give you a decent summary of the plot of the novel because I couldn’t make any sense of it. You should see the notes I took; it looks like I was studying a foreign language. And in a way I was.

In Gilmore Girls, Rory is not actually seen reading Finnegan’s Wake. Instead, it is alluded to in the title of episode 5, “Cinnamon’s Wake” in reference to Babet’s dead cat. I suppose I didn’t actually have to read the novel because it is not actually seen or mentioned in the show, but I can not leave any page unturned! (Ha, see what I did there?) Plus, I got to one up Rory and read one of the most difficult books out there.

I guess to put it simply, Finnegan’s Wake is about the death of a man named Finnegan and the Earwicker family’s secrets. At least, that's what I think it is about. From what I could gather, there were secret affairs, incest, and warring brothers. Not quite sure since James Joyce created his own language while writing this novel. He created new words, smushed words together, and randomly inserted words from another language. In order to fully understand this novel, one would have the break down the entire novel word for word and analyze the meaning of each specific word. Who has time for that? I don't. So I just read it for what it was and took from it what I could.

 

Just so you all know I am not exaggerating the difficulty
of  this text

I just have to wonder if this book would still be considered a classic high end novel if it was written in readable English. If it was discernible, would the plot be any good? If the story wasn’t clouded by the idiosyncratic language, would it be good writing? I don’t know. James Joyce has a good reputation as a strong writer and already had a name for himself when he wrote this novel. The book probably succeeded because Joyce already had a good reputation and a fan base. People probably saw his name attached to the novel and would automatically think “Oh, James Joyce! This must be good!” Much like how people see J.K Rowling and automatically think The Casual Vacancy is going to be good. So the moral of the story for this read is that just because something is labeled as classic literature, a bestseller, or has a name attached to it, does not necessarily mean that a book is good and enjoyable.

Just so you know, episode 5 of Gilmore Girls has one of my all time favorite lines:

Book #16 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

            I did it. I read all 1,215 pages of Tolstoy’s Russian masterpiece. Although, I would not call this book a masterpiece by any means. Honestly, it was one of the most boring and difficult books I have ever read. It was all over the place and inconsistent and just too long for its own sake. It would not surprise me if the only reason this book is considered a “classic” and remembered is because it is one of the longest books ever written.

            We are still sitting in Rory’s first class at Chilton where the teacher rambles off a list of works in order to compare how English society influenced Russian society in the 19^th century, specifically in literature. I assume that this is a history class and literature is being used as an example. And Mr. Medina is Rory’s English teacher (and Lorelai’s future love interest) and this man is clearly not him. The teacher says to the class: “As Tolstoy commenced writing both War and Peace and Anna Karenina, Count Leo would turn to..” Paris responds with David Copperfield. It is not shocking, then, that if I disliked David Copperfield that I also disliked War and Peace. I am shocked, though, that these novels are being discussed in a tenth grade English class. I can tell you that my classes very rarely go this way. The tenth graders in this class must be some form of robots as many of my students claim they have never read a book let alone know that Tolstoy was influenced by Dickens.

            When I started reading War and Peace, I was intimidated and worried how much it would impact my fun reading (I usually have two books going at once), but somehow I got through it. I found the book difficult to follow for several reasons. 1. I was reading it in translation. Obviously, War and Peace was originally written in Russian so some aspects of the novel are bound to be lost in translation. The translation I read was very good, but I had to read a lot of footnotes to understand what was going on. 2. This book didn't know what it wanted to be. We claim War and Peace is a novel, but it is not. It tries to be a novel, a historical account, a philosophical discussion, and a poem all at once. Even Tolstoy said it is “not a novel, even less it a poem, and still less a historical context.” It seems to me that Tolstoy felt whatever he felt like at the moment in order to create the longest book he could. I think it is great that he wrote what he wanted to, but that doesn’t mean other people want to read it. So that brings me to this question: Does anybody out there call War and Peace their favorite book? Do they take it out when they are feeling sad to make them feel better? Is it the one they eagerly tell their friends about and urge them to read? Someone please tell me because I would really like to know the answer to this question

Now, I don’t really feel like rambling on about this book since it was tedious enough to read it so here is a list of my random thoughts:

 - Tolstoy had his wife copy the manuscript for this book seven times. Let’s do the math here: 1215 pages X 7 = 8505 pages. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

- I have a strange love of footnotes. I don’t know why…but even that couldn’t save this book for me.

