Finnegans Wake

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Finnegans Wake is a work of fiction by Irish author James Joyce (1939). Joyce's final work, published two years before his death, is renowned for its difficulty and experimental style. The entire book is written in an idiosyncratic language, consisting of multilingual puns and portmanteau words, which attempts to recreate the experience of sleep and dreams.

The initial reaction to Finnegans Wake, was largely negative, ranging from bafflement at its radical reworking of the English language to open hostility towards its lack of respect for the conventions of the novel. The work has since come to assume a preeminent place in English literature.

However, due to its expansive linguistic experiments, stream of consciousness writing style, literary allusions, free dream associations, and its abandonment of conventions of plot and character construction, Finnegans Wake remains largely unread by the larger public. Despite these obstacles, readers and commentators have reached a broad consensus about the central cast of characters and general story, although many details remain elusive.