…Except, it isn’t unlistenable at all. Quite the opposite, actually. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s verging on genius.
Regular readers will know that I’ve got rather a soft spot for James Joyce and several years ago I picked up his most contentious novel ‘for a bit of a laugh’, just to see if I could read it. What I found was something far beyond a simple work of literature – it is something beyond description, almost – and it quickly became something of an obsession. I documented my progress in what was my blog and eventually compiled my findings into a book which became moderately popular and introduced me to lots of people who also liked reading things that make your eyes melt and cause actual physical pain, at times.
Just recently, I have met two such gentlemen who are in the midst of a similar such bonkers endeavour, only in podcast form – and they invited me along to join them! James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake is arguably the most famous book that very few people have read. With its hundreds of languages, portmanteaus, invented words, and a circuitous plot that replicates a dream state, the Wake both chronicles the petty lives of a Dublin family while simultaneously telling the story of humanity as a whole. Having read the rest of Joyce’s canon, Australian-Canadian academic/playwright/dramaturg/librarian Toby Malone decided that the only way he was going to read the Wake was to be made accountable to it, so recruited his writing partner, award-winning playwright TJ Young, to start a podcast. The result is WAKE, a cold reading of Finnegans Wake, where each week Toby, TJ, and often some special guests read a portion of Finnegans Wake, without editing or preparation, and discuss what they’ve found. WAKE can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and listeners can interact with WAKE on Instagram and on a free Patreon that features show notes and early releases.
My appearance is in episode 2.1 but I recommend starting at the beginning and sharing Toby & TJ’s precipitous progress as they get to grips with the complex, hilarious, filthy, bizarre madness that is Finnegans Wake. It is an utterly charming way to pass the time.
Lucy Brazier 