marcasdeb 's review for:

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

3.5

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Barring Finnegans Wake, which I haven't yet read, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is the most difficult of Joyce's books for me to get through. Though a well-crafted look at childhood and maturation in 19th-century Ireland, the book does not have as much going for it, so to speak, stylistically and thematically as Joyce's other works. Dubliners is more accessible and provides an exceptionally diverse range of narrative experiences, while Ulysses is more thoroughly crafted, cohesive, and holds more enjoyment for fans of literature. However, as far as the protagonist goes, Stephen Dedalus is unlikeable, immature, and pompous—which is exactly why he is such a good character. Foreknowledge of his path in Ulysses helps his progression through the course of this book.

A must-read for any Joycean, but not quite a masterpiece.