>>>>It's more than a 'dialect'. It represents a complete devolution in language to parallel the devolution in society. Once you get 20 or so pages into it, it does become easier. By the time you're halfway through it, it almost becomes second nature.
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>>>If it's remotely like Finnegans Wake, then it will quickly be on my DNR list.
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>>I'll say. I tried it once and didn't get very far. "Ulysses" has the reputation of being a difficult novel but it's a walk in the park compared to "Finnegan's Wake" and its invented language.
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>How do they compare with Burgess's "Soft Machine" (loada crap) for comprehension, and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"?

James Joyce was a brillant idiot. He made up the language for the Finnegans Wake based on a variety of other languages and a lot of his own creation. If I recall, there was bits of Irish and Latin. At least there were a few similar sounding words that seemed to be based on Irish and Latin. I got through about 50 pages and that was enough for me. Somoene said that you could begin to comprehend it if you read enough, but I don't have that much patience.