Joyce's Finest work

This is deservedly noted as one of the finest novels of the last century. James Joyce, quite possibly the greatest literary artist ever, writes in a chameleonic style, altering from precocious child, eavesdropping on the debates of his elders, to bombastic adolescent, with wild imaginings of a hellish damnation. One of the more famous passages is the 'Hellfire' speech, in which the meaning of eternity is explored, as is the justness of God and the morality system of the Catholic Church. Finally, he emerges as the complete artist, after casting off the 'graveclothes' of his youth, of the oppressive church and Ireland, 'the old sow that eats her farrow.'<br><br>One of the most beautiful passages, and my favourite, is the penultimate diary entry. 'Welcome. O, Life!...' Here we read and fully understand the emancipation of his soul. He has grown. And so have we, who have journeyed with him.<br>

This is just the first book in what i call the Dedalus trilogy...and while it give you a fine start into the world according to Joyce, Finnegans Wake is the ultimate culmination of his oddessy :brow:

Dedalus lives on under different names in "The Dubliners." Joyce's anthology of short stories moves ahead through the maturing of humans (and I have no doubt that, like Stehpen, Joyce is a character under an assumed name in most if not all these stories) and through the experiences that seem important to his charcters as they "age." The Dubliners is also one of my favorites because each individual story with so much honesty and so much action in each character takes place in one small city (Dublin obviously) which makes a statement about the grandeur of how miniscule each of us is. Three cheers for Joyce!

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I have no doubt that, like Stehpen, Joyce is a character under an assumed name in most if not all these stories

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In fact the anonymous boy-narrator of three stories of Dubliners, The Sisters, An Encounter and Araby, is considered by most Joyce critics to be Stephen Dedalus himself.

Martin Old: hmmm, it's interesting that your reaction to Stephen is so positive. I certainly agree with you that A Portrait is an amazing novel. However, I find Stephen's actions and motivations much more ambivalent than merely breaking free of an oppressive Ireland - his conception of the artist, for one, is hugely problematic and, in my view, often distasteful - particularly its misogyny. I have no doubt Joyce does not regard Stephen (i.e. himself) in such a positive light either, as the pervasive irony of the novel demonstrates.

"I have no doubt Joyce does not regard Stephen (i.e. himself) in such a positive light either, as the pervasive irony of the novel demonstrates."

Thats a fair point and is shown clearly in Ulysses, Stephen is becoming a distant character for Joyce to relate to, he was the artist as a young man but in writing Ulysses Joyce matured and learned to interact to a greater extent in the world rather than bask in his self imposed exile as Stephen does. Stephen fails in his exile and returns to Ireland disillusioned and bitter, he believed Europe would be the ground in which his talent could flourish. Ulysses shows Joyce casting off his old self, he is more like Bloom now in his maturity...Portrait and Ulysses should always be taken together, they are a great work of character study and the arc of transition between Joyces psyche in the form of Stephen and then Leopold is in my opinion the most interesting aspect of Joyces Ulysses.