James Joyce

[piquant]

I'm reading A Portrait of an Artist as a young man right now, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I liked how in the begining of the book the narrator's train of thought was chaotic like a child's, but as the character aged it became more and more orderly. The thing I consider odd is that this is the only book of Joyce's that people tend to read. Even in my bohemuth college library the only other book I found by him was a very old, dilapidated, and imposing copy of Finnigan's Wake. Why isn't Joyce more widely read? And should I be as frightened of Finnigan's Wake as the cover makes me?

[sloegin]

Here (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1500&perpage=15&pagenumber=1) is a thread on Finnegans Wake. All of Joyce's work is widely read. Ulysses is (http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html) hailed as the best book of the 20th century.

[AbdoRinbo]

sloegin is right, a lot of people read his other work.

[David J]

Piquant,

Glad to hear you're getting into Joyce. He is one of the greats.
I think that you're right - a lot more people should read Joyce but we can say this about a lot of authors. I think Joyce is particularly intimidating because his works, especially Ulysses and Finnegans Wake are densely allusive and this puts a lot of people off. Also the styles and structures employed by Joyce can make him difficult to read but once you know what he is aiming at it becomes a lot easier.

The key to reading Joyce is to read him like you would a poet, to give that level of attention as every word is there for a reason and he really should be relished that way. This is why a lot of peolple like to dip into the larger works rather than read them from start to finish. But if you want to do this don't be put off by his reputation. Once you get into them you'll never go back.

[Munro]

I'm one of those you mentioned who've only read A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man. In a couple of weeks, after I've waded through a load of crime fiction books I'm reading for an English assessment, I'm planning to get right into Dubliners, the excerpts of which I have enjoyed already.

As piquant mentioned, the clarity of thought reached by the last part of the novel is beautiful to read, and has provided me with much enjoyment re-reading over the last few weeks. The entire novel, I've found has been much more rewarding upon re-reading and reflecting than when I first experienced it - which is the impression I have received with Ulysess as well.

[Aesopone]

Read Portrait of The Artistlast year in ap and i seriously filled every margin of every page with notes. One of my all time favorites, it's so full of life you can read it over and over and it has a power to just hold you...i'm glad more people enjoy this because my class was braindead.

[sloegin]

Aesopone, Finnegans Wake will really blow your mind. I really like your avatar.

[Aesopone]

Thanks, I have the Portable James Joyce and I think the next thing I'm going to read out of it is Exiles because it doesn't have a full version of Finnegan's Wake. I'll be sure to check it out though thanks!!:p

[Jolly McJollyso]

Why isn't Joyce more widely read?
James Joyce is one of the most highly esteemed writers in the English language...

I mean... I don't think there is a single English professor on the face of the planet who hasn't read at LEAST Portrait and probably Ulysses.