- I had a lot of flashbacks to my AP European history class during my junior year of high school. Some of those were good memories, while others were just plain stressful.

- At one point in the novel, one character tortured another character by slitting his nostrils. My response was “Whaaaaaaa?”

- Just because something is bigger does not always mean it is better. As I tell my students, just because you write more does not mean that their essay is going to get an A. This book shows that more words does not equal a better book. 

Next Book: Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. My last Dickens for a while! Whooohooo!!!!

Pictures

Book Cover: http://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320544190i/290979._UY200_.jpg

Image http://7-themes.com/data_images/collection/1/4426035-war-and-peace-wallpapers.png

Book #12: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

If you read my post about David Copperfield, you are well aware that my expectations for Charles Dickens were not very high after reading it. I thought David Copperfield was boring and had no cohesive plot. I was disappointed in Dickens and dreading the many Dickens novels that were to come on this list. I had a pleasant surprise, though, when I began reading Great Expectations. I could immediately tell that I would enjoy it better than David Copperfield. Don’t ask me how I knew so quickly, I just did. I have a sixth sense when it comes to these things.

On the surface, Great Expectations appears very similar to David Copperfield. Both stories are centered around a young orphan and follows his trials and tribulations as he reaches adulthood. However, Pip is a hell of a lot more likeable than David and the characters surrounding Pip are more vibrant than those in David’s world. Humor plays a major role in Great Expectations while David Copperfield focuses on the harshness of reality. I’m not saying that Great Expectations is all sunshine and rainbows; it is absolutely not. The cruelties in Great Expectations, such as Pip’s sister’s brutal attack and Estella’s backstory, are particularly harsh and gruesome. But rather than dwelling on the gruesome parts of life, Dickens gives us humor to distract us from the harrowing parts of the novel.

Tough Love

One of my favorite motifs (I know I am sounding extra English teachery by using this word) in this novel is the way the female characters express their feelings. Each of the prominent female characters (Mrs. Joe Gargary, Miss Havisham, Estella) are just plain mean to the men in their lives. We first see this with Pip’s sister Mrs. Joe Gargary. Her husband, Joe, is perhaps one of the sweetest men I have come across in literature. Maybe he isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but that is no excuse for his wife to be so short tempered to him. Mrs. Joe Gargary is also cruel to Pip, her own brother! I found her to be one of my favorite characters. Her character traits, especially her mood swings, were exaggerated to heighten the humor. My favorite part, though, was that no matter how mean she was, Joe still loved her with all his heart.

Miss Havisham is the epitome of a crazy old cat lady, but without all the cats. She sits in her room wearing her wedding dress from twenty years ago with all the clocks stuck at nine twenty because that is the exact moment her fiance left her. Miss Havisham isn’t exactly mean to Pip, but she shows no emotions except sadness and is never direct with him. She’s cold and lonely and feels spurned by all men simply because one hurt her.

This brings me to her adoptive daughter, Estella. Miss Havisham raised her as a weapon against men. She raised her so she could not love or have any feelings. Therefore, using her beauty as a tool to break men’s hearts. Pip, of course, falls for Estella the moment he lays eyes on her and pines for her for most of the novel. Estella goes out of her way to make hurtful comments and to play with Pip’s mind. She makes him cry, lets him kiss her, flirts with other men in front of him. I first thought, why on earth would he like this girl? Yeah, she is pretty, but she has no soul. Then, I thought back to something a guy once said to me “sometimes guys are attracted to girls who are mean to them.” Makes sense. I am always a tad bit mean to the guys I like the most and they always seem to like this. Maybe they like a girl that can stand her ground and be a bit of a challenge. This isn’t only true with guys. As a girl (I don’t know why I feel like I need to clarify this), I do tend to be attracted to guys who aren’t afraid to tease me. However, if someone pushes too far, I tend to pull away. I could not put up with a male version of Estella; someone who purposely makes you want to feel bad about yourself.

