Finnegans Wake

Finnegans Wake tells of Here Comes Everybody and Anna Livia Plurabelle. It tells of their family, too. Their story reaches out to people and books at large.

This is James Joyce’s last major work. It is fiction that tries new ways to write. It is for readers who like wordplay and meanings left open.

Joyce uses English words and sentence forms as his base. He packs the text with sound patterns and puns. These let words mean more than one thing. He keeps this method from start to end. He does not switch from one borrowed style to another.

The book uses humour and hints of sex to question culture. Meanings that stay unclear help it do this, too. Its words leave the world open to many readings. They do not give one fixed view.

This edition forms part of the Wordsworth Classics series.