Reviews for James Joyce's Portrait of the artist as a young man

The average rating for James Joyce's Portrait of the artist as a young man based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-11-04 00:00:00 Alice Braxton I admit it's a bit weird to read an anthology for fun, but I'm going to be tackling Ulysses very soon, and I thought a reminder of what makes Irish Literature great beyond James Joyce would be a nice preparation (in conjunction with reading the Odyssey). As anthologies go, Irish Writing An Anthology of Irish Literature in English 1789-1939 is worth picking up. Editor Stephen Regan makes mostly wise choices, generously incorporating texts that deal with folklore, superstition, mythology, culture, and politics. There are, thankfully, no leprechauns here, but plenty of banshees, a couple of ghosts, wights and wraiths, and a healthy smattering of vampires (Bram Stoker is Irish, after all). Indeed, Irish superstition and mythology are very well represented here. There are speeches from the dock, nationalist poems, propaganda plays, cultural essays, translations from the Irish, reflections on Civil War, and feminist declarations. There is plenty of fun too. The usual suspects are well represented -- Lady Gregory, Yeats, Joyce, Stoker, Wilde, Synge (sadly, though, Samuel Beckett is only represented by a short excerpt from his novel Murphy) -- and there are plenty of talented "lesser lights" -- including Flann O'Brien, Ethna Carbery and Padraic Colum This is, without doubt, a strong introduction to Irish literature in English. I probably would have made some different choices, but not many, and as a reminder of what's great in Irish Literature, Regan's collection is the perfect choice for a lazy summer of reading.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-05-23 00:00:00 Solomon Kapustin I’m possibly being a tad premature (because I haven’t finished this volume) but quite simply, I just had to put my thoughts on this anthology into words sooner rather than later. The Irish are noted for their “way with words” and this collection vividly demonstrates an unarguable fact! A source of particular pleasure and enlightenment can be sourced from the words of Oscar Wilde, J.M. Synge and James Joyce. They rejoice in the simple ordinary things of life that bring pleasure, pain, contentment, acceptance, spirituality and a myriad of other emotions that define us as human beings. Please read...! You’ll be glad you did!