I am taking a five-minute break from my preparation for the GRE literature test.
In order to do well on this evil exam, I have had to supplement my strengths--Elizabethan literature, Restoration comedy, 18th century satire, the first and second generation Romantics, early Victorians, early American poetry and fiction--by studying up on my weakness (a.k.a. everything else, but namely Middle English literature, modern and post-modern novels, all plays written after 1777, the pre-Raphaelites, and anything American after the turn of the last century). It has thus far been an exciting ride. I have rediscovered--and thoroughly enjoyed--A.E. Housman; I have been reminded why I dislike Woolf, Joyce, Faulkner, and Byron.
Having judiciously decided to use this time for a tirade against the inscrutable James Joyce (who puns in multiple languages), I think it best to begin with an anecdote relayed to me by my Princeton Review book for the GRE Literature test:
James Joyce demanded that his readers be erudite--and persistent. Of his notoriously dense Finnegans Wake, he is reported to have said, "Well, that should keep the critics busy for the next three hundred years." The text, whose purpose is to recount human history, is laced with everything from puns on Aleutian vocabulary to references to the author's life. At one point, due to his failing sight, Joyce tried dictating to Samuel Beckett. In the middle of the passage, a knock came on the door, which Joyce heard but Beckett did not. Joyce's "come in" was sedulously noted by Beckett. When this came to Joyce's attention, he was initially disturbed, but after a moment's pause, and presumably with a look of glee, said, "Let it stand."
I am not fond of Joyce. While reading through "The Dead" (of Dubliners), I noted that Joyce refuses to use quotation marks...maybe he inspired e.e. cummings. Instead of quotation marks, he has dashes thrown wildly about. I saw all these dashes and yelled, "WHO DOES JAMES JOYCE THINK HE IS? Emily Dickinson?!?"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
how'd the exam go?
The exam went well. Some of the questions were ridiculously easy, like a passage that had the word "Quiqueg", and asked (among other things) for me to identify the author.
Some parts were unfortunately difficult, and I did run out of time. I had to skip over not a few questions, but I think I did better than last time.
queequeg?
Post a Comment