...if only to truly understand the story and it's many, many elements. I finished James Joyce's The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (published 1916) last night and it touched me. I enjoyed the story and found the journey of Stephen Dedalus to be compelling. I have heard that this piece is a semi-autobiographical one and that through this story Joyce paints his experiences of becoming a writer. I can certainly believe this.
The part of the novel that I found most engaging was the struggle Dedalus had with his religion. His desire to be accepted, forgiven and ultimately saved was certainly realisitic, and his fall from these desires equally interesting. I think that without this struggle Dedalus would have been a far less intricate character, one that I would not have cared about or for and as a result would not have found this piece to be worth my time.
The imagery used by Joyce is also quite beautiful. His descriptions of heaven and hell and his ability to create a vivid image of a scene is something to which many novelists strive. I think the most striking aspect of his writing is its concise nature. Joyce says a lot with very little. Perhaps this observation is simply a result of my recent experience with the Victorian novel, and the inexperience Victorian novelists have with brevity, but Joyce is able to paint a detailed and visceral image with very few words, a talent I wish more authors possessed.
I will go back and reread this novel in the future, if only to delve deeper into it's imagery, but for now I will be happy to say that I enjoyed my first reading of Joyce and look forward to more.
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