Finnegans Wake
Jun 2015 · Penguin UK
5.0star
6 reviewsreport
Ebook
688
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
A daring work of experimental, Modernist genius, James Joyce's Finnegans Wake is one of the greatest literary achievements of the twentieth century, and the crowning glory of Joyce's life. The Penguin Modern Classics edition of includes an introduction by Seamus Deane
'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'
Joyce's final work, Finnegan's Wake is his masterpiece of the night as Ulysses is of the day. Supreme linguistic virtuosity conjures up the dark underground worlds of sexuality and dream. Joyce undermines traditional storytelling and all official forms of English and confronts the different kinds of betrayal - cultural, political and sexual - that he saw at the heart of Irish history. Dazzlingly inventive, with passages of great lyrical beauty and humour, Finnegans Wake remains one of the most remarkable works of the twentieth century.
James Joyce (1882-1941), the eldest of ten children, was born in Dublin, but exiled himself to Paris at twenty as a rebellion against his upbringing. He only returned to Ireland briefly from the continent but Dublin was at heart of his greatest works, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. He lived in poverty until the last ten years of his life and was plagued by near blindness and the grief of his daughter's mental illness.
If you enjoyed Finnegans Wake, you might like Virginia Woolf's The Waves, also available in Penguin Classics.
'An extraordinary performance, a transcription into a miniaturized form of the whole western literary tradition'
Seamus Deane
'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'
Joyce's final work, Finnegan's Wake is his masterpiece of the night as Ulysses is of the day. Supreme linguistic virtuosity conjures up the dark underground worlds of sexuality and dream. Joyce undermines traditional storytelling and all official forms of English and confronts the different kinds of betrayal - cultural, political and sexual - that he saw at the heart of Irish history. Dazzlingly inventive, with passages of great lyrical beauty and humour, Finnegans Wake remains one of the most remarkable works of the twentieth century.
James Joyce (1882-1941), the eldest of ten children, was born in Dublin, but exiled himself to Paris at twenty as a rebellion against his upbringing. He only returned to Ireland briefly from the continent but Dublin was at heart of his greatest works, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. He lived in poverty until the last ten years of his life and was plagued by near blindness and the grief of his daughter's mental illness.
If you enjoyed Finnegans Wake, you might like Virginia Woolf's The Waves, also available in Penguin Classics.
'An extraordinary performance, a transcription into a miniaturized form of the whole western literary tradition'
Seamus Deane
Ratings and reviews
5.0
6 reviews
Nathaniel Kowalski
- Flag inappropriate
August 18, 2024
I own a physical copy of the novel, but you're here for the book. Unless you're a confident reader willing to reread paragraphs and possibly even the entire book, this isn't the book for you. If you're willing to spend a week or more reading a book that you'll just barely understand yet love at the same time, it's a great read. Do take notes, take a lot of them. This book was the most challenging literature I've ever read, coming from someone who'd easily read adult-level fantasy in middle school. I love this book, and if you're willing to dedicate yourself to wrapping your limited monkey brain around a book clearly meant for a higher life form than us humans, I think you would too. Sincerely, probably the geekiest person to ever finish reading the Wake
Timothy Lewis
- Flag inappropriate
February 10, 2023
Thank you for the Ulysses and to James Joyce Ithe Irish novelist memoir and gentleman like aesthetic.
stephen donato
- Flag inappropriate
March 17, 2021
I totally read the whole thing
About the author
James Joyce was born in Dublin on 2 February 1882, the eldest of ten children in a family which, after brief prosperity, collapsed into poverty. He was none the less educated at the best Jesuit schools and then at University College, Dublin, and displayed considerable academic and literary ability. Although he spent most of his adult life outside Ireland, Joyce's psychological and fictional universe is firmly rooted in his native Dublin, the city which provides the settings and much of the subject matter for all his fiction. He is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses (1922) and its controversial successor Finnegans Wake (1939), as well as the short story collection Dubliners (1914) and the semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). James Joyce died in Zürich, on 13 January 1941.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
