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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
I decided to tackle this prior to Ulysses to get a feel for James Joyce’s writing style. I listened via audible because I love Colin Farrells voice. Not even Colin could save this for me. I thought this was Joyce’s autobiography but it’s a semi auto biographical work of fiction. It was written in Ireland more than 100 years ago and follows a young man’s Catholic upbringing, his awakening to life over 20 years. Joyce is a beautifully descriptive writer but I still found it to be quite boring . Joyce (and this character of Stephen) doesn’t speak to me. I think he’s meant for someone else. The only thing it awakened in me was a realization that I’m starting to appreciate Hemingway and I dislike Hemingway.
Wish I had read it when I was younger, wished Stephen would listen to Cranley. Now I have to go and read Dubliners again
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I absolutely don’t know enough about Catholicism or turn-of-the-century Irish politics for this to titillate me in any way. Might have gotten slightly more into it in non-audio form so I could stop and google for context more easily.
I hated it in high school and apparently I still do. The prose is obviously gorgeous and the first 50 pages or so were legitimately interesting. After that, it feels poorly paced, and just too much exposition with no actual story. Just not for me.
Don't even feel like rating it. It is full of crap and what the hell is 'sense of consciousness'. It is more like 'senseless consciousness'.
meh. It started off very interesting and reached its peak during the "hell lecture". Then just... flop. Joyce must have been a real joyless, sanctimonious prick as a young man. No thanks.
slow-paced
As much as I love classic literature, I just can't find a place for James Joyce in my heart. The writing can be brilliant, but it just isn't my style and I found myself drowning in confusion at times.
The story centers around Dedalus and begins looking like a tale of a socially inept kid getting the short end of the stick in nearly every fashion, and then transforms into this mad religious whirlwind. I don't know, I just couldn't get into it.
The story centers around Dedalus and begins looking like a tale of a socially inept kid getting the short end of the stick in nearly every fashion, and then transforms into this mad religious whirlwind. I don't know, I just couldn't get into it.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The writing is really good. That’s the one thing this book had going for it, and honestly makes me optimistic to try another James Joyce in the future. What I didn’t like about the book is basically the main character. I’ve summarized it in this one thought: I cannot understand a characters whose personal growth is completely independent of others. I feel no connection to characters who walk around the world with no consideration for other people. As I was listening to the book I couldn’t remember any of the side characters, they had no important role except to be vessels of long philosophical lectures. Maybe this feeling is due to my own misunderstanding of the book, and maybe this lack of important side characters is some manifestation of loneliness, but in that case I’ve read much better books on loneliness.
To summarize, this book wasn’t for me. I’m a character-focused reader and I felt no connection to the main character
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes