/lit/ - Literature

This is the only work by James Joyce that isn't a pile of pretentious nonsense. Prove me wrong, you can't.

Hey friends,

This spring, I finally made it through Ulysses - on my second attempt - and my mind was duly blown, my jaw dropped, my gob stopped, my soul ascended to a higher plane of spiritual evolution, etc. Thinking that I should proceed chronologically backwards through Joyce's oeuvre, if only so that I didn't have to read Finnegan's Wake next, I resolved to continue with A Portrait..., and have just done so. Starting the book, I thought that I was in for another stunning masterpiece of characterization, psychological exploration, formal cleverness, etc., and indeed, the first chapter provided just that. So, tremendous was my surprise when the remaining 4/5ths of the book turned out to be the deadliest bore in the known universe. Save perhaps Stephen's epiphany and the book's closing pages, the whole thing felt like an awful and dull slog. What's up with this? Why tf is this on The List? Did I miss something?

Thanks,

-anon

ITT: Books everyone loves that you think are shit.

Pic related.

This book made me return to the church. I sat scared shitless and drenched in sweat after the priests speech afraid of my own mortal soul going to hell. I couldn't even finish the book