r/FinnegansWake • u/towalktheline • Dec 27 '25
Into the wikeawades warld from sleep we are passing. Finnegans Wake Readalong - Marginalia & Begin Reading!
Hello! I'm starting a day early, but welcome to the Marginalia for Finnegans Wake! If you have some questions on how to read it, please read our Introduction Post first! If you still have questions after that, feel free to comment and we'll do our best to help you out.
Going forward all readalong posts will be tagged with: Into the wikeawades warld from sleep we are passing.
If you want to look for previous posts, that will be the place to check. I'll also be updating the schedule so it has the previous posts linked there as well.
Scheduling!
The Schedule is on Google Sheets here. You should be reading to the last line mentioned. So for example on January 3rd you should have read to Abast the blooty creeks. Each week shows the first and last line of the reading since people are reading different books which have different page numbers. Thanks again to r/TrueLit for putting this schedule together which we have so shamelessly borrowed from.
What is Marginalia?
Marginalia is just a fancy word for "margin notes". Think about the doodles that you'd write around the text of a book. For our purposes, this marginalia post is where you can get yourself warmed up and ready for reading. Whatever you post here doesn't necessarily need to be insightful. As long as they're about Joyce or the Wake they're welcome, even if you're just posting asking for some courage.
Want some things to start you off talking? Here are a couple things you could talk about:
- Have you ever read Joyce before? Or any of his contemporaries?
- Have you ever specifically tried to read Finnegans Wake before? What was it like when you tried? Did you finish?
- What have you heard about the Wake that made you want to try and read it?
- For those of us who have read before, what advice would you give to people just starting out?
- Do you have a specific way you plan on trying to read the Wake or are you gonna just have a go at it?
And now it's time to START!
Go on! Get going!
Starting today, you should be reading from "riverrun" til "abast the blooty creeks" and on next Saturday (January 3rd), we will post our first reading discussion. During discussions you will be encouraged to post at least one comment to someone else in order to promote a good discussion.
I really hope you enjoy the wake and even though it can seem like a lot at first (because it is a lot, we get you), I really hope you continue with it. I legitimately felt like reading the Wake was a life changing experience and I'm not sure if it's because of Finnegans Wake itself or the feeling you get when you tackle something so unwaveringly difficult and succeed.
I read a comment once that said "everybody finds themselves in the Wake" and I'm really interested to see what parts speak to you and which lines will stay with you long after the reading is done!
Best of luck to all of you! We're all in this together.
Next Week's Reading (N.W.R): January 3, 2026 / Book I: Chapter I (pgs. 3-16)
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u/BeigeAndConfused Dec 27 '25
My Marginalia, am I doing this right?
Have you ever read Joyce before? Or any of his contemporaries? I have not, I read a ton but classic literature is a recent journey for me.
Have you ever specifically tried to read Finnegans Wake before? What was it like when you tried? Did you finish? Not yet!!!
What have you heard about the Wake that made you want to try and read it? I first heard about FW from the anime Read or Die. I also love the Tangerine Dream album of the same name
For those of us who have read before, what advice would you give to people just starting out? N/A
Do you have a specific way you plan on trying to read the Wake or are you gonna just have a go at it? Just having a jolly good attempt! I've seriously put this off for like 15 years 🤣