Finnegans Wake

[UndertheOcean]

So let us START :

"riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend
of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to
Howth Castle and Environs."



What do you suppose that means ?

"riverrun" : Is not in the dictionary, but might indicate the path of a river.

"past Eve and Adam's" ??? An allusion to the Garden of Eden ? The river is passing an area with lush green vegetation ?

"commodius vicus of recirculation " Latin ? convenient viscosity of the water , allows the flow to loop back towards a place called "Howth" castle . "evirons" is a surrounding area or district .

Ok cool .

Now Sentence number 2 :

" Sir Tristram, violer d'amores, fr'over the short sea, had passen-
core rearrived from North Armorica on this side the scraggy
isthmus of Europe Minor to wielderfight his penisolate war:"


OH BOY ,, anyone want to take a bite ?

[Dr Morbius]

1. I couldn't make it past Ulysses.

I figure Sir Tristram (violer d'amores = ladykiller; passencore = pass encore = recently) there was trying to get laid (penisolate war) over on the Continent someplace. Beyond that, I can't help much. Joyce is just so disconnected.

[tigereye]

2. there must be an annotated version out there somewhere...

some things you have to read for the sound and the flow first (like old poetry and stories) and then look into the meaning. I tend to think of Joyce as a bawdy, imagistic, drunken story teller. JMO

[Ikonoklast]

3. I always thought Eve and Adam's was a pub.

With the vast intake of distilled spirits by the author, I just made an assumption.

[gmoney]

4. Translation: There's a winding river that leads to Howth Castle.

Just fucking SAY IT, James...

There is "A Shorter Finnegan's Wake" edited by Anthony Burgess... might be more comprehensible.
http://www.amazon.com/Shorter-Finnegans-Wake-James-Joyce/dp/0670002240/

Or there's Joseph Campbell's dissection of it:
http://www.amazon.com/Skeleton-Key-Finnegans-Wake-Masterwork/dp/1577314050/