Finnegans Wake – James Joyce

"riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs."

If Ulysses is the book of the day, Finnegans Wake is the book of the night. It is a dream-narrative written in a unique, constructed language—a kaleidoscope of puns, portmanteau words, and multilingual allusions. It centers loosely on the Earwicker family, but its true subject is the cyclical nature of history and the collective unconscious of humanity.

Joyce's final work is the most difficult and debated book in the Western canon. It pushes language to its absolute limit, creating a circular, infinite text that attempts to contain the entire history of the world.