A Reader's Guide to James Joyce

by William York Tindall

First published in 1959, William York Tindall's Reader's Guide is still considered to be the best introduction to the complex writings of James Joyce. From Dubliners to Finnegans Wake, Tindall's knowledge is as comprehensive as it is authoritative.

Genres: Literary Criticism, Nonfiction, Irish Literature, Literature, Reference, Criticism, Literary Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

William York Tindall was an American Joycean scholar with a long and distinguished teaching career at Columbia University. Several of Tindall's classic works of criticism, including A Reader's Guide to James Joyce and A Reader's Guide to Finnegans Wake are still in print. He wrote a total of thirteen books on UK and Irish writers including Joyce, Dylan Thomas, W. B. Yeats, and Samuel Beckett. Indeed, Tindall nominated Beckett for the Nobel Prize in Literature; Beckett was the 1969 laureate.

Reviews

[Brant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the chapters on Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, so the rating is based solely on those. Thought is was very average. Not sure I'll use it for Ulysses; I think there are better guides out there.

[Berkles · Rating 5 out of 5]

For: Joyce enthusiasts, people that like reading clever enlightening essays about clever enlightening books. His overview portions in the essays on Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake were exceptional. Dubliners was a little so-so (though I did quote the "A Little Cloud" essay for a multimedia James Joyce project), but his random tangents on Portrait are great.

[Russell Dyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Joyce wrote only a few novels -- one, the Dubliners is more of a vaguely connected short story collection -- but they're rich novels containing much. To get the most out of reading them, I used this guide, reading the description of each book before reading it. It didn't spoil anything for me. Instead, it helped me get the most from the novels. Appreciating the writing, like enjoying the journey, is what matters, not the ending or the destination.

[Raúl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta guía supone una introducción a la obra completa de Joyce. Es una de las primeras guías que surgieron sobre el autor irlandés, y a ella hay que sumar la guía que hizo en particular sobre el finnegans Wake. Tindall dedicaba su curso univesitario al estudio tanto de la obra completa como a esta novela en concreto. En su mirada se une una precisión académica junto a un entusiasmo de admiración.

[Howard Krosnick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because of personal interests, I skimmed most of the book and read in detail only the chapters on Finnegans Wake. Very useful.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are better guides, but this one simplifies things nicely... good guide for a first read of Ulysses. Like Tindall, I too love the second to last chapter of Ulysses.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acquired 1992
The Word, Montreal, Quebec

[Claire S]

I like the big picture overview aspect of this, and the detail explanations as well.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

And this, to help me get through Joyce's Ulysses.

[Lolo Pass]

San Francisco