Making my way through James Joyce's Dubliners and wow some of these stories hit hard. As an aspiring poet, "Little Cloud" was a bit too close to home. "A Painful Case" feels very real, and oddly applicable in the error of debatebro-ism on the internet. Cannot wait to read "The Dead," since I've heard so much about it. I've read Ulysses before, but this is a way more accessible intro to Joyce than that behemoth.
It's more accessible than Ulysses but I felt that the non-insanity of the prose left it feeling commonplace among works around the turn of the 20th century, almost like Dickens (whom I loathe). Maybe I should give the collection another try after your post. How did you feel this affects your enjoyment of the writing?
That's why Portrait is my favorite Joyce work, and probably my favorite novel of all time -- it's not completely off the deep end, but so uniquely Joycean, so tender with his characters and so poetic in his prose. One of the few books I've ever bothered to go back and re-read just for pleasure.
btw, if you write poems, you're no aspiring poet -- you are a poet. Believe in your work comrade! I believe in you!
Totally agree on that point, it's distinctively less crazy than Ulysses and I'm definitely enjoying it less because it's not as fun with the prose. It's very good, and still has that empathy for all characters involved, so I'm enjoying it but not as much as Ulysses. Haven't read Portrait yet, but I'll definitely get around to it. I'm Irish so I feel it's my duty to read Joyce, and he's great.
Also thank you! Yeah I've self published two books and everything, so I guess I am a poet and do write poetry but it's always strange because you never really feel like a poet, you know? Imposter syndrome all the way down.
As a fellow writer I simultaneously understand the sentiment and disagree with it -- in order to find inspiration in the world you must constantly seek out its poeticisms, regardless of how much time you actually spend at the pen.
Making my way through James Joyce's Dubliners and wow some of these stories hit hard. As an aspiring poet, "Little Cloud" was a bit too close to home. "A Painful Case" feels very real, and oddly applicable in the error of debatebro-ism on the internet. Cannot wait to read "The Dead," since I've heard so much about it. I've read Ulysses before, but this is a way more accessible intro to Joyce than that behemoth.
It's more accessible than Ulysses but I felt that the non-insanity of the prose left it feeling commonplace among works around the turn of the 20th century, almost like Dickens (whom I loathe). Maybe I should give the collection another try after your post. How did you feel this affects your enjoyment of the writing?
That's why Portrait is my favorite Joyce work, and probably my favorite novel of all time -- it's not completely off the deep end, but so uniquely Joycean, so tender with his characters and so poetic in his prose. One of the few books I've ever bothered to go back and re-read just for pleasure.
btw, if you write poems, you're no aspiring poet -- you are a poet. Believe in your work comrade! I believe in you!
Totally agree on that point, it's distinctively less crazy than Ulysses and I'm definitely enjoying it less because it's not as fun with the prose. It's very good, and still has that empathy for all characters involved, so I'm enjoying it but not as much as Ulysses. Haven't read Portrait yet, but I'll definitely get around to it. I'm Irish so I feel it's my duty to read Joyce, and he's great.
Also thank you! Yeah I've self published two books and everything, so I guess I am a poet and do write poetry but it's always strange because you never really feel like a poet, you know? Imposter syndrome all the way down.
As a fellow writer I simultaneously understand the sentiment and disagree with it -- in order to find inspiration in the world you must constantly seek out its poeticisms, regardless of how much time you actually spend at the pen.