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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Nice try,
By
This review is from: Alchemy and Finnegans Wake (Hardcover)
As an occasional reader of medieval alchemy (first encountered in the works of Manly P Hall) and a student of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake this book immediately fascinated me.
The book, however, disappoints. There are the obvious analyses of the Wake's obligatory alchemical references - handled judiciously if not with inspiration. But that is all and that is the disappointment. Though the book tries, it reads like an uninspired graduate thesis. The basics are touched but there's too much left unaddressed. The author's conventional treatment of alchemy reminds me of Jowett's handling of Plato's Timaeus - uninspired. Specific issues: A thorough recital of the tenets and symbols of alchemy, and a rigorous tabular account of their correspondences with Wakean themes is lacking. Also, a tying-in of the luminaries of alchemy and their cameo appearances throughout the Wake might have been attempted. Two stars for being the only currently available discussion of alchemical motifs in Finnegans Wake. |
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Alchemy and Finnegans Wake by Barbara DiBernard (Hardcover - Aug. 1980)
Used & New from: $107.44
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