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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

by James Joyce, Seamus Deane (Annotations)

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 56,539 ratings · 2,231 reviews

Joyce’s semi-autobiographical chronicle of Stephen Dedalus’ passage from university student to "independent" artist, is at once a richly detailed, amusing, and moving coming-of-age story, a tour de force of style and technique, and a profound examination of the Irish psyche and society.

Stephen Dedalus is a fictional alter ego of Joyce and an allusion to the consummate craf...more

Paperback, 329 pages

Published March 25th 2003 by Penguin Classics (first published 1916)

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Apr 23, 2013 Rakhi Dalal rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, joyce

"Et ignotas animum dimittit in artes”(And he sets his mind to unknown arts.)
- Ovid
Metamorphoses

The above mentioned quote from Ovid, which appears at the start of the work, best describes the conclusion of a journey of an artist through his self, trying to come up with things that matter most, while still trying to discern his place in this world.

I still remember the day, when as a teenager, ready to explore the world around me, I, once looked up in the sky, which was sunny and inspiring, and...more

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Jun 18, 2009 Sparrow rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Zach Braff

Recommended to Sparrow by: Mat and Patrick Kearney

Shelves: reviewed

This book is a very dry, written version of the Dead Poet’s Society without Robin Williams. I was already grateful to Whoopi Goldberg this week for her reasonable comments about the most recent Sarah Palin ridiculousness, so I feel kind of bitter at having to be grateful for the other half of that daring duo. I had sworn them as my nemeses – minor nemeses, yes, of nowhere near the caliber of Charlie Kaufman, David Lynch, or Harold Bloom, but nemeses nonetheless. Now, I find myself thinking, “It’...more

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Mar 28, 2009 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, reviewed-books

Unlike Ulysses, which I have tried to read too many times to count (the furthest I made it was halfway), I have read Portrait twice: once in my twenties, and again a few years ago. Although I found the religious sections a bit tedious, I was pleased to discover that my appreciation for the rest of Joyce's portrayal has increased considerably over the years.

24 likes · like · see review

Sep 16, 2011 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels, joyce

CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH : STEPHEN DEDALUS VS. HOLDEN CAULFIELD

(Note : this is not part of the current ongoing Celebrity Death Match series organised by Manny but I thought I would revive it as a companion piece)

****************

BUCK MULLIGAN : Come on, kinch, you fearful jesuit. I’ve got a tenner on this so I have so get in that square ring and batter this lollybogger senseless.

STEPHEN : Pro quibus tibi offérimus, vel qui tibi ófferunt hoc sacrifícium laudis.

BUCK MULLIGAN : Give us a rest of your g...more

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Jul 07, 2007 Nathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shut up James, you had me at 'moo-cow.'

91 likes · like · see review

Jul 27, 2007 steve ross rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Joyce is brilliant. And he knows it. And he loathes it.

Forget the complexity of his prose (see Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake for the really outlandish bits). Forget his literary stature. Forget his Ireland and his guilt and his Christ. Portrait provides the reader with a character with such depth and realism that I almost can’t stop crapping my pants thinking about it. His approach in crafting Stephen Dedalus (and, thus, himself) is profound, and Joyce would be legend by this invention alone. The...more

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Jan 28, 2008 John rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

An semi-autobiographic novel, featuring a fictionalized character as Joyce's alter-ego, it traces his formative childhood years that led him ambivalently away from a vocation in the clergy and into that of literature.

There are sections which appealed to me (a priestly sermon on the damnation of ones soul into hell is particularly vivid), but by and large the plot line was too disjointed for me to engage with. Uncertain of exactly where I had been or what path the novel was taking me, I found m...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Angus rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: modern-library-100, the-novel-100, radcliffes-rival-100, reviewed-and-blogged

Original post at Book Rhapsody.

