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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
"How pale the light was at the window! But that was nice. The fire rose and fell on the wall. It was like waves. Someone had put coal on and he heard voices. They were talking. It was the noise of the waves. Or the waves were talking among themselves as they rose and fell."
A beautiful mess of a book, Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, a Künstlerroman featuring young Stephen Dedalus — whose surname immediately brings forth visions of Daedalus, the skilled craftsman of Greek mythology and creator of the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete — does exactly what the title sets out to accomplish.
"What is that beauty which the artist struggles to express from lumps of earth . . . ."
Laying forth a string of instances from Stephen's life, the style of the narrative maturing alongside the protagonist. Taken apart from one another, many stops along Stephen's timeline seem insignificant.
"Art . . . is the human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an esthetic end."
But taken at the end, or near so, when Stephen's artistic mind feels more fully developed and closer to being an artist, it becomes a collection of the everyday instances of us all — and yet wholly and only Stephen — that must be considered when examining the person he was, is, and will be.
"Pity is the feeling which arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with the human sufferer. Terror is the feeling which arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with the secret cause."
Audiobook, as narrated by [a:Colin Farrell|365010|Colin Farrell|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]: Farrell has a rich, straightforward loveliness to his voice and is an incredibly interesting choice for this book. I found his delivery to be easy, casual and yet increasingly heavy with feeling — following Stephen's own journey. There's a weightiness to his performance that I loved and kept me anchored to this story that seems to constantly want to float away.
"But a man's country comes first. Ireland first . . . . You can be a poet or mystic after."
I loved Dubliners, and so I thought I ought to check this one out, but it turned out to be a bit of a real slog - I remember a bit almost a third of the way through where it was just four pages of this sermon and I tuned out completely. It was also very hard to follow - I wasn't sure what was going on half the time, whether he was talking to himself or someone else, who the 'her' was - I'm aware it's probably some kind of a stylistic choice, but wow, was it tiring.
The only reason it isn't two stars is because it got significantly more interesting after he went to university. His relationships with the fellow students and conversations were a lot more fun than the first part of the book.
The only reason it isn't two stars is because it got significantly more interesting after he went to university. His relationships with the fellow students and conversations were a lot more fun than the first part of the book.
I was only vaguely interested, until the sermon on hell.
Beautiful, vivid prose in this coming of age story of a young boy who lives through periods of significant sinfullness and religion.
The writing was gorgeous but otherwise I found it very difficult to care and stay engaged.
The writing was gorgeous but otherwise I found it very difficult to care and stay engaged.
A book that requires your full attention even though on the surface seems like a coming of age story. Considering I could only read it when in a train with shoddy phone surface, one might think it'd be rated poorly. However Joyce has a unique and powerful writing style. It takes a bit to get into the story, for me it required a situation where it was either read or stare out a window.
It was interesting following Stephen Dedalus through different parts of childhood and adolescence. Seeing how religion came and went in his life and how it also played a part in how he viewed every other aspect of life.
If Portrait of the Artist is just the tip of the iceberg, clearly Ulysses is something that needs to be looked at.
It was interesting following Stephen Dedalus through different parts of childhood and adolescence. Seeing how religion came and went in his life and how it also played a part in how he viewed every other aspect of life.
If Portrait of the Artist is just the tip of the iceberg, clearly Ulysses is something that needs to be looked at.
If I'm going to read interminable hellfire and damnation speeches by Catholic school masters, I'd rather do it Frank McCourt style.
Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel that provides a portrait of his coming of age as a young man of unusual intelligence, sensitivity and character. Telling portrayals of an Irish upbringing and schooling, the Catholic church and its priesthood, Parnell and Irish politics, sexual experimentation and its aftermath, and problems with art and morality.
I found this book very confusing and I didn't feel like it had much of a story. I know Joyce is a great writer of the 20th century, but I would not recommend this book if you are just reading for fun.
I found this book very confusing and I didn't feel like it had much of a story. I know Joyce is a great writer of the 20th century, but I would not recommend this book if you are just reading for fun.
I read this one years ago but felt the need to read it again after finishing Ulysses. It's just a hint of what is to come but still an essential part of the story is told in Ulysses.
i really love the writing style, but the story just wasn't the one for me. really reminded me of the lithuanian classic 'altoriu seseliai', just less good (lol).
*4.5*
Well. I finally did it. I read this with my book club and we read this at an extremely slow pace, but it actually made the reading experience great because we would talk in depth for an hour about only 30 pages. I appreciate this book so much, I think I could have given it a 5, but I really just want to save them. Who knows though, once this sits with me I may come back and change this. Joyce guys, he knows what he's doing when he writes, so much so that that's the one reason I'm hesitant of giving it the full 5. Sometimes the writing was just a little too much I think. Sometimes I just felt like Joyce was writing it to feel pretentious. Other times, most of the time, it was fantastic though.
Overall I just think this book did an incredible job documenting the psychological struggle of a growing adolescent boy, and with that, bringing up many interesting discussions, and being quite revolutionary in terms of stream-of-consciousness writing. This was definitely not "easy" to read, but I'm very glad I read it.
Well. I finally did it. I read this with my book club and we read this at an extremely slow pace, but it actually made the reading experience great because we would talk in depth for an hour about only 30 pages. I appreciate this book so much, I think I could have given it a 5, but I really just want to save them. Who knows though, once this sits with me I may come back and change this. Joyce guys, he knows what he's doing when he writes, so much so that that's the one reason I'm hesitant of giving it the full 5. Sometimes the writing was just a little too much I think. Sometimes I just felt like Joyce was writing it to feel pretentious. Other times, most of the time, it was fantastic though.
Overall I just think this book did an incredible job documenting the psychological struggle of a growing adolescent boy, and with that, bringing up many interesting discussions, and being quite revolutionary in terms of stream-of-consciousness writing. This was definitely not "easy" to read, but I'm very glad I read it.