1. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    Has anyone read Finnegan's Wake?

    Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by peachalulu, Oct 12, 2012.

    Picked up Finnegan's Wake the other day. I like surreal... but this is ridiculous. I feel like it's written by
    aliens. Just want to know if anyone has ever gotten through it or given up?
     
  2. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    I tried reading it but gave up after the first page. Honestly, I don't think anyone can read this book without a guide of some sort.
     
  3. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I'm probably a heretic for saying so (and worse yet, a bad Irishman), but I have always found James Joyce tedious. I never forced myself to take on Finnegan's Wake, even assuming that doing so would be good medicine.
     
  4. jg22

    jg22 Member

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    I'm reading it, albeit very slowly, and with a guide. It's an amusing trifle so far. The puns and portmanteaus can be laugh out loud funny if you read the text aloud, and the surreal, multiple interpretations of each and every sentence can create some very lovely imagery in one's mind. It's certainly the strangest (and perhaps the most complex) piece of fiction I've read, but it's also very charming- it has an odd soul to it. Not one to be read in any short period of time, though.
     
  5. MackTheFinger

    MackTheFinger New Member

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    Have read 'Ulysses' over a 6 month period - with a guide. Also retraced Blooms steps
    and read parts of the book out loud (though not at the same time). Adored it -very funny, and made me fall in love
    with language again. 'Dubliners' also contains perfect short stories.

    Have 'Finnegans wake' on the list to be read. Must get a guide, take my time and give it a go.
     
  6. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    I gave The Wake my best shot and I just couldn't do it. I love James Joyce personally, but that is the one thing of his I have not read, simply because I cannot read it.
     
  7. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    Same here. I've read a lot about the background of the book and what Joyce tried to accomplish (or did he succeed?). My opinion about this book changes quite frequently. On the one hand, I appreciate the experimentation, but on the other hand, the book is not accessible at all. I wonder how many critics and reviewers have actually finished the whole thing.

    One of my professors said that the most interesting conversations he had had about Finnegan's Wake were with people who had never read the book.
     

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