A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in Around the World in 80 Books

May 26, 2024 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it really liked it

This is the semi-autobiographical story of a young man in Dublin as he gradually comes to relinquish the bonds of family, town, and church and comes to trust his own thoughts and beliefs.

Many consider this book to be one of the best books ever written.

4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 17, 2011 Nanosynergy rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, literature, 100bestnovels-ml-board, 100bestnovels-radcliffe, 2012read, read-ml100, ireland-emigrant-irish, fiction-1900s

Started reading Joyce's book Ulysses as one of my goals this year is to try to read through the list of the Modern Library's 100 best novels of the 20th Century. Ulysses is the first book on the list, but I thought it wise to first finish book #3 on the list, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, as the main character (Stephen Dedalus) is also a primary character is Ulysses.

While I am still pondering why some books are ranked as they are on the Modern Library's list, it is certainly a set of Started reading Joyce's book Ulysses as one of my goals this year is to try to read through the list of the Modern Library's 100 best novels of the 20th Century. Ulysses is the first book on the list, but I thought it wise to first finish book #3 on the list, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, as the main character (Stephen Dedalus) is also a primary character is Ulysses.

While I am still pondering why some books are ranked as they are on the Modern Library's list, it is certainly a set of books that clears the cobwebs from my brain. My last year's reading list was heavy on the mind-candy, brain-cell-killing fiction. Tackling Joyce after reading straight through Janet Evanovich, J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) and a large portion of Lee Child made for a slow-reading this month and put me behind on my reading goals (and the Goodreads Reading Challenge widget coldly reminds me how many books I am behind each time I log on).

The title is an accurate description of the book - although it might be subtitled "Losing My Religion." The writing reflects the main character's age, personal growth, and educational progress - detailed snapshots of the key stages of his life. The book begins with moo-cow, disjointed, young-boy impressions of the world and concludes with scholarly discourse (of course using Latin, quoting Aristotle, etc.). We are privy to Dedalus' inner thought processes and decisions as he matures into his vocational choice and his understanding of what it means to be an artist.

Much of the book, particularly a large section in the middle of the book that contains a lengthy sermon, deals with Dedalus' struggle regarding his personal faith and the role of religion in his life. I found this interesting, but have noted others found it less so.

The upshot of his personal journal can largely be summarized by the following declaration by Dedalus to his friend Cranly near the end of the book: “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.”

Joyce is not a quick read and this book was sometimes difficult to follow. I found it a little hard to get into for a while. But I persevered, re-read parts, spent some time reading about Joyce and his books and finally things started to gel. I found a rhythm in the writing. Joyce's books exhaust and fascinate me. I hope one day to revisit this book, but must move on to the remaining 96 books on the Modern Library list.

...more

2 likes · Like · see review