Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

James Joyce's mastery of the English language is on full display here. This book is 100% moody prose filled with religious trauma, sexual frustration, and intellectual development. I liked how the narrative style shifted as Stephen grew up, reflecting his development. Honestly, I found parts of the beginning a bit hard to follow, and I would have benefitted from some more background knowledge. I found this book to be enjoyable mostly because of the language. Joyce is very skilled at describing emotions and capturing mood.

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stefo's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have really mixed feelings about this book, it has some brilliant moments, especially Chapter 3. Unfortunately however its very sluggish, I almost fell asleep reading like 10 times until I realized I could take in this mess by audiobook, and by God was that a good decision, everything was so much easier to understand without having to suffer Joyce's lack of commas in his sentences. As for themes go I quite enjoyed Stephen's internal tumult and questioning of everything around him, It did remind me of when I was 10 or 12, after his Catholic school days however (start of Chapter 5) stuff became very, very dry and boring. I really did not care about the characters' banter and debates of beauty and aesthetics as they are pretty outdated.
I surely hope that Ulysses is much better and a more interesting read since everyone told me to read this book here and Dubliners first. Will take a long break before reading anything Joyce however. Very LIGHTLY recommended, only for people who like this type of heavy literature.

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vixenreader's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The prose is dense, but the themes are accessible, and makes a great entry point into Joyce’s body of work.

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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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alexander_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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sherbertwells's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

With the help and hindrance of family, friends and teachers, author avatar Stephen Dedalus grows from a confused child into a freethinking artificer. While many passages in this archetypical Bildungsroman are accurate to my own experience (minus a few pre-Vatican II details), any personal affection I have for Joyce or his prose is overwhelmed by distant awe.

“I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use, silence, exile and cunning” (291)

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