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    Finnegans Wake
    Finnegans Wake
    Finnegans Wake
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Finnegans Wake

    Written by James Joyce

    Narrated by Jim Norton and Marcella Riordan

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Finnegans Wake, the greatest avant-garde novel of all time, was first published seventy years ago – and people are still trying to work out what it is about. There is Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker – aka HCE (Here Comes Everyone) – and Anna Livia Plurabelle, but also Finnegan the hod carrier (or was he a giant?), whose wake is the subject of the book. This masterly reading of the abridged version, with copious notes aiding comprehension, is republished with a new cover.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateMay 9, 2013
    ISBN9789629548513
    Author

    James Joyce

    James Joyce (1882–1941) was an Irish poet, novelist, and short story writer, considered to be one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. His most famous works include Dubliners (1914), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), Ulysses (1922), and Finnegans Wake (1939).

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    Reviews for Finnegans Wake

    4/5

    554 ratings27 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Regarded as the most difficult book in English language to read and understand. At least I can say I have done it. Very complex to follow. A lot of made up words build on irishisms and puns etc funny in parts when you can work out what it is saying. Very difficult to follow the storyline
    • 2/5
      Reads like a random selection of NSA transcripts of an over-caffeinated morning commuter's mindless traffic jam mutterings. Joyce really should have gotten his radio fixed.