***

Before Ulysses, there was a portrait

There was an occasion when one of my commenters pointed out that I haven't finished Ulysses yet when I claimed to have finished all the books that I list on my monthly reading plans. A keen observer, I should say, for yes, the book completely slipped off my mind when I made that claim.

I went ahead to explain that I still do read Ulysses, but only during the weekends. But when these weekends come, I find myself procrastinating,...more

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May 19, 2008 Pierce rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have been feeling appreciative of Dublin lately, so I figured it was a good time to read this book.

I finished it last Friday, sprawled out in the evening sun in Stephen's Green while I killed an hour before a gig and a pint. A suitable place to end it. It is a fine read. It's a strange and wonderful experience to read passages describing the local road on which I've traveled to my grandmother's in Meath most every Sunday forever. In later years he walks the streets from Trinity to the canal pa...more

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Sep 22, 2007 Núria rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007, prestados, literatura-en-ingles, 1-nunca-mas, siglo-xx

Juro que no sé ni como he sido capaz de acabar este libro. Ha sido una experiencia altamente traumática y no me puedo explicar cómo he llegado a sobrevivir hasta el final. Normalmente yo acabo abandonando los libros que no me gustan, pero con éste iba leyendo y leyendo, aunque no tenía ni idea de por qué lo hacía. Creo que ha sido básicamente una cuestión de orgullo, porque una cosa es que Joyce me derrote con un megaladrillo como el 'Ulises' pero otra que me derrote con un librito de 300 página...more Juro que no sé ni como he sido capaz de acabar este libro. Ha sido una experiencia altamente traumática y no me puedo explicar cómo he llegado a sobrevivir hasta el final. Normalmente yo acabo abandonando los libros que no me gustan, pero con éste iba leyendo y leyendo, aunque no tenía ni idea de por qué lo hacía. Creo que ha sido básicamente una cuestión de orgullo, porque una cosa es que Joyce me derrote con un megaladrillo como el 'Ulises' pero otra que me derrote con un librito de 300 páginas y yo no quería darle esta satisfacción de ninguna manera y, además, quería terminarlo para poder criticarlo a placer. No me explico como un libro se puede hacer tan tedioso. Y eso que al principio, la parte en que Stephen Dedalus es un niño serio e introvertido que estudia en un internado de jesuitas, me estaba encantando. El principio es deliciosamente impresionista, evocador y con unas asociaciones sensoriales magníficas. Es como estar dentro de la mente de Stephen y es un lugar muy agradable en el que estar, porque Stephen es un niño imaginativo que mira todo lo desconocido por él con inocencia y con algo de miedo pero a la vez avidez.

Y esto ya lo tiene Joyce: cuando quiere, escribe como nadie, pero cuando quiere es un plasta capaz de "deleitarnos" con larguísimas discusiones sobre la situación política en Irlanda, con interminables sermones (sermones de un cura literalmente) sobre las torturas que esperan a los pecadores que vayan al infierno, con elevadísimas pero estériles discusiones estéticas y metafísicas con los compañeros de universidad, etc. Y yo entiendo que todo esto cumple una función muy específica en la obra, porque la obra va de como Stephen para poder ser escritor tiene que ser libre y ser libre quiere decir estar solo y romper y dejar atrás la influencia de la familia, la religión, las amistades e Irlanda. Pero, en serio, con menos páginas lo hubiéramos pillado. Es como si Joyce se olvidara de que le va a leer alguien y pasara de contar una historia para contar unas cuantas anécdotas y dejar caer interminables disertaciones para demostrar lo buen narrador y lo listo que es. Y eso que 'Dublineses' me encantó, pero supongo que debe ser que en relatos cortos no le da tiempo a ponerse plasta y pedante. (less)

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Jun 04, 2008 Penny rated it 1 of 5 stars

I am three quarters of the way through this book, and I've just decided to bail out.

I have Irish Catholic heritage, so the early part of the book was mildly interesting because I could relate to the quasi-gnosticism of the priests in the boys' school.

