Finnegans Wake (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Joyce, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199695156 ISBN 13: 9780199695157

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2012

Synopsis

'And low, stole o'er the stillness the heartbeats of sleep'

In Chapelizod, a suburb of Dublin, an innkeeper and his family are sleeping. Around them and their dreams there swirls a vortex of world history, of ambition and failure, desire and transgression, pride and shame, rivalry and conflict, gossip and mystery. This is a book that reinvents the novel and plays fantastic games with the language to tell the story of one man's fall and resurrection; in the intimate drama of Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker and his wife Anna Livia, the character of Ireland itself takes form. Joyce called time and the river and the mountains the real heroes of his book, and its organic structure and extraordinary musicality embody his vision. It is both an outrageous epic and a wildly inventive comedy that rewards its readers with never-ending layers of meaning.

In the introduction to this newly set edition, which faithfully maintains the original page layout, Finn Fordham guides the reader through the novel's complexity, and suggests a range of ways into the book.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

About this title

Review:

enhances the reader's textual awareness...The captivating, accessible and rich introduction by Finn Fordham enthuses first-time readers (James Joyce Broadsheet, Dirk Van Hulle)

The editors have provided a lucid introduction and a chapter-by-chapter outline which gives one at last a vague hold on what's going on, but it's not overburdened with notes, which frees one to stop worrying and just enjoy the surrealism and exuberance of Joyce's language. (Independent on Sunday)

Book Description:

Finnegans Wake, by James Joyce, is one of the central texts of twentieth-century literature, now in an edition incorporating Joyce's own alterations and corrections to the first printing in 1939.

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0199695156
• ISBN 13: 9780199695157
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 720
• Editor: Henkes Robbert-Jan, Bindervoet Erik, Fordham Finn