Finnegans Wake: A Symposium [Paperback]

James Joyce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 1972

B.S. Johnson, House Mother Normal. A geriatric comedy with a bite.

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing (January 17, 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811204464
• ISBN-13: 978-0811204460
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,157,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Judge a Book by it's Title, May 24, 2007

By 

Christopher Corey "ille-Omnis-callidus" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finnegans Wake: A Symposium (Paperback)

Don't judge a book by it's cover, as this text:

"James Joyce - Finnegans Wake: A Symposium"

is no other than the famous collection of critical essays about 'Work in Progress' with the eccentric title of 'Our Exagmination round his Factification for Incamination of 'Work in Progress,' written two years before James Joyce's last novel 'Finnegans Wake' was published in 1939. Excerpts had been published and some people had seen parts of it in MS, but Joyce was still withholding the final title for 'Work in Progress.' The lead essay, by Samuel Beckett, bore the equally eccentric, if quieter, title of 'Dante ... Bruno. Vico .. Joyce.' Each dot in the Beckett essay's title represents a century of real time: Dante in the 14th century, Bruno in the 17th, Vico in the 18th, and Joyce in the 20th. Of course, Beckett didn't explain all this: he left it up to us to figure out (much like Joyce himself): what Joyce called 'the ideal reader with ideal insomnia.' The period after 'Bruno' is really just a single dot, but the publisher couldn't be expect to know that.

Joyce himself contributed an essay (at least we think so) under the name of Vladimir Dixon, entitled 'A Litter to Mr. James Joyce' where he refers to him(self) as 'my dear Mr. Germ's Choice' and 'Shame's Voice.' He was assuming the role of his own first hostile critic.

This text should be a required read for all Wake Readers.