A route through “Finnegans Wake”

I will begin with following the Knowles route and will see how far it will get me:

1. I.5 Mamafesta (pp. 104 – 125) or [pp. 83 – 99]
2. I.6 Riddles (pp. 126 – 168)
3. I.7 Shem the Penman (pp. 169 – 195)

I will publish the route as I proceed. Citing first the original page numbers and between [ ] the corresponding pages in the 2012 Penguin edition.

The first six pages (a few observations)

• Finnegan is placed upon a bier by his wife.
• Finnegan works in construction and his death has something to do with a wall.
• Reading aloud helps to comprehend the meaning of the words better than reading in silence.
• This is not going to be easy.

I asked around for help among my friends who came up with the following information:

Finnegans Wake is a description of the river Liffey flowing through Dublin.

It gave me a clue to the first scentence:

riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.

"Eve and Adam's" thus could be a reference to the Church of the Immaculate Conception also known as Adam and Eve's. This church is located on Merchants Quay in Dublin. 
The Dublin quays are two roadways and quays that run along the north and south banks of the River Liffey in Dublin. One of the name designations of the south roadway is the Merchant's Quay.

An attempt to read "The Wake"

I am not a student of the English language and I do not study literature.

I do enjoy reading and in high school I have been deeply touched by ‘Ulysses’.

At last I have decided to read ‘Finnegans Wake’. After reading the first 6 pages I decided to stop reading and find a way to make the text more accessible for a non native English speaker. This blog will primarily collect all the information I find to help me read ‘Finnegans Wake’ by James Joyce. Other Joyce related information will also be collected, especially ‘Ulysses’ as I will be re-reading it together with my best friend.

The edition I have decided to use for ‘Finnegans Wake’ will be:

• Joyce, James (2012). Rose, Danis & O'Hanlon, John. eds. ‘The Restored Finnegans Wake’. Penguin Classics (London). ISBN 978-0-14-119229-1.
• Glosses of Finnegans Wake

Article(s) to help me as a guide:

• Knowles, S.D.G. (2009). ‘Finnegans Wake for Dummies’. James Joyce Quarterly 46(1), pp. 97–111. doi:10.1353/jjq.0.0117.