Finnegans wake Quote by William Finnegan
““I later spent a year studying Finnegans Wake with Norman O. Brown, an exercise in masturbatory obscurantism that Bryan would never have undertaken—and he had an eye for genre fiction, including westerns, that I lacked.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The New York Times Book Review, 1998
The author critiques an overly academic, self-indulgent study of a complex novel, implying it serves personal gratification more than insight.
In simple terms: Obsession with obscure analysis can become self‑serving.
Key Takeaway
Avoid needless intellectual vanity.
Themes
literary criticism
self‑reflection
academic excess
Mood
critical
introspective
Type
analytical
reflective
When to use this quote
- academic research
- book clubs
- creative writing workshops
Key Concepts
postmodern literature
obscurantism
genre bias
Questions to Reflect On
- Is scholarly depth always beneficial?
- When does analysis become self‑indulgent?
A Different Perspective
Such deep dives may alienate broader audiences.
![“I think [James] Joyce sometimes enjoyed misleading his readers. He said to me that history was like that parlor game where someone whispers something to the person next to him, who repeats it not very distinctly to the next person, and so on until, by the time the last person hears it, it comes…” quote by Sylvia Beach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/22f/sylvia-beach-69793_books_i-think-james-joyce-sometimes-enjoyed-mi_432119.jpg)
