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A review by tommyhousworth
James Joyce in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern
3.0
As I decided that 2016 is my year to become better acquainted with Joyce's writing, I thought this would be a suitable primer. Think of it as James Joyce: The Very High Level Cliff Notes.
The audiobook moves along nicely, highlighting Joyce's life and times, as well as his major works and themes. You learn just enough to either intrigue you, or convince you that Joyce may not be for you.
The Dubliners, Portrait, Ulysses, and Finnigan's Wake all get brief overviews, as well as Joyce's evolving style, influence, and critical appraisal of his work over the decades. We learn of his famous fans (Ezra Pound, Samuel Beckett, Hemingway) and detractors (Emily Dickinson, among others). We learn about his love life, his upbringing, his drinking, his unusual fetishes, and his diminishing eyesight. No topic garners much time, again, as it is just the merest of introductions of the man. But it helps contextualize Joyce as a writer and an Irish icon.
Strathern has published a series of these "in 90 Minute" books, mostly on philosophers (Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Plato, etc) as well as on a handful of authors. His glimpse into Samuel Beckett's work may be my next of his books to zip through. Knowing that "Ulysses" will take me a few years to get through, it was nice to have a beginning-to-end experience with Joyce that was under two hours.
The audiobook moves along nicely, highlighting Joyce's life and times, as well as his major works and themes. You learn just enough to either intrigue you, or convince you that Joyce may not be for you.
The Dubliners, Portrait, Ulysses, and Finnigan's Wake all get brief overviews, as well as Joyce's evolving style, influence, and critical appraisal of his work over the decades. We learn of his famous fans (Ezra Pound, Samuel Beckett, Hemingway) and detractors (Emily Dickinson, among others). We learn about his love life, his upbringing, his drinking, his unusual fetishes, and his diminishing eyesight. No topic garners much time, again, as it is just the merest of introductions of the man. But it helps contextualize Joyce as a writer and an Irish icon.
Strathern has published a series of these "in 90 Minute" books, mostly on philosophers (Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Plato, etc) as well as on a handful of authors. His glimpse into Samuel Beckett's work may be my next of his books to zip through. Knowing that "Ulysses" will take me a few years to get through, it was nice to have a beginning-to-end experience with Joyce that was under two hours.