The Restored Finnegans Wake (Penguin Modern Classics) Book

Finnegans Wake is the most bookish of all books. John Bishop has described it as 'the single most intentionally crafted literary artefact that our culture has produced'. In its original format however the book has been beset by numerous imperfections occasioned by the confusion of its seventeen-year composition. Only today by restoring to our view the author's intentions in a physical book designed printed and bound to the highest standards of the printers' art can the editors reveal in true detail James Joyce's fourth and last masterwork. This edition is the summation of thirty years' intense engagement by textual scholars Danis Rose and John O'Hanlon verifying codifying collating and clarifying the 20 000 pages of notes drafts typescripts and proofs comprising James Joyce's 'litters from aloft like a waast wizzard all of whirlwords' (fw2 14.16-17). The new reading text of "Finnegans Wake" typographically re-set for the first time in its publishing history incorporates some 9000 minor yet crucial corrections and amendments covering punctuation marks font choice spacing misspellings misplaced phrases and ruptured syntax.Although individually minor these changes are nonetheless crucial in that they facilitate a smooth reading of the book's allusive density and essential fabric.