Reviews for James Joyce: A Beginner's Guide

The average rating for James Joyce: A Beginner's Guide based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-09-23 00:00:00 Erin Barni An introduction to some of Joyce's major works: Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses. I like James Joyce poetry but for some reason I've never felt in the mood of reading his narrative and this book helped me change my mind a bit. I still have no interest in reading Ulysses but I think one day I could read Dubliners. I've already read The Dead and I liked it and now I know there are some other stories such as Eveline that could be interesting for me. For A Beginner's Guide, the chapter of the critical reception felt too heavy for me; although I adore literary criticism, I felt it was unnecesary to have a full chapter about it for something that is meant to be only an introduction. I enjoyed the chapter "where next?" as it felt fresher and lighter which is what I expect from this kind of readings.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-12-01 00:00:00 Michael Warde Very simplified, I like that.. And when going over Ulysses, he lays out the structure of it (3, then 18, then 3 again I think); and goes through each section, saying from time to time: 'Now, this part is where a lot of people stop reading. What you need to do to keep going is this.. '. And lists a finite number of items that a first-time reader should focus on, and suggests letting the rest circle around about as it will, etc..