James Joyce

[GutenAbend]

What are his best stories? I have Dubliners but have yet to start reading it.

[Paul Kemp]

Can't bring myself to start...

[lisa]

dubliners is great. im gonna start reading a portrait of the artist as a young man one of these days...

[Paul Kemp]

Read some Oscar Wilde.

[sombre winds]

Joyce's books are often better listened to. He was a singer and that shows when his works are read.. There are some readings by him out there. The audio versions of Portrait of an Artist include songs etc. The audio version of Finnegan's Wake is poetry and music itself.
If you haven't read Ulysses, that's a good follow up to Portrait of an Artist.

[Ghostdog]

Ulysses is unreadable, well nothing is unreadable but it's not like you're actually going to enjoy reading it. You will, however, be able to say that you're one of the three persons who've actually read it :). Portrait of a Young Artist is the way to go.

[Ian]

Read The Dead, the last story in Dubliners. If you don't go around using it as a definition of genius for weeks I'll be shocked, cos its one of the best short stories ever. The last paragraph is so monumental. I haven't read anything else by him.

[Hourglass]

Dubliners for some Joyce style, gritty realism, Portrait... for a nice blend of realism and symblism, Ulysees if you hate yourself.

Or go for some Beckett. Yes.

[blunar/2^k]

Ulysses is unreadable, well nothing is unreadable but it's not like you're actually going to enjoy reading it. You will, however, be able to say that you're one of the three persons who've actually read it :).

Finnegan's Wake even more so (in terms of inscrutability)... I would that I had the patience for either of them. I'm a slow enough reader of normal books.

[sombre winds]

Ulysses is unreadable, well nothing is unreadable but it's not like you're actually going to enjoy reading it. You will, however, be able to say that you're one of the three persons who've actually read it :). Portrait of a Young Artist is the way to go.

Ulysses is Not unreadable although I agree that Portrait is the place to start.

Finnegan's Wake is unreadable- but it's a lovely listen if you are not trying to make sense of it and just listening to the music of the words.

[Junk Bond Sam]

I've read the Dubliners, it's worth reading.

I've picked up Ulysses, but never been able to finish it. There are critics out there who consider Ulysses to be complete crap, and will trash it to no end..

[Mr_Trout88]

I've read the Dubliners, it's worth reading.

I've picked up Ulysses, but never been able to finish it. There are critics out there who consider Ulysses to be complete crap, and will trash it to no end..

Those are mostly pre-T.S. Eliot critics who didn't understand Ulysses. You can't read Ulysses until you've read The Iliad. As far as stories go, Dubliners. Of the novels, Ulysses is the most important, but Portrait of the Artist is more accessible. Finnegans Wake is more creative with language than Ulysses, and I would say it's more difficult. But not unreadable at all. If you like Joyce, try Ellman's biography. It's a classic in the genre.

[Junk Bond Sam]

Those are mostly pre-T.S. Eliot critics who didn't understand Ulysses. You can't read Ulysses until you've read The Iliad. As far as stories go, Dubliners. Of the novels, Ulysses is the most important, but Portrait of the Artist is more accessible. Finnegans Wake is more creative with language than Ulysses, and I would say it's more difficult. But not unreadable at all. If you like Joyce, try Ellman's biography. It's a classic in the genre.

Alright, cool, I'll put it on my list of books to read.. Thanks

[DrHibbert]

I thoroughly respect Joyce's writing, I think it is brilliant. But I don't enjoy reading it very much.

[sombre winds]

Those are mostly pre-T.S. Eliot critics who didn't understand Ulysses. You can't read Ulysses until you've read The Iliad. As far as stories go, Dubliners. Of the novels, Ulysses is the most important, but Portrait of the Artist is more accessible. Finnegans Wake is more creative with language than Ulysses, and I would say it's more difficult. But not unreadable at all. If you like Joyce, try Ellman's biography. It's a classic in the genre.

I learned to appreciate Joyce from a class I took with Ellman. (Yes I'm that old!) Maybe thats why I find him so readable.

[Mr_Trout88]

I learned to appreciate Joyce from a class I took with Ellman. (Yes I'm that old!) Maybe thats why I find him so readable.

Wow. :O :O What luck! I'm envious. Ellmann is the paradigm for literary biographers in my opinion. Only Elliott Carter comes close to Ellmann's books on Joyce and Wilde.

[sombre winds]

Wow. :O :O What luck! I'm envious. Ellmann is the paradigm for literary biographers in my opinion. Only James Carter comes close to Ellmann's books on Joyce and Wilde.

It wasn't a class on biography. It was on the modern English novel. In spite of his wisdom I never could understand Finnegan's Wake except that the main character was a child molester.

[GutenAbend]

Wilde is one of my favorites.i've read everything by him.



Read some Oscar Wilde.

[GutenAbend]

What are the standout stories in Dubliners?

[GutenAbend]

Has anyone read any of his short stories? If so could you recommend the best ones to read.Thanks

[Ian]

The Dead.

[GutenAbend]

Recommendations help because my time is very limited when it comes to reading.My job is a 24 hour a day job, so when i do have at least a little bit of time to read id like that time to be well spent.

[Ian]

The Dead. In fact, don't read it.

[john the revelator]

Recommendations help because my time is very limited when it comes to reading.My job is a 24 hour a day job, so when i do have at least a little bit of time to read id like that time to be well spent.

24 hours a day? they passed a law against child labor awhile ago. where do you work?


ohhhhhhhhhhhh that's right...your band. yea, that is a 24 hour a day job. especially when you're so famous.

good luck reading these books in your spare time. i'm sure you'll really understand them. (is that pretentious?)

[twotimes]

Recommendations help because my time is very limited when it comes to reading.My job is a 24 hour a day job, so when i do have at least a little bit of time to read id like that time to be well spent.

If it's quality you're after and disappointment you're looking to avoid, dump the Joyce and embrace Ms. Judy Blume's tour de force, "Superfudge."

[Postcard]

Ulysses is unreadable.


"The sound of a teenage boy scratching at his pimples"
-Virginia Woolfe

(not to be one of those people who makes themselves look intelligent by quoting other people...)