      Nice audio to sleep to, though. Can't overemphasize my respect for the reader. Well acted, sir.
    • 1/5
      If I could give it less than 1 star I would. I honestly believe that all these people who rave and give it 5 stars are just afraid that they will look less than intelligent if they acknowledge it for the pile of shyte that it is. Well, I'm secure enough in my intelligence to say that it is total crap. Joyce was a drunk and a terrible writer. There! I said it! Life is too short to waste on his literary diarrhea.
    • 5/5
      It took Joyce [+ an army of helpers] 17 years to write it - and 17 years it took me to read it. The cover fell off years ago and the margins are thick with my scribbledehobble. The book's dusk lead to darkness and to drink, and to lectures and conferences all over Europe in search of some enlightenment to its codes and ciphers. The secret lies on page 308, all you have to do is tilt the book on its side to reveal the hidden image of Biddy the Hen, or any erstwhile scholar, searching in the dump for the letter - whilst at the same time the great artificer is thumbing his nose at you!For two years I wallowed on this one page alone, hunting back through Jim's notebooks, drafts, revisions [his general leavings] aided by copious quantities of Powers whisky. My kids ignored, my wife threatened to leave, then 'the old cheb went futt' and I just stopped - I sold my entire 800 odd collection of books, and guides, and sources to the Japanese. Now my madness rests, but my dump may still be plundered by the abcedminded on the other side of the world ['This way the museyroom. Mind your boots goan out.']. But I've kept my copy with its scribbledehobble, and often I peek into the most interesting and original book ever written and think what might have been - Jim you are a devil - you almost had my soul - but not quite!
    • 5/5
      My first experience with FW was in undergraduate school, when as a pretentious putz I used to carry it around so I would look impressive. It didn't work. :^)It's now my favorite book (well, of "fiction" anyway) evar. My plan is to have this be the last book I own on my "deathbed": I will sink towards oblivion as I hand it over to whatever vulture is sitting there.Like many others here, I went through an "oh, you need to read it aloud!" epiphany with this book: in my case, I handed the book to my mother, who proceeded to read from it and to my astonishment render it with stunning clarity (can't remember what passage it might have been).I can't say enough things about this wonderful wonderful creation. So I won't start.
    • 5/5
      Surprises and laughs on every page. What's not to like?
    • 5/5
      The hearse awheeze but the chap is swilling.
    • 5/5
      A book to swim in and to read aloud in the bath. There are some good jokes; a fair bit of bawdy. It comes out of the mud of sleep. If you read it in the hope of setting down the meaning of it in a box in your skull you may as well not begin.
    • 1/5
      This should really be in my Abandoned collection. It's the only book in the Modern Library 100 Best list I didn't finish. No book should need a roadmap to read. I can understand having to research parts of a book (e.g. Dom Casmurro, where I wasn't familiar with the culture and consequently missed a lot on my first reading). But this book is unintelligible.
    • 5/5
      It really, really helps if you can read bits of this aloud, and if you don't fuss too much about understanding everything absolutely. If you can find a recording of Joyce reading...it helps even more. This is a book to submerge yourself within. Don't fret about it the first time through.
    • 3/5
      Brilliant wordplay, irony, satire, alliteration, rhyme, assonance, consonance, nonce, spoonerisms, and so on…but I have absolutely no idea what it was about.
    • 5/5
      robert anton wilson has much to say about FW. his COINCIDAnce has some fine sections on joyce's nite-mare book. the going gets a little thick, but if you haven't the patience, neither author is for you.
    • 5/5
      Considered unreadable by many, Finnegans Wake takes us on a journey through a dreamland along a stream of consciousness. With such diverse characters who are at times unique, but at other times, the same person, Joyce gives the reader a challenge, what with most phrases having a double (and sometimes triple) meaning. You'd have a read it a few times before even being able to pick up on some of the gems hidden in this prose.This book is not recommended for the casual reader, and even more lightweight avid readers may want to bring a map along for the ride (there are many critical/guide books on FW, find the one that works the best for you). Nevertheless, it's a challenging yet fulfilling read for anyone who wants to read one of the most difficult books in the English language.
    • 4/5
      Have managed to read it once, understood parts of it but more importantly have realised how hopelessly unqualified I am to even pass a proper comment. Some day.
    • 4/5
      "Which that that rang ripprippripplying. -- Bulbul, bulbulone!I will shally. Thou shalt willy. You wouldnt should as youd remesmer. I hypnot. 'Tis golder sickle's hour. Holy moon priestess, we'd love our grappes of mistellose! Moths the matter? Tabarins comes. To fell our fairest. . . . . " p. 360
    • 5/5
      Some aspects of Finnegans Wake must be said: It is irrelevant if it is prententious. Of course it is, no one takes as much time as Joyce did if he didn't believed to be working in something special. That does not change the quality of the book - Paradise Lost or The Divine Comedy are also pretentious. Joyce didn't write a book that was to be read in the usual sense, he was writing a bible, so those who never finished the book, have done almost what Joyce wanted. Understanding? Understanding the meaning of the text or even of the words is irrelevant. Enjoying it is what matter. There will be alway something left to be discovered, this is a masterwork because of that.There is no story? Literature is not about the plot, no matter what the industry of best-sellers try to impose. Some unfinished stories are among the greatest momments of literature and poetry (this book is a non petit prose poem) is not about meanings, but language. And Joyce mastered it in Finnegans Wake.
    • 5/5
      Frustratingly favorite
    • 5/5
      A sort of triumph, a sort of failure.It's impossible to rate, really, but it's not remotely like anything else in English literature so in that way it's certainly impressive.On one hand it's outrageously pretentious. But even if you want to hate it, there's no denying you can get enormous enjoyment from going through some of the passages here. A sentence can be read in as much detail as some entire books. You can reread the whole thing and it'll be completely different. Some bits are very funny, some are very sexy, many parts are jaw-droppingly beautiful, all of it is completely insane.It drives me crazy. I think I love it.
    • 2/5
      This is a book that dummies bring on the bus and pretend to read so other people will think their smart. No one's ever read it cover to cover, yet people will say they have because there's no way to prove them wrong. There's no plot and most of the words are hybrids. Someone who's read the back cover or read a review on Amazon can tell you just as much about this as anyone who's ever tried to read it though. Life's too short to waste your time on books like this.
    • 5/5
      A work of mad genius. Who am I to criticize? It took Joyce 17 years to write it and it contains the history of the world. It seemed to take me as long to read it and I comprehended only a few atoms of Joyce's world.It is a book like no other. In Joyce’s own words, “Suck it yourself – Sugarstick!”
    • 5/5
      Mind-bending literature, this book is not the easy read that Ulysses is. Rather is needs to be read aloud, rolled on the tongue, and savored, like a fine whiskey. Then studied assiduously, phrase by phrase for the multi-layers of meaning, since it packs in life experiences of the author, Irish popular culture of the turn of the 20th century, Catholicism Irish mythology, Irish paganism, and Irish history, plus an extraordinary love and knowledge of languages - English, Irish Gaelic, Latin, and more
    • 3/5
      This book is almost impossible to rate by one standard, one "metric" as they like to say in business, these days. Why? Because it is an utter failure as a novel, but a complete success as the world's longest nonsense prose poem.Yes, it is quite funny. In places. The sense behind the apparent nonsense is for scholars, mostly. I've no interest in deciphering a novel, and so I regard it as a failure. But there are passage of amazing hilarity. And the whole effect, if read in one long sitting, is akin to taking drugs. In fact, who needs hallucinogenics as long as there's a copy of this book around?One of my stranger endeavors was to hold a weekly reading of this book. Between a half dozen and a dozen of my friends sat around in a circle in my living room, and would read aloud. Pass the wine, pass the chips. Jesse Walker read one section in the voice of W.C. Fields. So, take my advice: Whenever the party gets dull, pass out "Finnegans Wake."
    • 5/5
      James Joyce was a prophet of hypertext. once you understand that he was writing hypertext, then his work is not so, well, WEIRD. he did this before there was HTML. it is real hypertext. you have to follow the links to understand the book.
    • 4/5
      Like staring at a Chuck Close painting hanging in a room only two feet in depth.
    • 5/5
      My first experience with FW was in undergraduate school, when as a pretentious putz I used to carry it around so I would look impressive. It didn't work. :^)It's now my favorite book (well, of "fiction" anyway) evar. My plan is to have this be the last book I own on my "deathbed": I will sink towards oblivion as I hand it over to whatever vulture is sitting there.Like many others here, I went through an "oh, you need to read it aloud!" epiphany with this book: in my case, I handed the book to my mother, who proceeded to read from it and to my astonishment render it with stunning clarity (can't remember what passage it might have been).I can't say enough things about this wonderful wonderful creation. So I won't start.
    • 4/5
      The best way to read this otherwise too-scary-by-reputation book is to let your eye rove over the page, murmuring or declaring out loud as you are moved. I recommend reading it just before bed, and until you fall asleep. Not only is it helpful for this, but unless my own experience is aberrant you will find yourself dreaming in stereophonic etymology.
    • 3/5
      Difficult to read, as are other Joyce works, between the stream of consciousness word associations and the irish dialect and slang. But if you go with the flow and persevere, it's a poetical delight, a unique way of looking at people and at the Irish poor in the early 20th century.