A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

English language

Published Dec. 29, 1916

ISBN:
978-0-14-310824-5
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3 stars (57 reviews)

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. A Künstlerroman written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's fictional alter ego, whose surname alludes to Daedalus, Greek mythology's consummate craftsman. Stephen questions and rebels against the Catholic and Irish conventions under which he has grown, culminating in his self-exile from Ireland to Europe. The work uses techniques that Joyce developed more fully in Ulysses (1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939). A Portrait began life in 1904 as Stephen Hero—a projected 63-chapter autobiographical novel in a realistic style. After 25 chapters, Joyce abandoned Stephen Hero in 1907 and set to reworking its themes and protagonist into a condensed five-chapter novel, dispensing with strict realism and making extensive use of free indirect speech that allows the reader to peer into Stephen's developing consciousness. American …

12 editions

Review of 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

On the surface, this superb novel is a coming-of-age story, sort of an autobiography of Joyce himself. But it runs much deeper. As the protagonist Stephen finds himself, Joyce explores the Irish identity, the power of religion, family bonds and friendships, changing fortunes, and most of all, the beauty of language. Joyce’s mastery of language brought me back for a second read!

Review of 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I wanted to like this book more than I did; it is really well written almost poetic like, but I never connected with the story. The main reason would be the heavy Catholic themes; I’m not a catholic (though if I was I would want to be a Jesuit too) and all the talk on Catholicism was lost on me. The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man is a semi autobiographical story about Stephen Dedalus (James Joyce’s literary alter ego) and his journey from a Jesuit university student to an artist; the book is richly detailed and a moving coming-of-age story.

There is nothing wrong with this book, it was just that the major theme; Catholicism was a bit lost of me, but I really enjoyed the Literary arguments in this book. Especially the argument about who the greatest Poet of all times was; Tennyson or Byron

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