Ben Leubner Day 1

To begin with, it amazes me just how knowledgeable Ben Leubner is, especially with respect to such a difficult novel. Anybody that is dedicated enough to spend so much time trying to decode such a ridiculous jumble has my respect. I found his lecture both very interesting and informative.


One thing that I learned, that I absolutely did not know and probably would not have figured out had he not told us, is that Finnegans Wake is essentially in its most basic form a letter. I thought the notion about the book mirroring the path of the sun was interesting as well. It is obvious that it is meant to be follow a circular path rather than linear due to the fact that the last word and the first word of the novel go together. However, the way he explained it was very interesting and different. It is as if the novel that we read is what occurs from sunrise to sunset, and perhaps the darkness is filled with our thoughts and questions.

I was particularly struck by something that he said, although I am not really sure what or how to think about it. Leubner said, "We impose on language cumbersome things, such as making sense." It seems funny because why would one have words if not to make sense? But at the same time, I think that finding in exact truth is something embedded in human nature. One is never satisfied with questioning something, one needs to formulate an answer. I think this is one thing that is so problematic for people when reading Finnegans Wake because there really is no one answer. Every word is so ambiguous, and although one may be able to find some meaning, I think it is more often than not unsatisfactory. There is not finding the actual meaning in Joyce's novel, because there is just too much to be found. I think sometimes one must be happy with having new questions brought to mind, and pondering them, but not needing to find the absolute answer. Words must not always make sense, and sometimes if they do one moment they may not another moment. Like Dr. Leubner said, it is meant to be read collectively...not word by word, at least not for general readers. It is what we learn about ourselves that really matters. Or at least that is what I believe. I also thought it was funny that Joyce said it should take a person as long to read a book as it took for the author to write it. Which would imply that one should take seven years to read Finnegans Wake. If I had the patience and time to read one novel for that ungodly amount of time perhaps I would, but I most definitely don't...so I will stick with taking what I can out of it for now.