Finnegans Wake

by James Joyce
Abridged by Roger Marsh

Read by Jim Norton with Marcella Riordan

Produced by Roger Marsh

NOT AVAILABLE IN THE U.S.A.

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‘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...’

So starts Finnegans Wake, the greatest challenge in twentieth-century literature. Who is Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker? And what did he get up to in Phoenix Park? And what did Anna Livia Plurabelle have to say about it? In the rich night time language of dreams here is history, anecdote, myth, folk tale – and above all, a wondrous sense of humour coloured by a clear sense of humanity. In this exceptional reading by the Irish actor Jim Norton, with Marcella Riordan, the world of the Wake is more accessible than ever before. The abridgement, made by the composer and Joyce enthusiast Roger Marsh, is presented with the text, allowing the listener to get deeper into Joyce’s labyrinth by both aural and visual means.

Jim Norton, the distinguished Irish actor, reads. His performances of both Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man demonstrate his particular sympathy for the author – helped by a childhood in the heart of Dublin where Leopold Bloom and James Joyce walked.

For the first time ever, a performance of Finnegans Wake that sets out to entertain, amuse and inform, rather than bemuse. While scholarly in its background, this adaptation by Roger Marsh for audiobook seeks to show that the enjoyment of this great work does not have to start and stop with the first paragraph.

Music: Rossini, Gilbert & Sullivan, Gounod, Irish ballads

James Joyce’s Women
In a talk given at the 2008 Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival, Roger Marsh, director of Naxos AudioBooks James Joyce recordings introduces Ulysses and Finnegans Wake with particular emphasis on Molly Bloom and Anna Livia Plurabelle. With stunning readings by Marcella Riordan.

Click on the link below to listen to/download the files. Alternatively, control-click (Mac), or right-click (PC) on a link, and choose ‘Save linked file as...’ to save the file to your computer.

Listen/download: James Joyce’s Women (MP3, 58 mins, 20.2 MB)

5 CDs with booklet containing the spoken text • Running Time: 5:10:00 • ISBN: 9-62634-163-7 • Catalogue no: NA516312 • RRP: £19.99

NOT AVAILABLE IN THE U.S.A.