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
