Unexpected Bestseller: James Joyce Translation Becomes A Hit In China

James Joyce’s novel Finnegans Wake has become a bestseller in China.

The Chinese version of the novel took eight years to translate and has become a surprising hit in the country.

Publishers said that initially there was a modest run of just 8,000 books, but they all sold out a little over a month of going on sale.

The book was promoted on a series of billboards across Shanghai and Beijing, reportedly a first for China.

A second edition is being printed now to meet the unexpected demand.

Dai Congrong, the woman who translated the text, told an online literary forum that she had tried to keep her version as complex as the original book.

"I would not be faithful to the original intent of the novel if my translation made it easy to comprehend," she said, according to the Associated Press.

The Shanghai News and Publishing Bureau said the novel's sales in Shanghai last week were second only to a new biography of Deng Xiaoping, the politician and reformist leader of the Communist Party of China who led China towards their market economy, in the category of "good books," a term reserved for more serious reads.

Irish writer James Joyce was known for his unusual language.

Critics say the latest translation of Joyce’s work, a book that has divided critics with its stream of consciousness style and unusual language, has complimented the “superficial demand” among some Chinese for high-brow literary translations.

Some have already spoken out about the Irishman’s work.

Jiang Xiaoyuan, a professor at Shanghai's Jiaotong University, said: "Joyce must have been mentally ill to create such a novel."