steveb@tekecs.UUCP (06/16/83)
Can anyone out there give, from personal experience, guidelines for what type of readers would / would not like Joyce? Having just seen a PBS show on the man makes me curious, but I remember friends who loved and others who despised reading Joyce. Comparisons to other authors / books / styles would be nice. Steve Biedermann (ucbvax or decvax)!teklabs!tekecs!steveb
paul@uofm-cv.UUCP (06/17/83)
Smart, good-looking people like Joyce; others don't. Seriously, I think people who don't mind thinking as they read, work at it, etc. like Joyce, also people who have a "traditional" education get more out of it, as they see the allusions, etc. If you don't have that broad, classic, background, read the new edition of the Joyce bio out, to get a sense of his times, where he was coming from, etc. Richard Ellimann, oops, Ellman (emabarrassing mental block) is the author. People who like books like gravity's rainbow (tomes) can make it through Joyce. It takes endurance, to be sure. Paul (I wish my name was two dactyls) Killey Ann Arbor, MI
mcg@tekecs.UUCP (06/20/83)
In my opinion, Joyce's work falls into two categories:
"Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", and everything else
("Ulysses", "Finnigan's Wake", etc). "Portrait" is by far the
most accessible of Joyce's works, with the most easily identifiable
plot, characters, and language. The others require real work to read,
as well as a good imagination, as Joyce takes many "liberties"
with the language. He is particularly fond of inventing his own
words.
Also, a familiarity with: a) Irish culture; b) Irish history; and
c) the Bible and Roman Catholic ritual helps in reading all of his
books.
I am not commenting on the "value" of these books, only their
accessibility to the general reader.
S. McGeadymarick@ccvaxa.UUCP (06/22/83)
#R:tekecs:-142200:ccvaxa:22300008:000:741 ccvaxa!marick Jun 19 15:36:00 1983 Joyce in order of readability (also in the order they were written): Dubliners (short stories) Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Ulysses Finnegan's Wake Only the last two are "revolutionary". "Portrait" is extremely condensed; it helps if you know some Irish history and a bit about Irish Jesuit schools. Someone somewhen published an earlier version of "Portrait". It is about twice as long as "Portrait" and explains much that is only alluded to in that book. I found it very helpful, a less accomplished but more likable book than "Portrait". I can't recall the title. James Blish, who was a Joyce scholar, called "Barefoot in the Head", a science fiction novel by Brian Aldiss, good preparation for "Finnegan's Wake".
lipp@ccvaxa.UUCP (06/22/83)
#R:tekecs:-142200:ccvaxa:22300009:000:545 ccvaxa!lipp Jun 20 08:32:00 1983 The "pre-Portrait of an Artist" book is "Stephen Hero". A first draft and (say some) unfinished. Still, it's interesting if you want to get off the beaten track. Also, don't forget the early poems "Chamber Music" --a good intro to the general tone and vocabulary used in the short stories and "Portrait..." The "Wake" has a special place in literature--one look and you'll know why. Everyone I know who's read it (several readers) says it totallly changed the way they view the English language. -- A strong statement for a single book....