Books like The Works Of James Joyce

I am currently making my way through the complete works - many of which I have already read. I will be updating this review as I complete it, and these reviews may appear in other editions of the text throughout Amazon and the internet..._________________________________CHAMBER MUSIC (9/24/19)This is only one of three of James Joyce’s works that I haven’t read previously, the others being his later poetry collection and Finnegan’s Wake in its entirety. Chamber Music is a collection of thirty-six love poems that depart a great deal from the character-driven human work he is best known for throughout the remainder of his career. These poems seem like juvenile attempts – save for some grandiose vocabulary and allusions he employs in some of them – at mimicking the romantic and flowery poesy of the renaissance, going as far as to use worn rhyme schemes and somewhat tired whimsical sentimentality. In looking up some background information on the book, I learned that he wasn’t so proud of the work and that the title itself was a play on pissing in a chamber pot... ...From the Wikipoedia, “Richard Ellmann reports (from a 1949 conversation with Eva Joyce) that the chamberpot connotation has its origin in a visit he made, accompanied by Oliver Gogarty, to a young widow named Jenny in May 1904. The three of them drank porter while Joyce read manuscript versions of the poems aloud - and, at one point, Jenny retreated behind a screen to make use of a chamber pot. Gogarty commented, "There's a critic for you!". When Joyce later told this story to Stanislaus, his brother agreed that it was a "favourable omen". In Ulysses, Leopold Bloom reflects, "Chamber music. Could make a pun on that."In fact, the poetry of Chamber Music is not in the least bawdy, nor reminiscent of the sound of tinkling urine. Although the poems did not sell well (fewer than half of the original print run of 500 had been sold in the first year), they received some critical acclaim. Ezra Pound admired the "delicate temperament" of these early poems, while Yeats described "I hear an army charging upon the land" as "a technical and emotional masterpiece". In 1909, Joyce wrote to his wife, "When I wrote [Chamber Music], I was a lonely boy, walking about by myself at night and thinking that one day a girl would love me." In many ways, I can see how Joyce hated the work itself, as it has so little to do with what he is known for and so much to reflect on what he hated. In this essence, I absolutely love the fact that it exists. As a writer, I can see the way he feels, and even more, I can feel a strange pride that Joyce was a human writer. A man, more than a mythic god of prose deserving of worship. Of course, there are many aspects of his work and his life that reflect these ideas, but it is something as independently not-so-great about releasing a book like Chamber Music that humanizes his development as a writer and as a one-time much-too-romantic-and-writing-garbage-poetry young man that reminds me of my early work. While I will never reach his heights, I am humbled that he at least started as I had at one point. Maybe someone will release my pseudonymous works with the same tongue-in-cheek wink to how awful my early books were. Or, perhaps, they will die with me and whatever else I produce in the future. There is beauty in the existence of this book, though, and I am glad I read it. _________________________________THE DUBLINERS (oft re-read in my classroom, latest 9/23/19)I am not sure how many times I have read The Dubliners stories individually as opposed to a complete run-through, but this year I made it a point to do the complete collection once again. As a staple in my classroom, I love teaching Joyce for some of the greatest modernist short stories ever written. Each piece is a reflection of life that exists on its own plane of human experience. I have used every piece individually in my classes as a passport to authors using texts to capture a shard of life in a manner that is subtle and honest – that bridge between reality, story structure, and Joyce’s prose-mind that has influenced so many writers since his work was published a century ago.My favorite pieces in the collection are...Araby – for all its utter perfection in execution, themes, and prose, this piece clocks in surprisingly just under 2400 words. Joyce captures the longing and energy of an adolescent love affair of the mind. I can recite lines from this and have such longing that my writing will never come close to what he achieves in so few words. What I can do is reread this piece as often as I want. My feelings have certainly been those of our unnamed narrator – and I think we all may be able to relate.The Dead – for its depiction of humanity in all its facets among a small group of friends at a celebratory dinner. There is such genuineness to The Dead, from its emotional impact, to its examination of interpersonal views on politics and nationalism, to its celebration of food and music, the futility of love and action, actualization, regret, longing, and so much more.The Sisters – for its unwavering humor and beauty in the face of death, the curiosity, and the stark discovery associated with jumping into the collection with such youthful wonder.The Boarding House – for its humor, reality, and dark worry of the anxieties of reciprocation and expectations. Additionally, I love the blurred lines of the definition of things in this piece, from who does what jobs, what the boarding house really is, what the women really are, and what the relationships truly represent. The fact that these are never concretely defined lends itself to endless discovery (as does every other piece in the book).A Little Cloud – for Joyce’s rare use of a gimmicky character to say something incredibly beautiful about life being just what it is sometimes – boring. Again, the boredom of middle age can have wondrous discoveries at times, even if it is at the bottom of a glass.I love these stories so much, and I love teaching them, rereading them, and owning them as part of my Irish heritage. Joyce is always a wonder to behold, even after so many times through. It’s always fresh, always lyrical, always true of heart.