i had a dream last night that i was only like twenty pages from the end and i woke up think that was true, but i haven't even gotten through chapter one... hmmmm
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i had a dream last night that i was only like twenty pages from the end and i woke up think that was true, but i haven't even gotten through chapter one... hmmmm
You know, that's totally a sign for you Liz. U must finish it soon, otherwise it'll keep haunting your sleep.
Jester> If you have the time and dedication, do read the Artist... It won't go into my favorites list but I think it is a good reading experience...
i read all this thread and finally found how silly i am. i thought i already read this one and if i read it one more time i could remember the whole story and join the discussion. sorry about my lame excuses. i'm reading it now but can't tell when i can finish it. hard to follow... :(
okay. stay warm.
Feel free to join in the discussions whenever you feel ready as the threads about book discussions are always open.Quote:
Originally Posted by hye young
What do you guys think, how much of this book was Joyce's personnel experience and how much was embellsihment?
I have done some reading about Joyce's life while reading the book, wondering the same thing as you do, Papaya. Looking at these sites
http://www.robotwisdom.com/jaj/#biog
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/jjoyce.htm
it seems like the general lines of the story is based on Joyce's own experiences and he did mean it kind of an autobiography.
I have found this quote very interesting, to say the least:
"The only demand I make of my reader," Joyce once told an interviewer, "is that he should devote his whole life to reading my works."
(from the latter site mentioned above)
hm.. finally i finished chapter 1 and i think chapter one is definetly his childhood experience at boarding school. i can say that the speaker is joyce himself describing what he'd felt as a little kid when the jesuit-run school is all world to him. i could feel his confusion among the grown-ups conversation at Christmas dinner table and his embarassment when Father Dolan pandied him. and at last he somehow speaks out his mind when he really went up to rector's room and tell how he broke his glasses and feared for he might get pandied again. i think that moment is his growing up a little bit. well... i have to go on and read next chapter and learn more.
i guess you guys were having holidays while there're no new posts. :)
Ok read few pages from chapter IV before bed last nite. Almost forgot the whole story. Ok, I think the first pages of this chapter described how Sthepen tried so hard to adapt to his "cage" of religious obidience. I call it cage because he found no spiritual satisfcation doing all those rules and he felt so dry inside. I know from the excerpt in the book that Sthepen evetually become a man without any religion, but don't know how and why. So suppose I should read further first.
I seem to be way behind everybody else but I'm glad to report that I have actually got as far as that little passage! You'll remember that the girl he had a crush on and almost ... but not quite kissed on the bus had also come to see the play. Perhaps he was angry at not seeing her there with his family and that's why he rushed off.
I'm not sure if I'm a member of the book club, since I'm reading it out of necessity rather than pleasure. How does one become a member in the first place?
Oh and thanks Schere for replying to my post ... since you were the first and so far only
well.. from what I gathered, he was upset because he assumed that E. girl was going to be at the performance... and he was so excited to see her there that, upon seeing only his family waiting for him, he was upset and disappointed.
For the people that think they struggled with the book in college, I had to read it in grade 11
English is not my first language and this was one of the first books in english I read. That was not a good ideea. I should have started with something more simple. But anyway, I read it, I realized It was something special, but you know, at 10 pages a day, It was a drag. Maybe I'll read i again some day as I improved my english since.
Is anyone still active on this post? Joyce novice here with just a few comments.
Welcome to the Forum, Longford.
If you post your comments, I am sure some people will respond :)
Thanks for your reply S. The last post was quite a while back. I really think it's finished. Thank You Bill V NYC
S. In reply to one of your previos posts. You posit that Joyce may have been a bit of a snob. You are quite right. He is a snob and so are most of his characters. He uses Latin to display his erudition. However, he did attend Jesuit schools. The Jesuits then, and now, run first rate schools and the Classics are generally mandatory. Actually, not a bad idea,
longford
Not sure if knowing Latin or having a good education is excuse enough to be a snob.Quote:
Originally Posted by easyaccesschina
I think simply reading the quote that people should devote their lives reading his novels really put me off Joyce.
Say that; then, go ahead and write something like Finnegan's Wake; sweet! :p
Touche. Well said. He was probably very insecure.
be a snob!