Customer Reviews

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Depending on one's taste and level of concentration, James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" is either tedious flop or a wonderful cornerstone of world literature. (I believe the latter.) I won't go into a discussion of "A Portrait" here because if you are looking at this particular Viking Critical edition, you've already committed yourself to reading it. The value of this edition lies in the critical essays and notes at the end. The notes will help the reader along, as they explain some of the terms and/or conditions that are particular to Joyce's Ireland. The essays are, each and every one, valuable tools. Whether it's an examination of Joyce's life, the creation of "A Portrait", the influences it would have, etc., every essay is a heavy-weight that enchances an understanding of the book. (At least it did for me.) If you're seriously considering reading "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" this is the edition to use.

The best first line every written in any novel. Read it and see. =)

How could James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man not receive a single rating of five in all of these reviews? I dare all of you to read the book again and find other words besides "dull," which it isn't, and "thick," by which you might have meant "layered," in order to describe this masterpiece I see as certainly on par with Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway.

I purchased this book by looking up the ISBN number. I really needed that edition for class to follow with the corresponding page numbers. Instead I got a different version. Also, I know "slightly used" is not perfect, but I didn't expect to pay for an old library book with everything still attached. The latter doesn't bother me as much though, it's just that it will be harder to follow in class.

When I started a class in Joyce, the prof handed out to the students an article on Joyce's works. The critic maintained that although most people felt they 'should' read Joyce, he never met anyone "who actually enjoyed reading him." As a poet, people often similarly complain to me, "I don't get Poetry. I just don't understand it; it's too hard." I tell them that poetry is not to be read like prose, that it does need to be treated differently than reading a story; think of it as a translation exercise. I feel the same about Joyce. It doesn't give me the same breezy pleasure that reading Jane Austen does; I sometimes have to read several passages of Joyce's three or four times, scouring the notes and criticisms in this and other annotated editions, discuss it with other Joyce fans and do some Googling, too. But like a person training to run a marathon, climbing a mountain or exercising to lose weight at a Gym, there is a certain amount of hard work that goes into the task before one experiences the joy of succeeding. It may not be the same kind of enjoyment that one means when they say they enjoyed this book, movie or event, but there is a joy in it still. When one starts to draw all the threads of intertextual references, connotations or metaphors together in a passage, the light of understanding is a purity of joy that is greater than that of reading a book for fun and ease.

Although many people may not consider this fun and I have no desire to coerce people to read something they are not drawn to, if you are willing to work at it, then I would suggest you arm yourself with some background knowledge on the novel from reference or annotated books like this one, a friend who has struggled with this challenge themselves before and extra spare time to mull over the passages and see if figuring out what Joyce is saying brings the same rush of bliss that it does for me and you will have opened up a new avenue of understanding on one of the great writers of the 20th century.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young man is irreducibly complex, layered with symbolism, and complicated by politics. Even as this work is often cited as Joyce's most accessible, the narrative structure is often baffling in sections. The footnote references which illuminate some (but by no means all!) of the allusions are an absolute necessity. While I admire Joyce immensely for his brilliance I did not find this book a 'pleasant read.' Nevertheless, I felt as though I 'should' read it even if, now having done so, I have not totally understood it. I would definitely recommend reading A Portrait.

If you're new to Joyce, this would the the book to start with. I definitely wouldn't start with Ulysses as that will put you off with its stream of consciousness. "Portrait" is much more user-friendly and easy to read. This novel is one of the greatest works in the English language. It is not only beautifully written but it can carry a different meaning for people at different stages of their life. Young high school students will find some themes very interesting while a man of 40 can draw new pleasure from reading it a second time. For those interested in Joyce's work, this is a good place to start, for it is easier than his other novels. This is not to say that it is an overly easy book to understand. Anyone who has read The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner knows that the stream of conscienceness style of writing can at times stifle reading comprehension but for the most part give a unique, exciting view of a character. Overall, though, this is an excellent novel and worthy of anyone's effort. As I said, this is a good place to start if you're looking for a Joyce induction. Would also recommend the novels "O Pioneers!" by Willa Cather and the Vonnegut book titled "Cat's Cradle"--these are something different as I don't like reading the same thing over na over.

