WAKE: Cold Reading Finnegans Wake

Long-promised, finally delivered! No, Toby and TJ didn't get their Finnegans Wake tattoos yet (it might happen one day), but we are finally back to talk about half of WAKE's epic visit to Ireland! Listen to the audio podcast but also hop on over to YouTube to enjoy the first-ever visual WAKE, complete with the kind of holiday slideshow you might remember from your childhood, complete with one-sided narration and images of somewhere you didn't go. Toby discusses his favourite stops in Ireland, through Dublin, Kildare, Cork, Dingle, Limerick, Clare, and Galway, and all the amazing people he met along the way. Before we get there, though, join us through a rollicking discussion of classic literature, Pulitzer Prize winners, Hamlet's 'to be' speech, and plenty more. We are so glad to be back!Show Notes:WAKE on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WAKEpod   Obscure https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/obscure-with-michael-ian-black/id1388660385We Burn So Bright by TJ Klune: https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=we+burn+so+bright&ref=nav_sb_noss_l_17Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211004089-wild-dark-shoreAngel Down: https://www.danielkraus.com/books/angel-down/ Fitzgerald’s of Sandycove: https://fitzgeraldsofsandycove.com/blog/ Anna Livia: https://www.olddublintown.com/anna-livia-sculpture.html The Hi-B Bar, Cork: https://www.instagram.com/hibbarcork/ Saoirse https://www.giaf.ie/festival/event/saoirse Padaicin https://www.giaf.ie/festival/event/padraicin Nora Barnacle’s House https://thisisgalway.ie/the-history-of-nora-barnacle-house/ Nora by Nuala O’Connor https://nualaoconnor.com/home/novels/nora/

Vince Gilligan called, and WAKE answered! Toby and TJ are back for this special episode of WAKE, in response to the casual name-dropping of Finnegans Wake in the new Apple+ series, Pluribus. We spend some spoiler-filled time (spoiling the ending of both Pluribus AND Finnegans Wake) discussing this definitely-too-deliberate-to-be-accidental reference to Joyce’s final masterpiece, and what it might mean for the show as a whole. We’re talking falls, and loops, and morals, and humanity: all the things you’ve come to love about WAKE.SHOW NOTES:WAKE on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WAKEpod   GMWKS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gmwks/id1509334531 Georgia Malone’s Here Goes Nothing: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/georgia-malones-here-goes-nothing/id1794562157 Never Die Wondering: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/never-die-wondering-mick-malone-in-his-own-words/id1833715593 Abraham’s Tetramorfeus:  https://www.facebook.com/abrahamhosebr/posts/tetramorfeus/658179911649980/Abraham on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/uk/book/show/236604119-liber-t Abraham's Joyce writings: https://abrahamhosebrlibrarium.wordpress.com/category/%d0%b4%d0%b6%d0%b5%d0%b9%d0%bc%d1%81-%d0%b4%d0%b6%d0%be%d0%b9%d1%81/Pluribus: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22202452/The Suspended Sentence: https://thesuspendedsentence.com/2026/01/25/its-plurbin-time-pluribus-and-finnegans-wake/ The Wake and Pluribus: https://www.soapcentral.com/shows/all-mankind-becomes-united-pluribus-fans-convinced-show-takes-inspiration-classic-novel-finnegans-wakeReddit Thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/pluribustv/comments/1oxo1dv/finnegans_wake/ Reddit Thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/jamesjoyce/comments/1or08bk/anyone_watch_pluribus/ Katarzyna Bazarnik’s JOYCE, LIBERATURE AND WRITING OF THE BOOK (diagram toward the bottom): http://hjs.ff.cuni.cz/archives/v8_2/main/essays.php?essay=bazarnik Portergirl Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-portergirl-podcast/id1822951117

