WHEN Irish writer James Joyce published his last novel, “Finnegans Wake,” in 1939, he claimed the book would only be understood 300 years later. He could never have expected the mania for his book among Chinese readers in 2013.

    The Chinese-language version of the first volume of Joyce’s masterpiece, translated by Dai Congrong, a professor from Shanghai-based Fudan University, after eight years of hard work, sold out within three weeks of its release last month — quite an achievement for a Western novel in China, let alone one that is notoriously unfathomable.

    “It is totally unexpected!” said Wang Weisong, editor-in-chief of Shanghai People’s Publishing House, the publisher of this new edition. He said the popularity of such a book reflected greatly upon today’s cultural landscape in China.

    “Finnegans Wake” is reputed as one of the most difficult works of fiction in English for its experimental style and unique polyglot language composed of composite words from 60-70 world tongues. It has been noted that Joyce didn’t intend it for the general reader.

    Actually, Joyce’s novels had already achieved a high profile with Chinese readers. During the 1980s and 1990s, Western literary icons such as Joyce, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Marcel Proust inspired young literature fans when their works were translated and introduced into China.

    Over 1,000 readers waited in line to buy Joyce’s “Ulysses” in Shanghai bookstores in 1995 and all the copies sold out on the spot, recalled Li Jingrui, founder of Yilin, China’s flagship magazine of foreign literature.

    Eighteen years later, the success in China of another Joyce masterpiece has made the promotional efforts of Shanghai People’s Publishing House worthwhile.

    People may have noticed huge outdoor billboards advertising the novel in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing. “Finnegans Wake” is the first book to be promoted in this way.

    Workshops inviting some of China’s famous writers to discuss the work have been held by the publishing house in Beijing and Shanghai. At one such event, Jiang Xiaoyuan, a professor with Shanghai Jiao Tong University said, “Joyce must have been mentally ill to create such a novel!”

    Wang Anyi, another renowned Chinese author, admitted she would have found it hard to persuade herself to read the book if it were not for her great confidence in the quality of Irish literature.

    The best seller also created a huge buzz on the Internet. “‘Finnegans Wake’ is a book for bibliophiles and critics but not for readers,” “Eudaimonus” wrote on Sina Weibo that it is just impossible to read and understand the novel.

    Some Weibo users said that one cannot have any credibility as a literature buff without reading it.

    But there has also been much online discussion on the reasons behind the popularity of the hard-to-understand text. Is it just out of pure curiosity or real interest in literature itself?

    “Luozhiqiu,” a Weibo user verified as an English teacher at Nanjing University, questioned the publisher’s marketing approach.

    He said “Finnegans Wake” was in no way a must-read for ordinary readers and it was for a minority of people in every country of the world. Its excessive marketing is tantamount to fooling readers unable to understand the complex work into buying a copy, while those who will genuinely appreciate reading “Finnegans Wake” will buy a copy without being affected by marketing, he added.

    It was pointed out in media circles that the publication of “Ulysses” in China could be considered an opening of Chinese society to Western arts, something that could no longer be said of “Finnegans Wake.”

    “The work occupies a preeminent place in English literature despite its difficult language and structure, so Chinese readers, no matter whether they can understand it or not, are willing to buy a copy and have a try,” said Chen Xin, president of the Shanghai Century Publishing Group. (Xinhua)