Later on I stuck with it because I kept thinking that, eventually, there had to be some flesh-and-blood characters that I'd care about, some relationships between people (or even some realistic conversations), a tiny bit of action taking place outs...more

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Mar 31, 2007 Jeffrey rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People Looking For Voice/Transition

Shelves: favorites

I read this book as high school senior, which I think is a fitting time. This book, quite suprisingly, made me look at and love literature in a way that I hadn't before largely because I connected with Dedalus in way I hadn't connected with any other literary character, not even Holden. Dedalus and I were both going through points of transition in our lives and we both were searching for some meaning, which meant, for us, that we would have to leave a world that was at once comfortable and painf...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Jeremy added it

Shelves: irish-literature

At first it's elusive as hell, but once Stephen starts to develop mentally, it goes through some very well rendered (if fairly standard) buldinsroman tropes. Especially the little creative epiphanies he has along the way, which feel vital and at times, even beautiful almost a century later. There is a lot of mucking about with nascent catholic guilt, and the various kinds of guilt that arise from blindly accepting, fighting and eventually rejecting said catholic guilt. I felt like there might al...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Cbj rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-classics

For me, this novel is about sex. Stephen Dedalus is sexually frustrated. A perceived lack of success in the sexual realm seems to deeply affect Stephen's personality. His friend Davin is invited into bed by a woman and Stephen laments that no woman has invited him into her bed ("but him no woman's eyes had wooed"). Is this why Stephen wants to become an artist? I watched the movie ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL and remembered the following dialog while reading A PORTRAIT:

"The history of art is largely...more

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Jul 31, 2007 marg rated it 2 of 5 stars

Had to read this for the workshop I'm in (well, I actually switched out of that one because the prof was the most unqualified active time waster i have ever encountered and my colleague and i basically ran to another workshop screaming - anyway- had to read joyce for nothing!) and I must say I enjoyed this about as much as The Road - ie, a constant nagging sense that I am SUPPOSED to like this but I just don't. First of all, he was quite the post modernist, and I spent so much time scratching my...more

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Aug 15, 2007 Bart rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Crazy Irishmen with mathematical brains

My inability to enjoy James Joyce found no reprieve in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, I'm afraid.

There are moments when this book is wonderful; the sermons about Hell evince Joyce's extreme talent. But the rest of the time, on 2/3 of the pages, one cannot help but wonder the exact purpose of Joyce's exercise. It does not seem to want to be about entertainment, anyway.

It is unfortunate to write, but I do begin to wonder about all but a handful of persons who say they adore Joyce's work....more

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Jan 27, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: Kandice

Shelves: classics, fiction, literary-fiction, novels

James Joyce's Ulysses from what I can gather is Ground Zero for all I detest in modern literature: the stream of consciousness technique with its confusing nonsequitors, the lack of quotation marks, and often crudeness. On the other hand, I do remember very much liking his short story collection, Dubliners. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is midway between Dubliners and Ulysses. In fact, I read it because I decided I wanted to give Ulysses a fair chance and was told reading Portrait firs...more James Joyce's Ulysses from what I can gather is Ground Zero for all I detest in modern literature: the stream of consciousness technique with its confusing nonsequitors, the lack of quotation marks, and often crudeness. On the other hand, I do remember very much liking his short story collection, Dubliners. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is midway between Dubliners and Ulysses. In fact, I read it because I decided I wanted to give Ulysses a fair chance and was told reading Portrait first is a must, since it's something of a prequel. It's the coming of age story of Stephen Daedalus, one of three central characters in Ulysses.

Portrait does have those hallmarks of modern literature I feel so much distaste for. Quotation marks are replaced with dashes--I read that James Joyce found them "eyesores." So now I know who to curse for all those wannabe artistes utilizing a practice that makes dialogue much, much harder to parse. Thanks ever so much Joyce! Although it was less confusing I admit than with a lot of faux Joyces--Joyce has a way with the rhythm and structure that did make things flow well. And stream of consciousness? Yes, it's there--although with a lighter touch than in say Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, and I never found myself going "Huh???" And there are the occasional crudities--prostitutes, lice, fart jokes. We're not in Victoria's Britain anymore!

