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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
The Irish Catholic depiction of hell in this book shook me to my core.
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-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
James Joyce is and will always remain one of my favorite authors. He had this bewitching way of writing and a really great literary and biblical culture. Amazing work, I'll challenge myself and try to read Ulysses next year, we'll see how it goes. I recommand this novel, but you gotta read Dubliners first to observe Joyce's evolution in his works.
that thing where i start a book on a trip to set the mood but didnt finish it happened again...
i think i would like it more if i read it a second time
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Struggled through quite a lot of this book. There's numerous instances of Latin, Gaelic or Scottish phrases being used without translation. Also a lot of references to Irish religious and republican history. Too many for me to keep referring to the footnotes. The discussion on aesthetic theory and also the early part of the novel were good but I found parts like the University students quipping each other or the very long sermon on Inferno to be more long drawn than they needed to be.
I have a habit of getting books that I would not otherwise read just because they are called classics. Sometimes I like them, sometimes I don't. This one I didn't. Sure, the language was nice, but I am interested in plots, and didn't find one to my liking. I gave up about halfway.
I hated this book the first time I read it in college. I _respected_ it more the second time I read it in graduate school, but I still didn't _like_ it.
Although the stream of conscious style is not as disjointed in A Portrait as it is in some of Joyce's other works, it can still be quite annoying at times. There is some good dialogue in the book and a few thought provoking statements, and the hellfire sermon is superbly written. But for the most part the novel is just a pretentious anti-everything narrative. Stephen's tendency to cast aside whatever fails to provide him with instant gratification frustrates me. Perhaps I am supposed to admire Stephen for rising above the institutions of country, family, and religion to be reborn as an artist, but his selfishness ultimately infuriates me. He sacrifices family and religion for an empty aesthetic system. I know I'm not supposed to, but I have to find myself nodding along with Cranly when he admonishes Stephen: "Ideas! Every jackass going down the road thinks he has ideas." Joyce has a lot of them.
Although the stream of conscious style is not as disjointed in A Portrait as it is in some of Joyce's other works, it can still be quite annoying at times. There is some good dialogue in the book and a few thought provoking statements, and the hellfire sermon is superbly written. But for the most part the novel is just a pretentious anti-everything narrative. Stephen's tendency to cast aside whatever fails to provide him with instant gratification frustrates me. Perhaps I am supposed to admire Stephen for rising above the institutions of country, family, and religion to be reborn as an artist, but his selfishness ultimately infuriates me. He sacrifices family and religion for an empty aesthetic system. I know I'm not supposed to, but I have to find myself nodding along with Cranly when he admonishes Stephen: "Ideas! Every jackass going down the road thinks he has ideas." Joyce has a lot of them.