writesdave 's review for:

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

3.0

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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For a "classic" of literature, this left me lacking, and I'll acknowledge that I probably am not smart enough to truly grasp it. In fact, I'll use the same overall line that I used in my review of "Gatsby": I just don't get it. The prose is beautiful and the story compelling, but... I don't know, it didn't live up to the hype. And don't get me started on an entire chapter of a sermon about what happens when you *don't* walk the straight and narrow hand-in-hand with one certain religion, even if that chapter offered context for why our protagonist strayed from the flock. Overrated. Maybe I'll read it again sometime.