For all that, yes, I did like this a lot more than I expected. I have to admit it--a lot of the prose really was beautiful and called out to my magpie soul transfixed by the shiny. The title is a misnomer for we don't start with a young man, but with an infant and two-thirds of the book are taken up with childhood and adolescence. And that stream of consciousness technique worked beautifully in the beginning in evoking the mind of a child. Starting with a "once upon a time" fairy tale beginning and ending with the diary entries of the emerging artist, Joyce brilliantly depicts the different stages of a maturing psyche from small boy to devout teen to angry and estranged (and inspired) young man. There were times I wanted to cheer for and hug Stephen--such as when he as a small boy dared to go to the Rector to complain about the brutality of a teacher. And times when I surprisingly could recognize myself in him.

I rather admire aspects of Joyce's writing rather than loving it here enough to call this a true favorite. Among other things, Joyce does go on and on at times. Such as one really, really long drawn-out discussion between Stephen and a friend about aesthetics that made my eyes glaze over. And I still don't much like the modernist touches in Joyce's style. Give me Austen or Forster--or Chabon or Byatt or Atwood for that matter. The brother to William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf and father of Don Delillo, E. L. Doctorow, and Cormac McCarthy? Not so much. But even I can admire the psychological richness and the pretty, pretty prose in this one.(less)

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Dec 25, 2012 Molli rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

First off, my rating reflects only my subjective enjoyment, not a thorough literary criticism. I understand and respect the literary value of this book, but it's just not something I would have kept at if it wasn't a classic.

I do think this book makes more sense with a deeper understanding of systematic theology and European history, otherwise the conversations are thoroughly nonsensical; the modern ignorance of what was basic and widespread church doctrine at the time does a great disservice to...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Ted rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: multiple-reads, read-during-college, religion-mythology-rationalism, classics, lit-irish

First off, I have too many shelves, so Joyce must sit on the "lit-british" shelf, spinning him in his grave no doubt. (No longer! now an Irish shelf!)

I read the book first in college (not for a course), then a second time a couple years ago. The 40+ year gap provided an interesting test as to what would seem familiar and what wouldn't. I barely recognized the earlier parts of the novel, more recollection (not very detailed) as I progressed. Finally I reached the end, and was shocked as I read th...more First off, I have too many shelves, so Joyce must sit on the "lit-british" shelf, spinning him in his grave no doubt. (No longer! now an Irish shelf!)

I read the book first in college (not for a course), then a second time a couple years ago. The 40+ year gap provided an interesting test as to what would seem familiar and what wouldn't. I barely recognized the earlier parts of the novel, more recollection (not very detailed) as I progressed. Finally I reached the end, and was shocked as I read the last two paragraphs, which I recognized almost word for word, forty years after first reading them! The mind is a strange thing.

Incidentally, chapter three, relating Stephen's retreat and the hell-and-brimstone sermon to which the boys are subjected, provides a wonderful example of the way in which organized religion (in this case the Irish Catholic version) can so wonderfully scare the crap out of a young adult. The following describes Stephen returning to his room after the sermon.

He could not grip the floor with his feet and sat heavily at his desk, opening one of his books at random ... Every word for him! It was true ... God could call him now ... God had called him. Yes? What? Yes? His flesh shrank together as it felt the approach of the ravenous tongues of flames, dried up as it felt about it the swirl of stifling air. He had died. Yes. He was judged. A wave of fire swept through his body: the first. Again a wave. His brain began to glow. Another. His brain was simmering and bubbling within the cracking tenement of the skull. Flames burst forth from his skull like a corolla, shrieking like voices: - Hell! Hell! Hell! Hell! Hell!

