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alisonjfields 's review for:
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by James Joyce
The last time I read this book in an academic setting (sometime around my sophmore year of college), my roommate and I considered starting releasing a concept album about the travails of Stephen Dedalus. Ideally, this record would be in the style of a Motown-style girl group (the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas) and would largely concern itself with the protagonist's increasingly explicit need for (insert your favorite slang term for the female reproductive system here).
This was first Joyce I ever read, and (full disclosure) I read it to impress a boy I was much impressed with whilst at soph0more in high school. Though I now regret the amount of time and energy I wasted in trying to woo said boy, I do not regret the Joyce, which pretty much opened me up to a way of writing and reading I had not encountered before.
What kills me is that this is the Joyce that gets taught to more general population than its follow-up. I guess because it's an easier read. It's certainly easier to to teach and unlikely to offend anyone. Still, I think this book is better read with "Ulysses" (in which Stephen finally gets a sense of humor).
This was first Joyce I ever read, and (full disclosure) I read it to impress a boy I was much impressed with whilst at soph0more in high school. Though I now regret the amount of time and energy I wasted in trying to woo said boy, I do not regret the Joyce, which pretty much opened me up to a way of writing and reading I had not encountered before.
What kills me is that this is the Joyce that gets taught to more general population than its follow-up. I guess because it's an easier read. It's certainly easier to to teach and unlikely to offend anyone. Still, I think this book is better read with "Ulysses" (in which Stephen finally gets a sense of humor).