When I started the book I was pleasantly surprised because I had always heard Joyce was almost impossible to read and I wasn't finding that to be the case. That quickly changed. All of Joyce's stories in the collection are very descriptive, but none of them have a point. Apparently that is a characteristic of modernist literature and Joyce was a modernist. I kept wanting to scream Steve Martin's line from Planes, Trains and Automobiles:
And by the way, you know, when you're telling these little stories? Here's a good idea - have a POINT. It makes it SO much more interesting for the listener!
I don't know, maybe Joyce's point was to depress the reader because that is about all he accomplished besides portraying the Irish as a bunch of drunken bums more interested in listening to some new tenor than actually getting a job and improving their lives. If I lived in the Ireland Joyce portrays in his books I would run far and fast. Of course that is what he did.
OK, enough bitching about James Joyce. I am sure that my two regular readers have noticed the template changed. I also added a Google News Feed to the sidebar as well as updated the currently reading list.
Books, James Joyce, Classics, Literature, Blogs
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