Thomas E. Connolly

This is a collection of 19 essays, written between 1947 and 1961, that help a reader understand what James Joyce was up to in writing A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The book is divided into three sections: “General Studies,” “Special Studies,” and “The Aesthetic Theory” (sample title: “Augustine’s Theodicy and Joyce’s Aesthetics”). There are also two appendices (one with Joyce’s errata for American editions of Portrait) and a Selective Bibliography. The centerpiece is Hugh Kenner’s general study that traces the key themes, points out the recurring collapse-and-epiphany construct, and reveals the elements that make a sequence of Portrait, Ulysses, and Finnegan’s Wake. Other highlights include Dorothy Van Ghent on imagery, language and Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness, and Jane H. Jack’s “Art and The Portrait of the Artist.” A worthwhile companion to a great novel.… (mer)