This book seems to have been written for style more then anything else, and at times it makes it difficult to read, this is true. But overall the book is not to difficult to read, it is a great introduction to Joyce, if you plan on reading Ulysses, or Finggans Wake, and it's an excellent book to read over and over because you will find things you missed and find reading Joyce's style become easier everytime you read it. Joyce does go into greek mythology a bit and reading about Deadalus (he built the labrynth) will allow you to better appreciate some of the symbolism. But don't read this book if your looking for a nice story to read, read it to appreciate the style and the poetic descriptions Joyce uses. And remember the book is narrated differently as Stephen matures, so it is a little difficult in the beginning due to the constantly broken thoughts when he is an infant, irrational, and extreme (puberty), and then finally logical and intelligent at the very end of the book

Sure its pretentious, frustrating, difficult, etc., but it is also such a rewarding read. Boring sections like chapter 3 with the church sermon set up excellent ones, such as the end of Chapter 4, with Stephen's epiphany, which I must say is the most beautiful, glorious thing I have ever read. the emotion and symbolism (such as Stephen Dedalus taking flight from society much like his Greek namesake Daedalus did from an island) is simply overwhelming. I had to read this for a college english class (as well as write an essay on it) but i still enjoyed it. the stream of conciousness style may be too difficult and odd for some but i found a nice break from other literature, which is more than i can say for the similar novel To the Lighthouse by Woolf (also extremely good stylistically, but much less interesting). brilliant, but not a good introduction to joyce for those still in high school or not used to reading challenging literature. I would recommend "The Dead" to try him out first.

This is one of those great pieces that really divides the audience. If you read fellow reviewers' comments, one says that no-one should rate this below 4 stars while another says no-one should rate it above 1 star. Some people admit they don't get it, some people say there is nothing to get, and some dive deep into Joyce's world. What a gift!

For my own thoughts...as I rate it, I think I need to rate it more as a piece of art rather than a typical piece of literature. When I review literature, I consider character development, plot development, narrator's voice, story-telling ability, etc. With Joyce, he shows you so much and tells you so little, that it's really hard to nail alot of facts down. How old is he in the beginning? How many siblings did he have? Did he have a crush on the same girl throughout the book? Why did Dante have 2 brushes? What exactly caused his father's fall? There is just so much information that Joyce doesn't bother telling you. It's like the opposite of watching "The Wonder Years" or "Scrubs" where you get a play-by-play account of the action and a foreshadowing of what was to come.

At first I was very unnerved by his approach. I like to have a groundwork laid, and I didn't even know how old Dedalus was when the book started (I had trouble translating the Irish school system to an equivalent year here). However, the world as seen through an intelligent but vulnerable and geeky boy was fascinating. I loved the vivid accounts as seen by a child with no attempt to correct or add to this perspective by some adult voice.

As the story progresses, Joyce skips through time, apparently selecting important scenes in his young life. But he doesn't tell you they are important. He just shows them to you, like flipping through a picture book. He leaves you to draw up your own conclusions. If nothing else, it was clear that Dedalus (representing Joyce) was on a tough track. He had an artist's temperament even early on (emotionaly, extreme, caught within himself), but as his family slipped into poverty such a nature would be harder and harder to accept.

By about the middle of the book, I became completely enraptured with his use of metaphors...the images are so lovely, so perfect, so unforced that it hardly seems right to compare them with the crude, simple, ignoble ones I run into so often in literature. This mastery of words thrilled my soul, regardless of the plotline and character development; in this way, it was more like music than literature.

By the end I saw a clear progression of Dedalus' character, as is well described in the 2nd spotlight review. Not only does the complexity of the writing increase as Dedalus grows older, but his characater evolves as he tests the water in many arenas. He has gone from a pretentious child who is so vulnerable because he has no outlet and no understanding of how he is different to one who can dialog with the masters (Aristotle, Aquinas, Augustine, etc). He has found a home in academia and a vocabularly to express his inner worlds. He made not have found peace yet, but he has found that he has a place in this world.

However, again, I would say that the understanding you gain is more like that of glimpses gained through art than through literature. I don't know that I could ever fully understand everything he was talking about, why he was talking about, who he was referring to, etc. Therefore, I rate this highly as a masterful artistic rendering of a coming-of-age story. If you are looking for a clear fiction or biography, however, this might not be for you.