A Reader's Guide to Finnegans Wake

Guides to "Finnegans Wake" seem to be a dime a dozen now a days, but rarely are they so insightfull and easy to use. Although perhaps it is not as good as Bishop's or Campbell's Guides, but it is shorter and easier to read, so it is good for the beginer. It also acomplishes this condensation without significantly marginalizing any of the great themes of Joyce criticism. Thus, perhaps this deserves four stars for the material covered, but it still does so in such an easy way that I give it five for readability.

Tindell is one of the foremost Joyce critics and this in-depth analysis of FW is well worth the money. In the text the author discusses the historical, literary, and philosophical framework of FW while maintaining an less-than-monotonous tone. Any and all of Tindell's Joyce studies are recommended.

This book meant a lot to me years ago when I first began reading "Finnegans Wake." I felt paralyzed before each new chapter of "FW" if I didn't read Tindall first. Now I just plough on through Joyce, and I haven't read Tindall in years, but it's still close to me heart. (Allen's review is on the money.) Also, check out Tindall's "A Reader's Guide to James Joyce."

Probably the most commonly known modern FW guide, Tindall's book is intended to be a guide for the "average" reader. (It says something about Joyce scholarship that anyone who is reading Finnegans Wake can still be considered an "average" reader!) The basic structure of Tindall's guide is a "walk-through" of the text, with each chapter of the Wake getting its own personal excavation. Tindall sets down the basic "action" and "plot" of each chapter, especially calling attention to the symbolic nature of the "characters" and how certain themes tend to repeat, forming a network of structural motifs that give the book its overall shape. Tindall sees Joyce as a symbolist more than anything else, and he makes a case that FW is a cosmos in a book, a symbolic labyrinth that contains the whole world reflected in a vast and inexhaustible work of literature. Most of Tindall's explanations and interpretations are supported by frequent quotations from the text, many of which he takes the time to explicate and/or decompress. At the end of every chapter is a list of additional information, with a particular emphasis on reccurring themes. Tindall is very good at linking together key elements in the book, a task almost impossible for the first time reader. He is also very good at unpacking the dazzling levels of meaning Joyce packs into a single word. His sense of humor is quite enjoyable, and he's very gracious in crediting others -- especially his many students. On the negative side, his writing can be a bit brisk at times, and his style can feel choppy and disconnected. I often find myself wishing that he would spend a little more time supporting some of his comments -- some seem as if they were just tossed off the cuff, some periodically strike a false note, and a few even bear the faint aroma of academic BS. Still, this is an excellent guide for the beginning reader, and though a hard core Wakean may crave a deeper analysis, Tindall has some very illuminating views on the Wake to share. He also seems quite aware that some of his ideas are just conjecture, and he rarely proffers them as if they were the irrefutable truth. I get the impression Tindall would welcome anybody at his Wakean kaffeeklatsch, expert or neophyte alike.