Matthew’s
Comments
(group member since Mar 08, 2015)
Matthew’s
comments
from the Reading List Completists group.
Showing 101-120 of 1,751
Eileen wrote: "Hmm...I will see if I can get this book from my library. But it's a BIG book!"Indeed - very big! Hopefully 3 months is enough!
Starting of strong - the prologue is VERY interesting! It does the job of making me interested in reading it.I am getting Night Film vibes here
The July 2021 winner is I, Claudius
House of Leaves starts today!
Discuss the July-Sept 2021 Completist Big Read Selection here
Discuss the July 2021 Completist Poll Winner here
Eileen wrote: "Oh shoot, I completely forgot about this! Argh! I'm going to try to fit it in this month!"I have downloaded it a few times but want to read it on my tablet. But, every time I go to get the tablet, the kids have it!
Liane wrote: "I am the dissenting voice on this one. This was an utter slog for me. I was interested in the Irish politics, when I could follow them. I was interested in the depictions of his home life and schoo..."Sorry it did not work for you, Liane - sounds like my first experience with it from high school.
I finished this last week and enjoyed it much more this time around than I did when I was a teenager:Click for my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
One of the most interesting parts of the discussion that my review has triggered is discussion about this being a "Bildungsroman" and other things related to that.
Here are some quotes from Wikipedia - and they could be a bit spoilerish based on definitions, so proceed cautiously!:
"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. A Künstlerroman written in a modernist style"
"A Künstlerroman (German pronunciation: [ˈkʏnstlɐ.ʁoˌmaːn]; plural -ane), meaning "artist's novel" in English, is a narrative about an artist's growth to maturity. It could be classified as a sub-category of Bildungsroman. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, a Künstlerroman differs from a Bildungsroman upon its ending. Whereas a Künstlerroman concludes with a rejection of the everyday life, the hero of a Bildungsroman fantasizes of becoming an important artist figure, however, settles for being a common citizen by the end of the novel."
"In literary criticism, a Bildungsroman (German pronunciation: [ˈbɪldʊŋs.ʁoˌmaːn], plural Bildungsromane, German pronunciation: [ˈbɪldʊŋs.ʁoˌmaːnə]) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is important. The term comes from the German words Bildung ("cultivation") and Roman ("novel")."
I enjoyed this much more this time around. Teenage me was too jaded, I guess!Click for my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Sue wrote: "I'm past the fire and brimstone part. It was a bit much but I understand Joyce having it in there since it played a big part in shaping him. I read Walking with Ghosts, Gabriel Byrn..."Great summary, Sue! You make me want to check out Byrne's memoir!
The middle of this book is one big sermon on hellfire and damnation - not too bad to listen to Colin Farrell narrate. But, I could see this being a bit tedious if I was reading a physical/ebook version.
Leonard wrote: "Hi everyone!A couple of things about me: I’ve been on GR for a few years now and enjoy the book club vibe. I find that small gatherings (buddy-reads, group-reads) are tremendously helpful to get ..."
Welcome, Leonard! :) Hope you enjoy reading along!
Finally starting this today!
I just reread the poem since I never got back to this is early April. Needed a bit of a refresher before I start the commentary.
The winner of the June poll is A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Discuss the June 2021 Completist Selection - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - here
The June 2021 Completist Poll is up and ready for your vote!https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
