A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Part II: On second thought... I still love it!)

I'm not exactly sure how to do a review on a classic. Clearly it's a good book if it's being read over 100 years after it's first publication. It's also difficult to pinpoint the plot of the book. When somebody asked me what it was about, I replied, "I don't really know how to explain it," yet here I am trying to write a review. Here goes nothing...

Set in Ireland, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man follows Stephen Dedalus spiritual journey from childhood to adulthood. Stephen, attends an Irish Catholic boarding school, where he struggles with his faith. There is also, parallel to Antigone, the question of is it right for a person to love his god or love his country running in and out of the novel. James Joyce based the character and plot upon his own personality and experiences, which I found very interesting. The emotions and fears displayed through A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man were very authentic; I felt like I was in Stephen Dedalus's head. The plot was really good, but it was the words I fell in love with. My favorite part of the book was the way Joyce wrote. His sentences were the most beautiful thing I've ever read. He knew so many words! Seriously. I spent a more time flipping through the dictionary reading this book then all the other books I've read combined. Normally looking up words is a pain, but I actually enjoyed it with this book because every single word was used perfectly. I almost feel like he made them up. It was amazing. I was very impressed. What can else can I say? I think everyone should read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Although, I hope it doesn't take you as long to finish as it took me. Even though it's my new favorite book ever, it took a lot of time. It's a hard book.

In case you were curious, here are a handful of those crazy words I learned while reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:

1. "A figure that had seemed to him by day demure an dinnocent came towards him by night through the winding darkness of sleep, her face transfigured by a lecherous cunning, her eyes bright with brutish joy." Lecherous- excessive indulgence in sexual activity.


2. "He cared little that he was in mortal sin, that his life had grown to be a tissue of subterfuge and falsehood." Subterfuge- deceptive device.


3. "...have room to a softer languor, the image of Mercedes traversed the background of his memory." Languor- A dreamy, indolent mood or quality.


4. "The chaos in which his ardour extinguished itself was a cold indifferent knowledge of himself." Ardour- great warmth or intensity, emotion, passion, desire, strong enthusiasm or devotion.


5. "It was strange too that he found an arid pleasure in following up to the end the rigid lines of the doctrines or the curch an dpenetrating into obscure silences only to hear and feel the more deeply his own condemnation." Arid- lacking interest or spirit.

See more reviews or buy A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man at Amazon.com

The photo is the Statue of James Joyce on North Earl Street, Dublin. I stole it from Wikipedia.org.