The most linguistically rich book ever. Impossible to read in a conventional sense, impossible not to take something interesting away from every page, whether it be a melody or a pun. I have a hard time saying that Ulysses is my favorite over this because it's another beyond-brilliant work. To me, James Joyce is as close to God as you can get. ( )

Forgive me, Father Joyce, for I have sinned. In April '08, I gave Finnegan's Wake a rating of half a star. I mocked Finnegan's Wake mercilessly, and did so publicly too, parodying it right here in LibraryThing, like it were Sarah Palin, and it was justly and judiciously and promptly blue flagged as "not a review".

I summarily dismissed Finnegan's Wake before I'd -- shame upon shame -- even finished it!; before I'd properly researched its construction. One can't after all, properly appreciate how well Finnegan's mansion stands until one gets their hands dirty and gets hammerin' and demo'ing out some drywall and negatively biased presuppositions upstairs can they? Because once inside the Finnegan facade, one can then (and only then) inspect its foundations, supports, framework, wiring, and so forth -- its fundamental skeletal linguistic innards (how is it built along the subjective continuum ranging from random eccentricity to code?) -- and once such a thorough inspection has been completed, then the critic (maybe, maybe not) has earned the right to condemn (or not condemn) the Finnegan premises.

Sounds complicated, because it is! Finnegan's Wake takes time and sweat, and makes the extreme difficulty of reading its universally revered predecessor, Ulysses seem like Dick & Jane in comparison. Serious. Opinions vary, but what good was my opinion when I'd not so much as removed a tack from Finnegan's thick accented colloquial walls? My opinion meant nil, that's what.

I opined so then because I was erroneously convinced that demo'ing FW, deconstructing it page by page if not phrase by phrase, would reveal nothing intelligible underneath; it would be an unrewarding chore, a bore at best, menial labor, idioms, madness, semantics, certainly nothing fun like Extreme Makeover Home Edition. But now that I've been humbled before The Master, and gotten some good help through reading and re-reading Richard Ellmann's excellent biography (among others), I know better, and am thus recanting my formerly disreputable, incendiary anti-Finnegan's Wake review. Mea culpa, James, mea culpa!

For now I realize the dead wrongedness in outright rejecting what I believed at the time was this ridiculous notion that there existed depth and breadth and infinitude beneath Finnegan's seemingly meaningless garbled surface. Forgive, Father Joyce, what were the uninititated, snap-judgment-eyes of an impatient, petulant, apostate amateur too arrogant to take the time to cipher your idiosyncratic style, wit, and prose.

I want you to know also, Father Joyce, how deeply heartfelt sorry I am for slamming you personally (and your protege, Brother Beckett, too) in that previously terrible, reprehensible review of FW I regrettably wrote on a whim, disrespectfully, inappropriately, desiring only by its quick composition cheap laughs! If anyone had gone temporarily mad at the time, Father Joyce, it was certainly me, and not you nor Brother Beckett. Please know that I've taken the appropriate steps of full confession and sackcloth-and-ashes repentance (and I hope other unrepentant Waker-Haters out there will soon follow suit), in order to right this inexcusably blasphemous and heinous wrong.

Goodbye for now, Father Joyce. Warmest regards to you and your Fellow Deceased Iconic Brethren. Say hi to Brother Flann for me, and Homer, all the Greats. And take good care of Brother Updike will ya? He might be disoriented a bit having just arrived, and need a generous Irish soul like yours to show him 'round.

Take care, you're very magnanimous. I'll be reading you again soon.

robert anton wilson has much to say about FW. his COINCIDAnce has some fine sections on joyce's nite-mare book. the going gets a little thick, but if you haven't the patience, neither author is for you. ( )

Apparently Joyce learned Yiddish, Aramaic and Hebrew source material before presenting his view in vernacular.

Considered unreadable by many, Finnegans Wake takes us on a journey through a dreamland along a stream of consciousness. With such diverse characters who are at times unique, but at other times, the same person, Joyce gives the reader a challenge, what with most phrases having a double (and sometimes triple) meaning. You'd have a read it a few times before even being able to pick up on some of the gems hidden in this prose.

This book is not recommended for the casual reader, and even more lightweight avid readers may want to bring a map along for the ride (there are many critical/guide books on FW, find the one that works the best for you). Nevertheless, it's a challenging yet fulfilling read for anyone who wants to read one of the most difficult books in the English language. ( )