James Joyce

[Ghazban]

I haven't read anything by him but I want to. I glanced at Finnegan's Wake about a year ago, went "huh?....Is this in English?" chickened out, and read another Dostoyevsky book instead. Is he worth reading and, if so, what's a good book to start with? (Ulysses, maybe?)

[asofel]

[ QUOTE ]
I haven't read anything by him but I want to. I glanced at Finnegan's Wake about a year ago, went "huh?....Is this in English?" chickened out, and read another Dostoyevsky book instead. Is he worth reading and, if so, what's a good book to start with? (Ulysses, maybe?)

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The notes on Ulysses are bigger than the book itself. Be prepared to look up every third sentence or so. I read it in a highschool English course and enjoyed parts of it; other parts were very tedious.

Finnegan's wake scares me.

[Robk]

he is well worth reading imo. (although i havent read finnegans wake.) start with "portrait of the artist as a young man", try to get a good editiion with lots of footnotes. if you try ulysses or finnegans wake youll need annotations or a lot of secondary literature to get the most out of them.

[Ghazban]

Thanks for the headsup. I work in a large university library so finding editions with the necessary annotations/footnotes/etc. shouldn't be a problem.

[sfer]

I started with Dubliners.

[Robk]

i have ulysses annotated by don gifford. its very good, but there may be better things out there.

[shakingspear]

I read "Portrait" in high school. It was kind of difficult, but probably a good place to start.

[edtost]

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I started with Dubliners.

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[CCass]

[ QUOTE ]
I haven't read anything by him but I want to. I glanced at Finnegan's Wake about a year ago, went "huh?....Is this in English?" chickened out, and read another Dostoyevsky book instead. Is he worth reading and, if so, what's a good book to start with? (Ulysses, maybe?)

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I hear El Diablo is an expert on Ulysses.

[LittleOldLady]

I don't think Finnegans Wake is worth the effort, but Ulysses is. As others have suggested, start with Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist (particularly the latter), and see what you think. I have taught both Dubliners (well, The Dead) and Portrait of the Artist to undergrads, and they went OK. My senior seminar as an undergrad read Ulysses. It's appropriate for that level. Finngans Wake isn't.

[Blarg]

Dubliners is where to start, I think. If you can't handle the short stories, you surely won't be ready for the way more "out there" Ulysses and especially Finnegan's Wake.

Then I'd do Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Then if you are feeling more adventurous than you know what to do with, Ulysses. Save Finnegan's Wake for last. Like after you're retired or something.

[pryor15]

def don't start w/ ulysses

[PoBoy321]

I would suggest either Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or The Dubliners. Hardly light reads by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly easier than Ulysses.

[Ghazban]

Thanks, all. I picked up 'Portrait' and am about 30 pages in. Its interesting; I don't think I've ever read anything written quite like it.

[Bigdaddydvo]

Portrait is awesome. Did my high school research on it.

[The Yugoslavian]

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Dostoyevsky

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Just keep readin' this dude.

Throw some Kierkegaard in there too.

Yugoslav

[Ghazban]

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Dostoyevsky

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Just keep readin' this dude.

Throw some Kierkegaard in there too.

Yugoslav

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Those two are among my favorite authors already /images/graemlins/grin.gif

For those who abhorred Ulysses, this review might amuse you: http://www.dougshaw.com/Reviews/review1.html