Monday 10 October 2011

Finnegening

Another forthcoming (April 2012, supposedly) hardback Penguin Classic is the "restored" Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I don't know who is responsible, but I really like the cover.


It's also striking because it really stands out from the books many previous covers, almost all of which are quite boring, and not at all representative of the book's wilfully obscurantist playfulness. For the most part they tend to be either plain text, or to just have a picture of Joyce stuck on there.












8 comments:

Stan said...

That is a lovely and suitable design. I also like Penguin's Celtic art cover, three from the bottom, but I agree that several of the others are fairly run of the mill. My copy is the third one down, with a cover photo by Dan Rooms.

matthew. said...

I have the second image, the first Penguin, but it's the one with silver spine and back, rather than the newer white (still the same cover art though). I like that one because it matches the Ulysses one and it sort of matches the theme of Finnegans Wake, with the beginning of the text and the end printed on the cover.

Brakhage said...

Beyond stoked for this, thanks for the heads up.

JRSM said...

Cheers, all: Stan, I think that Celtic design is pretty nice, too. The version I have is the same as Matthew's, to match my 'Ulysses', and they are nicely done, with the opening and closing words of the books. Brakhage, I'm pleased to have helped!

Benjamin Buchholz said...

I like the Vintage Classics cover too, the Picasso line. But this new one is the best.

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Anastasia said...

The new Penguin cover is brilliant--A collideorscape! And its suggestive of Joyce's 'sigla', too. Great for the masses that Penguin is bringing out the newly restored text for the trade, but this edition doesn't hold a candle to the original Houyhnhnm Press edition on which its based. If you want a really fine Wake, check this out: http://www.houyhnhnmpress.com/

JRSM said...

That looks very nice, Anastasia... I need more money!