Has anyone here ever read Finnegan's Wake??

Question

What did you think of it?? Did you really understand it??

Answer 1

James Joyce is a pretty intense and complicated author to understand....but if you remember these three things about him then you'll probably get by:

1) He loves himself. Many of his characters are manifestations of himself....they don't fit in with their society, they want to be someone else, they're on a quest for "themself".

2) The story is in the rhetoric. If you analyze the way he writes, such as his use of dialogue and how he makes the language he writes in cohesive with the plot it is sometimes easier to pick up on his intentions or what is really going on.

3) He wished he was a Brit. James Joyce is considered one of the most influential and important Irish authors in the contemporary period however, deep down, he wanted to be British rather than Irish. Hidden in his characters and writing you can sense a bit of resentment towards the Irish culture and a yearning to belong to the British.

Well...I hope this helps you out a bit. Finnegan's Wake is Joyce's most popular novel and you're sure to find alot of literary criticism on it if you check out the library =)