Take a photo of a barcode or cover
abastone 's review for:
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by James Joyce
I'm ok with the stream of consciousness writing and the main character is interesting enough to be sure but I never found it engrossing. While I can appreciate the style, and word mastery, I don't find it the pinnacle coming of age story. It all sort of comes down to a pretentious intellectual banter that isn't very enjoyable reading.
(I also think it is amusing that when people voice negative reviews of the book, pompous literary snobs come in with comments like "you don't get it" or "try 50 shades for easier reading". Because as we all know, there is no difference between enjoying and understanding. Just like if you're beautiful you must be stupid to boot.)
Oh well. For the record, The Sun Also Rises is also on my "100 best literary classics" list and I didn't care for it much, but was totally swept away by The Old Man and the Sea. So I'm still willing to give other Joyce a go.
Also, started as an audiobook and I've since learned that I can't stand the narrator (John Lee). He adds some lilting intonation to the books that make it hard to follow or enjoy.
(I also think it is amusing that when people voice negative reviews of the book, pompous literary snobs come in with comments like "you don't get it" or "try 50 shades for easier reading". Because as we all know, there is no difference between enjoying and understanding. Just like if you're beautiful you must be stupid to boot.)
Oh well. For the record, The Sun Also Rises is also on my "100 best literary classics" list and I didn't care for it much, but was totally swept away by The Old Man and the Sea. So I'm still willing to give other Joyce a go.
Also, started as an audiobook and I've since learned that I can't stand the narrator (John Lee). He adds some lilting intonation to the books that make it hard to follow or enjoy.