So the big underlying question here with an established text released in serialized form is, "where to start?"There are really huge debates to be had here in regard to the definitive text but, according to my assessment it's the 1922 edition of Joyce's work that is most clearly now a part f the public domain and so that was the place to go for my sources.
I'm treading lightly on subjects like this, for obvious reasons, but it seems clear to me that one of the points of current public domain and fair usage laws has something to do with allowing artists to respond to earlier works of art that have, through history and reader involvement, wormed their way into the public consciousness. Joyce's work is iconic. Hans Gabler's is wonderfully, richly-researched and academically exhaustive, a great boon to the readers wishing to understand a text that has had many disturbing permutations, some of them cased by the author himself. But Gabler did not reinvent the novel and it has lived as an iconic piece of fiction for many, many decades before he took up the task of "correcting" it. I'm happy for the things his research has taught me about the novel, but, looking at his contribution as a uniquely new work of art, and therefore re-packaging the existing public domain laws so that the copyright starts over again in 1984 with this "corrected" text completely ignores the life this book has already enjoyed as an individual artistic statement.
There are numerous problems with the 1922 text. That's clear. But this is how the work came into the world, "warts and all," and this seems the best text to represent it's effects on us all as readers.
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I just read the first installment over at Amalgamated. Right off the bat, I have to say you get the prize for most ambitious webcomic ever. Artwise, I think it is of course great. The painted watercolors give it a sense of history and flavor, while the clean computer effects help make it stand out from that lower bin in the comic book store. You know that place? Where they put all of the Moebius graphic novels, and foreign painted tomes that go way over all the kids' heads. Well, that's where I bought most of my comics anyways. This is looking great. And the two sensibilities merge quite nicely. Not distracting or photoshopy choppy.
Now the text. I tried reading PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST... twice. I ended up feeling thick, and chucked it against the wall. Both times. ULYSSES always scared me. One of those books in the classics section that must be read. But scary. MOBY DICK scary. Although I finally read that and love it. I've never even touched ULYSSES. Reading it this way. In a SEEN way. Well, all I can say is: You're making the fear disappear. And from what I understand that's your whole goal for making this. Accessibility to the masses. And I want to read more. When's the next update??
Updates will be about 15 to 20 pages delivered monthly, Gabe. It's a difficult trick trying to decide where to divide the novel's episodes, but it's too dense and the retention rate for most web-based media seems to settle right into about twenty "screen-clicks."
The goal here is to fit it to a reasonable production rate as well, and twenty pages a month is about all Josh and I can handle at this time. We're also building a messaging system and mailing list for the updates that I'll discuss more in the next week or so.
-Rob
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