"A whole is that which has a beginning, a middle, and a conclusion" Aristotle wrote in his work Poetics. Does this mean that Finnegans Wake is not a whole? Or does it make the story the ultimate whole to all other stories written? How can a complete book begin in the middle of a sentence and end the same way? I get that it's a complete continuous circle but it is still confusing! Why Joyce. WHY? If Aristotle is right in saying that every whole has a beginning, middle, and end, then this book seems to not be a whole. Perhaps in the next 15 weeks I will discover the whole in which the wake of Finnegan is, and will then have my eyes opened to a structured chaotic world that James Joyce has so kindly put together for us and our reading pleasures.
I had a feeling that before my college career ended I would have to read this chunk of literature for a class, how exciting.
~L.
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