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From: don@allegra.UUCP (D. Mitchell)
Newsgroups: net.books
Subject: Joyce
Message-ID: <2706@allegra.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 16-Aug-84 05:32:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: allegra.2706
Posted: Thu Aug 16 05:32:12 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Aug-84 00:21:19 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 34

Karl:  I was talking about W.S. Burroughs, not E.R.

Have many people tried reading Joyce?  "Portrait of an Artist..." is a
great book, and not at all difficult to read.  It traces the life of
its main character from about age 4 to his early twenties.  What is
really interesting about this book is the stream of consciousness
style.  The world is viewed thru the eyes of the main character as he
develops.  It starts out with him listening to stories about Moo Cows,
goes thru the pain of adolescence and finally into the age of reason.

"Ulysses" is more formidable.  I have started it once and stopped about
100 pages into it.  I think my attention span is long enough now that I
plan to read it in the near future.  The most famous part of this book
(which I have skipped to and read) is the soliloquy at the end; one of
the greatest masterpieces of stream of consciousness style:

   Yes because he never did a things like that before as ask to get his
   breakfast in bed with a couple of eggs since the City Arms hotel when
   he used to be pretending to be laid up with a sick voice doing his
   highness to make himself interesting to that old faggot Mrs Riordan
   that he thought he had a great leg of and she never left us a farthing
   all for masses for herself and her soul greatest miser ever was
   actually afraid to lay out 4d for her methylated spirit telling me all
   her ailments she had too much old chat in her about politics and
   earthquakes and the end of the world let us have a bit of fun first God
   help the world if all the women were her sort down on bathing suits and
   lownecks of course nobody wanted her to wear I suppose she was pious
   because no man would look at her twice I hope Ill never be like her a
   wonder she didnt want us to cover our faces but she was a welleducated
   woman certainly and her gabby talk about Mr Riordan here and Mr Riordan
   there I suppose he was glad to get shut of her and her dog smelling my
   fur and always edging to get up under my petticoats especially then
   still I like that in him polite to old women like that and waiters and
   beggars...