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The book is a Kunstlerroman. It tracks his development from infancy to adulthood. I admit the first part of the book isn't nearly as interesting as the later pa
by Alekhine 5y ago
The book is a Kunstlerroman. It tracks his development from infancy to adulthood. I admit the first part of the book isn't nearly as interesting as the later parts. It's still my favorite novel ever, and I'm convinced Joyce might be the greatest English writer.
- AnimalMuppet 5y agoI agree that that's what the book does. But it never made me care about the individual it was tracking, and that ruined everything else. If I don't care about the main character or the person he's talking to, why do I care about the conversation? Even more, why do I care about the exhaustive details of the route they walked while they were having the conversation? The main character gives his (and Joyce's?) theory of art: art should not create any response in the viewer. If it does, it mars the purity of the art. Joyce may be a great author; he certainly succeeded in writing a book that created no response whatsoever in me (other than annoyance at the time I wasted plowing through the tedium of something that I didn't care about whatsoever). That may be great art, but I don't have to like it.