Luckily, it passes. And eventually Joyce passed out of the Church. There's an interesting little section in the Wiki article on Joyce titled Joyce and Religion. Some scholars believe that Joyce was reconciled, or never really left, the Catholic Church. This section concludes by relating that, when his burial was being arranged, a Catholic priest tried to convince Joyce's wife that there should be a funeral Mass for him. She is quoted as saying "I couldn't do that to him."(less)

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Jul 29, 2012 Ryan Milbrath added it

James "The Modernist Marvel" Joyce. It took me a long time to appreciate Joyce. It took growing up, reading, re-reading, and reflecting. I'll be honest, in high school symoblism and motifs in The Dubliners didn't do it for me. Ulysses was like the product of literary mad scientist bent on destroying the young fragile mind. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young man was a tad dull. Looking back on it thought I've come to recognize Joyce's outstanding control over the English language. I use the word...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Drew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, favorites

I had started Ulysses three times in college but never got past page 75 before giving up. That was my background with James Joyce. Like TS Eliot and others of the great modernist writers, I only knew Joyce as being a great writer beyond my own comprehension. Then I found A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man at my local used bookstore in the dollar bin and decided to give it a try. I was unsure what to expect as I started the first page (moocows, baby tuckoos, and tralala lalas), but I gradual...more I had started Ulysses three times in college but never got past page 75 before giving up. That was my background with James Joyce. Like TS Eliot and others of the great modernist writers, I only knew Joyce as being a great writer beyond my own comprehension. Then I found A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man at my local used bookstore in the dollar bin and decided to give it a try. I was unsure what to expect as I started the first page (moocows, baby tuckoos, and tralala lalas), but I gradually fell in line. Like some of the best writing, it took a bit of effort to follow the story, but with each section I felt rewarded for that effort.

The story follows the life of a young man (I assume its somewhat autobiographical) growing up in a strictly catholic society as he grows and matures. He rebels from the church, then returns with renewed vigor and zeal, but ultimately spurns the life of a priest for that of an artist. A few scenes were particularly memorable. The first being early in the story when the young man, probably seven or eight, is seated with the adults for the first time during an important religious holiday meal. The conversation between the men (his father and uncle) and women (mostly the aunt) turns somewhat hostile. We see through the young boy's eyes his first experience of someone questioning the authority of the church in everyday people's lives (and its coming from his own father). This scene paves the way for his eventual rebellion. Later, though, after having found comfort in brothels, he feels conviction and guilt during a fiery sermon about hell and sin. This is probably ten pages or so of the most grim description of biblical and non-biblical hell imaginable. It was gripping to read, but is also an insightful example of how religious leaders use fear to manipulate. After his personal conversion and demonstrated devotion to the church, his priest offers him an opportunity to enter the priesthood. It is at this moment that he realizes a priestly life is not for him; he wants to be an artist. For the first time in the story we get depictions of leaves and birds, we are given excerpts of his writings, and follow him as he decides he must leave his home to fully develop as an artist.

The writing style follows the life of the young man. I imagine the story that opens the book (moocows etc.) is some kind of tale told to the boy as a young child. The details are missing from events when he is younger, but as he grows the writing becomes more mature. Towards the end we see latin phrases popping up and more detailed depictions of the world the young man walks. I enjoyed watching the young man evolve before my eyes the same way the words themselves changed. Overall, it was a tremendously enjoyable read and well worth the effort. It may even convince me to try Dubliners or (less likely) give Ulysses another go.(less)

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Oct 03, 2010 Brinda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

More poem than novel, Portrait was one of those books that after reading certain sentences, you feel like laughing and crying at the same time because it just feels so true. Joyce is doing things with language that I did not think were possible, taking risks and twists and turns that all but turn the words into pictures.

It took me a good 100 pages to get into this one - novels that chronicle the life of the narrator or the main character, I never appreciate the first stages as much as I feel I...more More poem than novel, Portrait was one of those books that after reading certain sentences, you feel like laughing and crying at the same time because it just feels so true. Joyce is doing things with language that I did not think were possible, taking risks and twists and turns that all but turn the words into pictures.

