James Joyce: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|-''"This ought to keep the professors busy for a hundred years!"''|'''James Joyce''', after publishing ''[[Finnegans Wake]]''. Damn it all to hell, the bastard was right.}}

[[File:james-joyce.gif|frame| Well hello there. [[Hark a Vagrant|I wrote you a letter.]]]]

[[File:james-joyce.gif|frame| Well hello there. [[Hark! A Vagrant|I wrote you a letter.]]]]

James Joyce (Irish: 1882-1941), likely the most influential writer of the 20th century. If you think that's a bit hyperbolic, in 1998, ''Modern Library'' ranked ''[[Ulysses]]'' No. 1, and ''[[A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man]]'' No. 3, on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

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Excepting various short stories and poems, and a play called ''Exiles'' that virtually no one reads, Joyce's CV is four works long, yet all of them are considered highly important works and present in many reading lists of college literature:

* ''[[Dubliners]]'' (1914): a collection of short stories about [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|some Dubliners]].

* ''[[Dubliners]]'' (1914): a collection of short stories about [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|some Dubliners]].

* ''[[A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man]]'' (1916): A mostly autobiographical, coming-of-age story. It occasionally veers into ''Ulysses''-like stream of consciousness, but to students who read (or try to read) ''Ulysses'' first, it's a surprisingly catchy page-turner, maybe even a "conventional" novel. (That rumble you hear is Joyce spinning in his grave.)

* ''[[Ulysses]]'' (1922): [[Love It or Hate It]], ''Ulysses'' is a defining novel of the 20th century. The plot? Leopold Bloom and his wife and some friends have experiences on 16 June 1904, known now as "Bloomsday". Simple, right? Ha. It's [[Doorstopper|dense]], delphic, hydra-headed, with multiple story lines [[Kudzu Plot|mixed together like a bowl of spaghetti]]. Even Joyce himself later admitted he may have overcooked it. Nonetheless, to a determined student of literature, it can be a hugely rewarding undertaking.

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* [[Reset Button]]: Again, ''Wake'' could be the trope namer. Check out the first and last "sentences".

* [[Rule of Symbolism]]: Used in ''Portrait'', almost overdone in ''Ulysses'', worn to a nub in ''Wake''.

* [[Shout Out]]: At some point, to almost every major novelist and poet in the history of western literature.

* [[Shout-Out]]: At some point, to almost every major novelist and poet in the history of western literature.

* [[Spiritual Sequel]]: Read ''Portrait'', ''Ulysses'', and ''Wake'' in that order.

* [[Trope Namer]]: One of the countless throwaway words in ''Wake'', "quark", is used in particle physics.

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* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]: Leopold Bloom and Molly.

* [[Viewers Are Geniuses]]: Joyce assumes his readers possess quite a bit of intuitive insight.

* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]: In almost everything he wrote, biblical and Homeric allusions and [[Shout Out|Shout Outs]].

* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]: In almost everything he wrote, biblical and Homeric allusions and [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]].

* [[Written Sound Effect]]:

** The thunderclap in ''Wake'':