It all comes back to plot

The main reason Great Expectations is better than David Copperfield is not the humor, but rather the plot. Great Expectations has a clear plot trajectory and if something was brought up earlier in the novel, it was used in a later point to serve a purpose. David Copperfield was structured very much like a biography with “this happened, then this happened, then this.” I understand this, but it was boring to read. In Great Expectations, everything is tied up at the end, though not necessarily in a pretty little bow. I don't ask for a happy ending, just an ending that serves a purpose. This ending left us on a hopeful note with Pip and Estella reuniting as friends. Romance could be possible, but it is uncertain. Personally, I like this ending; it is more realistic. We don't always get what we want and sometimes, if not always, friendships should be celebrated more than romance. Okay, I will stop being sappy now <3

Pictures
Book 1 http://greatexpectationsnovel.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/0/1/2301863/936347_orig.jpg
Illustration http://www.charlesdickensinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Well_Pip_you_know_._._._._you_yourself_see_me_put_em_in_my_at-_ch._13-300x238.jpeg

Book #10: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

               It’s pretty astonishing that after four years as an English major and years of reading for pleasure that the only Charles Dickens novel I have read is A Christmas Carol. Somehow, Dickens never made it onto the required reading lists and was always something that I told myself I would “get to later.” Lucky for me, this reading challenge has a lot of Dickens. Now that we are on to episode two and Rory’s first day at Chilton, we are also introduced to an abundance of high quality literature. In a short exchange between one of Rory’s teachers and Paris, several Dickens novels are mentioned and David Copperfield is the first.

            David Copperfield is Dickens’ semi-autobiographical novel about a young boy growing up through poverty and adversity. It was Dickens’ favorite of his novels and many critics consider it the greatest of his novels. As I have not read all of his novels, I cannot say I agree with this. I have to read more to decide this. However, I would not sing the praises of this novel as others have. Personally, I found it long and tedious. I can appreciate this novel from a literary standpoint, but it followed the structure of a biography and therefore the plot was lacking. David was presented with challenge after challenge, villain after villain, but other than the character itself, there was not a common thread. Now, I know in life there is not always a common thread and, well, things just happen as they happen. BUT, when I read a book, I want there to be some semblance of a plot and storyline. The character needs to be going somewhere. Maybe it is because I could not really connect to David Copperfield the character that I felt this way.

            While I admire David’s tenacity and his ability to overcome any challenge he faces, I did not always like him. I found him a little self-centered, especially in how he viewed the women in his life. David is quite the flirt and has several love interests throughout the novel (Emily, Agnes, Dora). I suppose in the span of one’s lifetime that is acceptable because God knows I have flirted with more than three guys in my twenty-four years. But he spends his time bouncing between the three and he views all in a similar manner. David had a childhood crush on Emily and he was more intrigued by her childlike innocence than anything else. At one point, Dickens wrote that it be “better she die innocent and young” in reference to Emily. This bothered me because 1. It came out of the blue so it is a bit creepy, and 2. Why is a woman less appealing when she is aware of the world? This is a common theme with David. Along with Emily, he views his first wife Dora as a child. Dora is a grown woman, but David treats her as if she is breakable and often refers to her as his “child wife.” More so, he encourages Dora to view herself in this way. Agnes, David’s second wife, is a little different. While she does not act like a child in the way Dora does, Agnes is presented as an “angel” and “perfect.” She is good and selfless and…well…boring. Agnes has very minimal character development and it’s frustrating that she is presented as the ideal wife. I also find it irksome that a good woman is presented as boring. You can be good and interesting and exciting at the same time.

            I suppose some of the issues I have with this novel are because it was written in 1850, but that is no excuse for how boring I found it! I’m sorry; I’m getting sassy here. I will give Dickens another chance. Maybe I read this book during the wrong time of year. Reading a long, tedious novel with many depressing story elements is not always the most fun in the middle of winter. Oh well! On to the next one!