Finnegans Wake
(James Joyce)

“Finnegans Wake” proved to be quite the undertaking for James Joyce and a feat that almost proved impossible. After Joyce finished writing “Ulysses,” he was quite mentally spent and did not write another thing for a year. When Joyce began writing again, he would write just a few ideas or statements at a time, or create short profiles of characters that would eventually become segments in “Finnegans Wake.”

The first profile that became serious backbone to the book was that of “Here Comes Everybody” which showcased the protagonist of the novel, HCE. Every time Joyce came up with an idea he first made a note of it and later transferred that note into the developing novel, become obsessed with taking notes and seemingly unable to write without them.

The chapters of the book that Joyce completed would be published one at a time, but to mixed reviews. Joyce began to tire and worried that he would not be able to finish the novel, looking to his friends for support during this time, even recruiting fellow author James Stephens to finish the novel if Joyce found himself unable to do so.

People seemed to find the “work in progress,” as it was called, obscure and hard to follow, which was quite possibly was Joyce was going for. Eventually he finished the book himself, after seventeen years of writing it, and died two years later. Those who have reviewed or summarized “Finnegans Wake” have had differing opinions on the plot points of the book as it is probable that no one other than Joyce, or possibly not even Joyce himself, knew what was going on in the novel. It has become well-known around the world for its creative styling and utterly confusing yet intriguing plot.