From the Finnegans Wake · Book 1 thread on Swerve of Shore, by Brandon Nicklaus.
We are using the 1999 Penguin Classics edition of Finnegans Wake, with an introduction by John Bishop.
We’ll be starting on page 3, from ‘What clashes here’ -> ‘setdown secular phoenish’
When we leap into page 4, it feels as if all chaos has broken loose. Joyce plunges us into destruction—the Fall, not just of an individual, but of everything. This is the fall of history, of civilizations, of structures both literal and symbolic. Yet, in true Joycean fashion, falling and destruction do not signify an end, but rather a necessary precursor to renewal. A collapse demands rebuilding. Joyce sweeps us through a cyclonic vision of history, where chaos is not linear but cyclical, spiraling endlessly in a whirlwind of destruction and rebirth.
Read the full piece at Swerve of Shore
Opening paragraphs quoted from swerveofshore.com and reproduced with the author's permission. This site is a layout rebuild on the zer0-mistakes theme — the full essay lives on the original.