Joyce's Book of the Dark: Finnegans Wake (Revised): 1 (Mark H Ingraham Prize) - Softcover

Bishop, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0299108244 ISBN 13: 9780299108243

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997

Synopsis

"Finnegan's Wake" is perhaps the most difficult and wilfully obscure piece in all of modern literature, a book written in polyglottal puns that continues to baffle not only lay readers but, in large part, Joyceans as well. Here in 12 chapters, John Bishop aims to unravel Joyce's obscurities and aims to reveal the "Wake" more clearly than anyone has done before. The greatest obstacle to the comprehension of "Finnegan's Wake", says Bishop, is the failure to believe that Joyce really meant what he said when he spoke of the book as being a reconstruction of the nocturnal life. As a consequence, readers have scrutinized the text with an unyielding literalism bent on finding a kind of meaning in every way antithetical to the kind of meaning embodied in dreams. Had Joyce made the "Wake" less obscure, says Bishop, he would have annihilated everything about the book that is most essential, most engaging, funny, and most profound. In taking seriously Joyce's stated intention of writing a book about the night, Bishop shows how the determination to represent nocturnal experience accounts for the form, shape, direction, and language of "Finnegan's Wake". Although Bishop is not the first to appreciate the problems Joyce faced in his reconstruction of the night, no one has demonstrated more clearly and persuasively how Joyce's creative imagination solved those problems, nor made a more convincing case for the profound significance of Joyce's effort. Bishop relates the "Wake" to Freud, to Vico, and to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, shedding light throughout on such fundamental and complex subjects as dream theory and interpretation; thanatology; optics and phonetics; infancy, embryology, and gender; and sexuality and power.

About this title

Review

"Mr. Bishop has ventured on the process more boldly, more thoroughly, more imaginatively and more informedly than any of his predecessors. He makes the text comment on itself, as it was constructed to do; but, knowing the whole thing by heart (as I surmise), he is able to multiply a thousandfold the concords and discords of which a reader is aware, and to amplify them through an impressive array of theoretical circuitry."--Robert M. Adams, "New York Times Book Review "

"Though it is well known that Joyce claimed that his intention in Finnegans Wake was to 'reconstruct the nocturnal life, ' Bishop is the first scholar to see in this notion the key to Joyce's wildly obscure masterpiece. His reading of Finnegans Wake as a night-book produces a new sense of the book's form, shape, and structure. In his reading, Freud, Vico, and the Egyptian Book of the Dead take on new meaning, and his accounts of the geography and sexuality of the Wake are fascinating. Bishop brings a rare command of the text to his difficult enterprise, and the organization and prose are models of clarity. 'You is feeling like you was lost in the bush, boy?' Joyce's Book of the Dark will help all serious readers of the Wake get their bearings."--Keith Cushman, "Library Journal"

"Bishop shows a masterful command of the text and its nuances; but of even greater importance is his sense of the comic flair and wit that so distinguishes this 'funferall'; it is the mark of a true Joycean. Because of its freshness of approach and positive contribution, it belongs in all libraries housing even a preliminary Wake collection."--"Choic""e"

Mr. Bishop has ventured on the process more boldly, more thoroughly, more imaginatively and more informedly than any of his predecessors. He makes the text comment on itself, as it was constructed to do; but, knowing the whole thing by heart (as I surmise), he is able to multiply a thousandfold the concords and discords of which a reader is aware, and to amplify them through an impressive array of theoretical circuitry. Robert M. Adams, "New York Times Book Review ""

Bishop shows a masterful command of the text and its nuances; but of even greater importance is his sense of the comic flair and wit that so distinguishes this funferall; it is the mark of a true Joycean. Because of its freshness of approach and positive contribution, it belongs in all libraries housing even a preliminary Wake collection. "Choic""e""

Though it is well known that Joyce claimed that his intention in Finnegans Wake was to reconstruct the nocturnal life, Bishop is the first scholar to see in this notion the key to Joyce s wildly obscure masterpiece. His reading of Finnegans Wake as a night-book produces a new sense of the book s form, shape, and structure. In his reading, Freud, Vico, and the Egyptian Book of the Dead take on new meaning, and his accounts of the geography and sexuality of the Wake are fascinating. Bishop brings a rare command of the text to his difficult enterprise, and the organization and prose are models of clarity. You is feeling like you was lost in the bush, boy? Joyce s Book of the Dark will help all serious readers of the Wake get their bearings. Keith Cushman, "Library Journal""

Mr. Bishop has ventured on the process more boldly, more thoroughly, more imaginatively and more informedly than any of his predecessors. He makes the text comment on itself, as it was constructed to do; but, knowing the whole thing by heart (as I surmise), he is able to multiply a thousandfold the concords and discords of which a reader is aware, and to amplify them through an impressive array of theoretical circuitry. Robert M. Adams, New York Times Book Review

"

Bishop shows a masterful command of the text and its nuances; but of even greater importance is his sense of the comic flair and wit that so distinguishes this funferall; it is the mark of a true Joycean. Because of its freshness of approach and positive contribution, it belongs in all libraries housing even a preliminary Wake collection. Choice

"

Though it is well known that Joyce claimed that his intention in Finnegans Wake was to reconstruct the nocturnal life, Bishop is the first scholar to see in this notion the key to Joyce s wildly obscure masterpiece. His reading of Finnegans Wake as a night-book produces a new sense of the book s form, shape, and structure. In his reading, Freud, Vico, and the Egyptian Book of the Dead take on new meaning, and his accounts of the geography and sexuality of the Wake are fascinating. Bishop brings a rare command of the text to his difficult enterprise, and the organization and prose are models of clarity. You is feeling like you was lost in the bush, boy? Joyce s Book of the Dark will help all serious readers of the Wake get their bearings. Keith Cushman, Library Journal

"

"Mr. Bishop has ventured on the process more boldly, more thoroughly, more imaginatively and more informedly than any of his predecessors. He makes the text comment on itself, as it was constructed to do; but, knowing the whole thing by heart (as I surmise), he is able to multiply a thousandfold the concords and discords of which a reader is aware, and to amplify them through an impressive array of theoretical circuitry."--Robert M. Adams, New York Times Book Review

About the Author

John Bishop is associate professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0299108244
• ISBN 13: 9780299108243
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496