Being forced to read James Joyce is akin to being flailed soundly for three days, with intermittent sessions of Chinese water torture.
I just finished the first chapter of Portrait, and I actually liked it a lot. It's reminding me of a lot of modern fiction that you could pick up from the "just in" shelf at the library. I don't tend to like Modernism at its most extreme--like the points where things devolve into one-word sentences or long streams of consciousness--but playing with time within the narrative, when done well (and Joyce does do it well), can be pretty cool. The fact that I identify like crazy with Stephen Dedalus at this point and am absolutely fascinated with the history of Irish nationalism may have lots to do with this, of course. ;) Plus you have to admit that Joyce can be funny as hell when he wants to. :)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2003-09-20 10:03 pm (UTC)I just finished the first chapter of Portrait, and I actually liked it a lot. It's reminding me of a lot of modern fiction that you could pick up from the "just in" shelf at the library. I don't tend to like Modernism at its most extreme--like the points where things devolve into one-word sentences or long streams of consciousness--but playing with time within the narrative, when done well (and Joyce does do it well), can be pretty cool. The fact that I identify like crazy with Stephen Dedalus at this point and am absolutely fascinated with the history of Irish nationalism may have lots to do with this, of course. ;) Plus you have to admit that Joyce can be funny as hell when he wants to. :)