Finnegans Wake

Written by James Joyce

Narrated by Barry McGovern and Marcella Riordan

‘Riverrun past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs...’ So starts Finnegans Wake, the greatest challenge in 20th-century literature. Who is Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker? And what did he get up to in Phoenix Park? And what did Anna Livia Plurabelle have to say about it? In the rich nighttime and the language of dreams, here are history, anecdote, myth, folk tale and, above all, a wondrous sense of humour, coloured by a clear sense of humanity. In this exceptional reading by the Irish actor Barry McGovern, with Marcella Riordan, the world of the Wake is more accessible than ever before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks
• Release date: Jun 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781781983669

James Joyce

James Joyce was born in Dublin in 1882. He came from a reasonably wealthy family which, predominantly because of the recklessness of Joyce's father John, was soon plunged into financial hardship. The young Joyce attended Clongowes College, Belvedere College and, eventually, University College, Dublin. In 1904 he met Nora Barnacle, and eloped with her to Croatia. From this point until the end of his life, Joyce lived as an exile, moving from Trieste to Rome, and then to Zurich and Paris. His major works are Dubliners (1914), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), Ulysses (1922) and Finnegan's Wake (1939). He died in 1941, by which time he had come to be regarded as one of the greatest novelists the world ever produced.

Reviews for Finnegans Wake

[Rick Casady · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Best consumed in small portions. Could inspire creativity in writers.

[Michael Steger · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Everyone should—before shuffling off this mortal coil—experience this audio performance.

[Crisman Cooley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What makes this book great: there’s no other like it, and thank the gods.