Maybe it's all the Dickens I've read, maybe I just read complicated things all the time or maybe this book is an exception but I had heard that Joyce's works were notoriously difficult to read. I found this book intriguing and easy to follow for the most part.
It follows the central character Stephen Dedulas through his life in Ireland, from humble beginnings at a Catholic school, to confusion as a teenager to the climactic end to this confusion as he sets off to unknown places in search of some sort of self identity. It seems like many novels follow this sort of line - guy gets confused then finds himself but this is done in the midst of the truly unique Irish culture. Born into a Catholic-oriented world Stephen follows the path less travelled: he sins, he repents and then he walks away entirely. The whole section of the book in which Stephen is terrified into Catholicism sent shivers up my spine. The usual sort of burning in hell speech but very aptly put in a speech by a priest.
Joyce's style of writing is also pleasant, sort of stream of counciousness but not in the same way as other authors. The relationships between him and his mother, his father and a girl are all written between the lines of prose. As well as this, his connection with stringent Catholicism leads to some spectacular philosophising spelled out in conversations between him and his friends, much in the same way as Plato's Republic.
I don't know if I only enjoyed this book immensely and read it quickly because I should be studying for my law exam but I would highly recommend it any way!
No comments:
Post a Comment