Long title. Well, longer than most. Hence I title the blog with his name and not the title as I usually do.
I found the novel moderately interesting. Often it became a little uninteresting due to the experience being described, and his blending of imagination and reality, but being a stream of consciousness writing you can't expect much else. Especially since he was frequently trying to describe emotions. Most times emotions are difficult to describe shortly due to their complexity and intensity, which often led to a paragraph or even page be listed to a few moments or even seconds of his thoughts. Then the shift back to reality, which proceeds comparably faster... I suppose the most irritating thing was the progression of time, for me. I like when everything moves at a constant pace. The long segments left to vivid descriptions, followed by a skip to a few hours later, or the next day or next year... It was sort of just a sit-back-and-go-with-it type book. Though I must say, that's the most descriptive explanation of hell in the entire world. Remind me to burn those college descriptions from Jesuit schools.
Seriously, as kooky as the book was, as complicated and emotional as it was, it was fairly interesting. I don't think anybody ever understands everything about themselves or the world around them, ever. Definitely not as kids, but not even fully as adults. And everybody changes a good deal based on their experiences, and will undoubtedly not find out who they truly are until they are ready to make their way into the world. I still don't really know what profession I want to be part of, and in a year and a quarter I'm out of high school. And I've been thinking about it since I was about six. Every time I thought I knew what I was going to be, or where I was going to go, within a year my mind was set on something else. Dedalus switched between an obedient religious child to a sin-heavy reclusive ferret to a pious freak to an I-don't-really-give-a-blast kind of thinking guy. Though I haven't gone through any of those radical extremes, my long-winded point is that I still don't know who I am as a person, but I'm fairly sure I'll figure it out in time.
And as far as a connection to the world in general... Stay away from Jesuits, or something, I don't know.
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2 comments:
I like how you recognized the difficulty of writing to completely capture emotion. I know we had numerous conversations in class appreciating Joyce's talent for being able to write so convincingly. When you think that he is writing about what happened and trying to recapture his exact feelings, and the fact he is able to do so in such a persuasive way, is nothing short of amazing. I also agree that at times the progression seemed stalled or random, but as you point out what are you going to expect from a stream of consciousness. That description of hell was not only the most descriptive I've ever read of hell itself, but it may very well be the most descriptive passage I have ever read. I have never felt so aware of what the author was trying to describe. It is also interesting how you talked about how many of us don't really know what we want to do because it's is so true. Stephen tried to find himself just as we are all in the process of doing. It was good you recognized though, that as long as we stick with it we will figure it out in the end.
First off, I agree with you about the title. Entirely too long and needs to be shortened pronto.
But in all seriousness, finding one's identity is terrifying. This book takes place at least a century ago in an entirely different country. But we, as juniors and seniors in high school, are going through a lot of the same emotions right now. I'm going to college next fall and I still don't REALLY know what I want to do with my life. So on that level I think most of us can at least appreciate the novel.
I have to agree with both you and the nameless about the description of hell. It was so vivid you could taste, smell, hear, see, and feel it all. I didn't know anything could be described so in depth and still hold my attention.
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