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re_leyendo 's review for:
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by James Joyce
Well this book was a ride. It is one of the few classics that I’ve truly enjoyed reading so far. I did have some issues with it though. First of all, it IS a classic and classics require more time so you can try to begin to understand them. The language is difficult, because it is a classic and because it uses both Latin phrases and some modified Irish words. That made it more difficult to read fluently. Also, the notes at the ending of this centennial edition are both a blessing and a pain in my ass. I loved getting extra information and explanations on phrases or characters but when the note was just to specify a location I wanted to close the book and do something else. The thing is, it is time-consuming to go back and forth in a book. To do so to see a note that says “next to the river Liffey” or things like that stressed me out, I don’t know Dublin enough for those notes to mean anything to me; also, some notes just said “see above”, which was just as useless. So back to the language, it got easier with each passing page, but Joyce also rambled about topics I didn’t understand fully; this made the experience more convoluted. To make things more difficult the pacing was odd. Some chapters were extremely descriptive while others were dry. The next thing that made this difficult was the style. Following stream-of-consciousness is difficult as hell; if I don’t even know how I make connections why would I know what made Stephen go from one thought to another? Putting those setbacks aside, I really enjoyed this book. Specially because I don’t usually read classics and when I do I have a hard time doing so. This is another story about growing up. But it is so much more complex than any other I have read. Honestly, you must know and/or research a lot about Ireland’s history to fully understand the complex society that was Dublin in the early 20th century. Politics and religion have such a big influence on both history and this particular novel. Yes, it was Stephen’s story; but I learned so much about Ireland too. I liked that about the book. It is also said to be semi-autobiographical. James Joyce used some aspects of his life to shape Stephen Dedalus. The story was great, I love the things Stephen went through and how he dealt with them. I think this story is easy to empathize with; anyone who has the soul of an artist can relate to the struggles that Stephen goes through. I rather not spoil the plot itself, as I believe it can resonate differently with each reader. The characters changed almost each chapter, it was difficult to get attached to them. I can say that I like how MacCann was a feminist and wanted universal peace. But Stephen is undoubtedly the only character I got to know more deeply. He is so intelligent, witty, passionate, his only real pursuit ends up being beauty. But he’s lonely too. He’s like most artists out there. Those are some of the traits I like about him most; and, like the plot, it is a character that has to be discovered by each reader. As the story, my thoughts about it are a convoluted mess but I can say with certainty that I recommend it to anyone who had a difficult time growing up and wants to discover his/herself.
4.5/5
4.5/5