As we bask in the wake of completing the Wake, Toby and TJ welcome renowned author, librarian, academic, and bookfluencer George Koors to discuss how to get into the Wake, as well as what to do after it's done. We discuss the benefits and risks of BookTok, Bookstagram, and BookTube, the egalitarian nature of Joyce ensuring that through complexity all readers are rendered the same, and consider the dangers of placing beloved texts on syllabi. We discuss Taylor Swift, Ben Jonson, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, and George hits us with two monumental recommendations that will rattle your brain and strain at your wallet. To top it all, we get the world exclusive scoop on TJ's new play, learn the term "typoglycemia" and consider the weight we can place on art that survives time. We'd like to think WAKE is one of those survivors, as we enter our end-of-series hiatus...This week's chatters: George Koors, Toby Malone, TJ YoungReferencesGeorge's website: https://www.georgekoors.com/George on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gbk7288/ Always the Wanderer: https://www.amazon.com/Always-Wanderer-George-Bernard-Koors/dp/1936135159 George Koors - YouTubeLet's Talk About James Joyce's Finnegans Wake James Joyce's Finnegans Wake In Less Than 2 Minutes Arno Schmidt Zettels Traum (Bottom’s Dream) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6088384 https://www.georgekoors.com/George’s petition to make Zettels Traum accessible! https://www.georgekoors.com/post/help-me-fight-literary-gatekeeping-let-s-make-arno-schmidt-s-zettels-traum-more-accessible Carlos Fuentes Terra Nostra https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59415.Terra_Nostra?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=cbUx0TDs2A&rank=1 For early drops, community and show notes, join us at our free Patreon, at⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/wakepod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or check out our Linktree, at⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/wake.pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We welcome comments from everyone: even, nay, especially, the dreaded purists. Come and "um actually" us!

We can't believe it. Can you believe it? We actually finished reading Finnegans Wake. What started out as a podcast to read an "unreadable book" has turned into a journey that has endeared us to a magical community, connected with our family and friends, and reawakened our sense of what art can be. While sometimes it felt like climbing a sheer cliff-face, the toeholds we gained along the way made this a delightfully fulfilling project. For this final episode, Toby and TJ look back on WAKE and consider how you know when a project is over, embracing confusion, and how much we appreciate the spectators at the end of a marathon. We talk Joyce on film, Pinter, the Beatles, Lord of the Rings, and hypertexts, and pinpoint the exact moment the Harry Potter franchise lost TJ. We take on translation, and gimmicks, and mountaineering, and the question of how-fast-is-too-fast-to-read-the-Wake. Then, as we consider the stadium-sized Rubik's Cube that is the Wake, we are visited by the Patron Saint of WAKE for words of congratulations. It's an unmissable end to what has indeed proven to be a surprisingly listenable podcast.This week's chatters: Toby Malone, TJ YoungProgress: 628 pages complete, 0 pages to go; 100% read.Contextual NotesThe Patron Saint of WAKEMichael Ian Black congratulates WAKE! Michael Ian Black SubstackReferenced TextsFadiman, Clifton. “Don’t Shoot the Book-Reviewer; He’s Doing the Best He Can.” The New Yorker. April 28, 1939. Norris, David, and Carl Flint.  Introducing Joyce: A Graphic Guide. London: Icon Books, 2013.McCreedy, Jonathan. (2022). Joyceradamus: Foretelling the Age of Trump in Finnegans Wake. Joyce Studies in Italy: Joyspace: James Joyce and Space, 23 (2021): 159-74. Rose, David. Cryptogrammic Cryptograms: Fungi in Finnegans Wake. Collard, David. Multiple Joyce. London: Sagging Meniscus P, 2022.Glasheen, Adaline. Third census of Finnegans wake : an index of the characters and their roles.Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1977.Benstock, Bernard. Joyce-Again’s Wake. Turnbull, Caldwell. No Gods, No Monsters. Wake in the WorldFinnegan Wake! Mirko Buffini’s HCE CollectionHoyne Brewing: Finnegans Irish Stout Translating the WakeReading James Joyce's Finnegans Wake in Korean by Sang Hyun Lee 187Dai, Congrong. "A Chinese Translation of Finnegans Wake: The Work in Progress." James Joyce Quarterly, vol. 47 no. 4, 2010, p. 579-588. Project MUSENothing’s Impossible: Finnegans Wake Translated into Chinese.Eishiro, Ito. Two Japanese Translations of Finnegans Wake Compared: Yanase (1991-1993) and Miyata (2004) Kenji Hayakawa. Francois-Victor Hugo’s Shakespeare: Joyce on FilmRoger Ebert on Bute’s Wake filmBute’s FilmStrick’s UlyssesThe FilmResourcesFinWake.comFWEETPeter Quadrino’s BlogChicken’s GuideBuffalo James Joyce CollectionRichard HartePeter O’Brien Reading Groups:https://finneganswake.org/ReadingGroups.shtml PodcastsFrank Delaney’s Re-Joyce:Joseph Strick’s Ulysses on Three Castles Burning1954: The Birth of Bloomsday on Three Castles Burning: https://threecastlesburning.libsyn.com/1954-the-birth-of-bloomsdayExploring Lucia Joyce (with Joe Chester) on Three Castles Burning: https://threecastlesburning.libsyn.com/exploring-lucia-joyce-with-joe-chesterWAKETo find TJ: https://www.tj-young.com/ To find Toby: https://linktr.ee/turglife WAKE on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wake.pod/ WAKE on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/WAKEPOD WAKE on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WAKEpod WAKE on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/wakepod.bsky.social WAKE on X: lol, fuck you ElonFor early drops, community and show notes, join us at our free Patreon, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/wakepod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or check out our Linktree, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/wake.pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We welcome comments from everyone: even, nay, especially, the dreaded purists. Come and "um actually" us!

