Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
This complex and challenging novel is renowned for its experimental style and intricate, dreamlike narrative. It explores the story of a publican in Dublin, his wife, and their three children, but the plot is not linear and often veers into surreal and abstract territory. The book is dense with linguistic games, puns, and allusions to a myriad of cultural, historical, and mythological sources. The narrative is circular, ending in the middle of a sentence that is completed at the start of the book, embodying the cyclical nature of life and history.
The 310th greatest book of all time
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Total Points: 1177
This book was first published in 1939
12 Lists
- score: 150 -- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die - 2006 (Weight: 150)
- score: 126 -- 100 Life-Changing Books - 2006 (Weight: 126)
- score: 118 -- The 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century - 1999 (Weight: 114)
- score: 96 -- 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction - 1999 (Weight: 93)
- score: 96 -- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read - 2009 (Weight: 96)
- score: 95 -- 100 Essential Books - 2009 (Weight: 93)
- score: 91 -- Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels - 1998 (Weight: 90)
- score: 90 -- The Modern Library | 100 Best Novels - 1999 (Weight: 90)
- score: 87 -- 100 Best Books - 2010 (Weight: 84)
- score: 83 -- The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time - 2004 (Weight: 81)
- score: 75 -- Harold Bloom's The Western Canon - 1994 (Weight: 75)
- score: 66 -- The Complete 500: OCLC - 2024 (Weight: 66)