It took me a good 100 pages to get into this one - novels that chronicle the life of the narrator or the main character, I never appreciate the first stages as much as I feel I should. In both Faulkner's Sound and Fury and Joyce's Portrait, I was impressed by the childlike observations and syntax and impressions noted in the first half of the novel, but the parts that really got me were the adolescent, young adult bits.

Stephen Dedalus is both every man and one man - his battles with religion, with his family, with Dublin, with certain intellectual ideas both set him apart from his peers but also place him directly with them and within a specific class context, place, time, and worldview. His descriptions of place put me right on the very street, block, spot he is referring to. And I just loved the whole part about how the priest at his school scared the living cr*p out of the students with the long, horrifying lectures about hell (I honestly think much of one's imagery of hell comes from this book. So vivid, it's frightening), thus turning Stephen into a terrified religious monk, only to later reject it in favor of the most mathematical Reason and Logic. His conversations with Lynch and Cranly about Soul and Beauty are so challenging yet so rich and filled with unique perspectives. I love how he intersperses these intense philosophical debates with Cranly chewing too loudly on a piece of fig or Lynch getting distracted and then rejoining the conversation. Very true to adolescence and the natural way of communicating. And like a few of the other authors I have read recently, this book is ultimately about how art sets one's soul free.

I like how there are no quotations to indicate dialogue and how he always refers to his love interest as She.
This is still Joyce, so there were plenty of completely strange passages and way too many references in Latin for me...but it was a gorgeous, rich, read that will stay with me for a while. Might try some of the other Joyce works, but I am slightly afraid of tackling them. Might do Dubliners before trying the big U. (less)

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Dec 28, 2009 Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was originally published in 1916, so there were words and expressions here which were really old and difficult to understand for people used to the English of the 21st century. Especially since what's in this book is Irish English, while what I grew up with was American English. Describing a statement given by a character in the book, the narrator, for example, stated:

"Its drawl was an echo of the quays of Dublin given back by a bleak decaying seaport, its energy an echo of the sacred eloqu...more This was originally published in 1916, so there were words and expressions here which were really old and difficult to understand for people used to the English of the 21st century. Especially since what's in this book is Irish English, while what I grew up with was American English. Describing a statement given by a character in the book, the narrator, for example, stated:

"Its drawl was an echo of the quays of Dublin given back by a bleak decaying seaport, its energy an echo of the sacred eloquence of Dublin given back flatly by a Wicklow pulpit."

I have never been to Dublin, or to a Wicklow pulpit, nor have I seen the quays of Dublin. So how the hell would I know what this means?

The "young man" in this book was Stephen Dedalus. I've read somewhere that this work is semi-autobiographical. So if Stephen Dedalus was James Joyce, then he was born in a large family [some of his siblings died young, as was usual then in large families where the mother would give birth yearly:], they were financially well-off before but the father went bankrupt [how, the book didn't say:], they were devout christians, Dedalus' mother had wanted him to be a priest/minister but he didn't like it, questioned his faith, rebelled, consorted with prostitutes at age 16, and decided to become an artist/writer instead. His decision to become one read [Stephen Dedalus speaking:]:

"I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use--silence, exile, and cunning."

Wow. Today, a young man like Stephen Dedalus would have simply said: "This is my life. What I do is none of your f..king business. I wanna be a rock star, pursue my music. Get out of my way!"

In between, reading portions I could understand, I was able to see Joyce's mastery and genius. He was as playful as Salman Rushdie, but less mischievous. Towards the end, the book had some diary entries. The second to the last entry, for April 26, was apparently when Stephen Dedalus' mother was packing his things prior to his departure from home to become an artist. I quote it here only because I'll use it in my review of my next book:

"26 April: Mother is putting my new secondhand clothes in order. She prays now, she says, that I may learn in my own life and away from home and friends what the heart go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race."

