| Reading Joyce Contributor(s): Pierce, David (Author) |
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ISBN: 1405840617 ISBN-13: 9781405840613 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $46.50 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2008 Annotation: ""Of the making of books about James Joyce there is no end, but ""Reading Joyce""by David Pierce is something special. It is the distillation of a lifetime's immersion as a teacher and critic in the work of a great but dauntingly difficult modern writer. I can think of no better companion for anyone embarking on a serious exploration of Joyce's work, but seasoned Joyceans will also find much to delight and inform them here. It is a literary as well as a critical achievement, a unique blend of commentary and confession, biography and autobiography, illustrated throughout by a profusion of fascinating photographs, drawings, maps and other images which evoke the world of James Joyce and the ways in which his books have been received."" "" David Lodge ""Many critics of James Joyce are smart: David Pierce is also wise. "Reading Joyce"brilliantly and judiciously uses his experiences as a fine teacher, a major scholar - and an open, receptive "reader," And few critics are so skillfully alert to the actual, material, visible world in which Joyce's works take place."" Morris Beja, author of "James Joyce: A Literary Life," and former President, the International James Joyce Foundation "" ""This is a brave, richly informed, and candid book, an engaging mix of biography, autobiography, and critical analysis. A godsend to teachers and students alike, it brilliantly demystifies Joyce, without compromising his complexity. It is a uniquely personal odyssey of discovery which all Joyceans will recognise as their own, too,"" Professor Terry Dolan, University College Dublin """Reading Joyce"is an ideal introduction to the works of the Master. Unlike many writers onJoyce, Pierce chooses to addresses the reader on terms of equality rather than to revel self-regardingly in difficulties or to confuse them with a theoretical overlay which Joyce himself would have laughed at. This book presents Joyce mediated by an urbane and witty expert, who expects the same qualities in his readers. Pierce does not flagellate himself - as too many Joyceans do - over trifles or theories and does not expect his readers to do so either."" Mr. Justice Adrian Hardiman, M.R.I.A., Supreme Court of Ireland
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| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism |
| Dewey: 823.912 |
| LCCN: 2007038448 |
| Physical Information: 0.82" H x 6.3" W x 9.13" (1.31 lbs) 384 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Is there one who understands me?' So wrote James Joyce towards the end of his final work, Finnegans Wake. The question continues to be asked about the author who claimed that he had put so many enigmas into Ulysses that it would keep the professors busy for centuries' arguing over what he meant. For Joyce this was a way of ensuring his immortality, but it could also be claimed that the professors have served to distance Joyce from his audience, turning his writings into museum pieces, pored over and admired, but rarely touched. In this remarkable book, steeped in the learning gained from a lifetime's reading, David Pierce blends word, life and image to bring the works of one of the great modern writers within the reach of every reader. With a sharp eye for detail and an evident delight in the cadences of Joyce's work, Pierce proves a perfect companion, always careful and courteous, pausing to point out what might otherwise be missed. Like the best of critics, his suggestive readings constantly encourage the reader back to Joyce's own words. Beginning with Dubliners and closing with Finnegans Wake, Reading Joyce is full of insights that are original and illuminating, and Pierce succeeds in presenting Joyce as an author both more straightforward and infinitely more complex than we had perhaps imagined. T. S. Eliot wrote of Joyce's masterpiece, Ulysses, that it is a book to which we are all indebted, and from which none of us can escape'. With David Pierce as a guide, the debt we owe to Joyce becomes clearer, and the need to flee is greatly reduced. |