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/lit/ - Literature

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22852947 No.22852947 [Reply] [Original]

What books do I need to read and prerequisite knowledge do I need to possess to understand this? Lmao

>> No.22852958

>>22852947
none. you can just read it. it's a book. he wrote it to be read. the only prerequisite is the prerequisite of not being a retard.

>> No.22852963

>>22852947
The New Science

>> No.22853040

>>22852947
"The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

>> No.22853084

>>22852947
I'm 120 pages in, myself. A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake holds your hand very helpfully through the book and provides many paraphrased passages that disentangle the lucid text from the punnery. The non-joking anons are sort of right, in that Vico's New Science provides a scaffold for the text, and also you don't need to read prereqs for it. Get a feel for the aurality of the text, reading aloud or subvocalizing helps. Rereading passages can aid in comprehension. John Bishop(?)'s introduction to the Penguin Modern Classics edition walks you through a summary of the book's chapter structure. Anthony Burgess has a video on YouTube called Lots of Fun at Finnegans Wake that you may find helpful.

Having a slight grasp of French has helped me a couple of times, and as Bishop explains, it is likely that if you have an area of expertise that area may well crop up somewhere in the Wake, or something like that. You get out of the book what you bring to it. Generally, appreciating the texture and humor of the text is probably more important than most small and easily learnable subject areas you could pick up. Remember that the majority of the book is a dream, and don't stress about getting everything. Enjoy the read, and God bless.

>> No.22853804

>>22852947
The only prerequisite knowledge you need for this is to know how to read out loud. If you’re subvocalising or staying silent while reading it, you’re missing the point.

>> No.22853857
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22853857

>>22852947
Vico, The New Science. It's a literary interpretation of Vico's theory, which is much more straight forward.