Imagine a young man today, leaving home, and saying he's doing so "to forge in the smithy of [his:] soul the uncreated conscience of [his:] race!(less)

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Dec 05, 2012 MJ Nicholls rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, pogue-mahone, tortured-artists, penguin-classics

NOW:

Completed in its completeness back in the handsome daze of 2007 and partially re-read (up to p160) on Dec 5 2012. I emerged battered from the fiery pulpit chapter, hell licking at my wary eyeballs as Dedalus blubbers his sins in the confessional, hankering for some sin-making and utterly, totally and completely ready to never read this again. I wrote a very detailed review on September 7th 2007 at the moist age of twenty. Excuse the cute naivety of my prose.

THEN:

The Very Essence of Adolescen...more

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Mar 03, 2008 Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Dante fans and philosophy nuts

Shelves: fiction

James Joyce’s, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, compares to the great Charles Dickens, reading it takes time to unwind. It starts the narration young then grows older with painstaking philosophical questions leading to amends in life theology, and ends in cleaver short wit and I felt like being a big fish in a small pond. It is full of good quotes.

There are some laughs in the book. Even ‘shit for brains’ has ideas. Do you know a dean of studies at a university that functions like a walki...more

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Feb 11, 2008 Pa rated it 5 of 5 stars

When was the last time you read a book that you could barely understand half of what the author says yet you're completely overawed and riveted by his story and his gift? This happened when I read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce's second most famous novel and the Modern Library’s third greatest English language novel of the 20th century. No doubt, A Portrait is a difficult read but nonetheless a thoroughly satisfactory one—at least intellectually. My normal reading speed is 35-40...more

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May 28, 2008 Alison rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: sexually frustrated young men inclined to spell art with a capital A.

The last time I read this book in an academic setting (sometime around my sophmore year of college), my roommate and I considered starting releasing a concept album about the travails of Stephen Dedalus. Ideally, this record would be in the style of a Motown-style girl group (the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas) and would largely concern itself with the protagonist's increasingly explicit need for (insert your favorite slang term for the female reproductive system here).

This was first Joyce I...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-and-have-read

When I first started reading this book I really enjoyed it, I lost myself in the flow of the writing. However, towards the middle my interest was lost, not so due to the heavy prose about sinners & hell, although I did think it was overdone, it was more the long soliloquies about things such as the meaning of beauty or the works of classic writers & philosophers. They just seemed self indulgent & didn't bring anything to the story. What I enjoyed most about it was that its one of my...more

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May 16, 2007 cindy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: startedbutdontplantofinish

Somewhere in the early development of my literary sensibilities, and right after I read Dubliners, I got this crazy idea in my head that I was going to read everything that James Joyce had ever written. There are only 4 major books, after all, so how hard could it be? So I decided to move on to Portrait. The beginning part went smoothly. However, when I got to that long section in the middle full of nonstop religious references and Mary the morning star and on and on and on... and on, I was so p...more

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Dec 04, 2008 Jesse rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics

A great book. Kinda a difficult read, though. You gotta be willing to read it more than once. Some good imagery of goat monsters with poop hanging from their hairy asses...

1 like · like · see review

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About James Joyce

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

James Joyce (1882-1941), Irish novelist, noted for his experimental use of language in such works as Ulysses (1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939). Joyce's technical innovations in the art of the novel include an extensive use of interior monologue; he used a complex network of s...more

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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man & Dubliners

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“His heart danced upon her movements like a cork upon a tide. He heard what her eyes said to him from beneath their cowl and knew that in some dim past, whether in life or revery, he had heard their tale before.” — 804 people liked it

“I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it calls itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use -- silence, exile, and cunning.” — 482 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7588.A_Portrait_of_the_Artist_as_a_Young_Man?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309376772l/7588.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7588.A_Portrait_of_the_Artist_as_a_Young_Man?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce[/url]

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

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