There's nothing quite like ticking off a bucket list item, and today is the day, where Toby and TJ come to the end of the long reading road to finally finish Finnegans Wake. Before we get there, though, we have superstar guest Neil Wechsler to guide us through his favourite section of the book, along with passionate opinions on Hollywood hypocrisy, problematic shortcuts, and how the unique structure of the Wake is not a joke, nor a gimmick, but in fact proof that the human race is not entirely doomed. Joyce gives us an ending that's worth the wait, and feels well earned, as the pain of the cycle ends in a note of hope. We may have finished with the Wake, but we have a feeling it's not quite finished with us yet.This week's readers: Neil Wechsler, Toby Malone, TJ YoungProgress: 628 pages complete, 0 pages to go; 100% read.Contextual NotesJames Joyce Collection at the University at Buffalo: https://library.buffalo.edu/jamesjoyce/The Wake at the UB collection: https://library.buffalo.edu/jamesjoyce/catalog/vi-finnegans-wake/A proposed JJ museum through the Buffalo collection: https://library.buffalo.edu/jamesjoyce/pdf/james-joyce-museum.pdf Joyce-again's wake: An analysis of Finnegans wake, Bernard Benstock: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/331509.Joyce_again_s_wake A Reader's Guide to Finnegans Wake, William York Tindall: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59480.A_Reader_s_Guide_to_Finnegans_Wake Jeffrey Jarome Cohen: Monster Culture: Seven Theses: https://ptfaculty.gordonstate.edu/rscoggins/Cohen,%20Monster%20Culture%20(Seven%20Theses),%203-20.pdf Sorry Finn https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/en/persons/finn-fordham Benstock, Bernard. Joyce Again’s Wake. https://www.loc.gov/item/65023908/Neil Wechsler’s website: https://wechslerprojects.com/Neil on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wechslerprojects/Our favourite play, Grenadine: https://www.amazon.ca/Grenadine-Neil-Wechsler/dp/0300149921Neil on New Play Exchange: https://newplayexchange.org/users/37010/neil-wechslerFor early drops, community and show notes, join us at our free Patreon, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/wakepod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or check out our Linktree, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/wake.pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We welcome comments from everyone: even, nay, especially, the dreaded purists. Come and "um actually" us!