/lit/ - Literature

So. I've been reading Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce lately. The book is absolutely filled with allusions so Christianity (and Catholicism in particular), and the edition I'm reading is annotated to flesh out those references, but one footnote has me a bit puzzled:

The actual line in the book reads like this:

A quartet of them, soldiers of the ninetyseventh infantry regiment, sat at the foot of the cross and tossed up dice for the overcoat of the crucified.

And the footnote reads:

Ghezzi's (the character being spoken about) countrymen, the Italians, 'invented' Christianity in the symbolic dividing of Christ's garments at the foot of the Cross by Roman legionaries.

Could someone please explain how dividing up Christ's garments = symbolically inventing Christianity?

Quick question about Portrait of The Artist:

>He sat near them at the table and asked where his father and mother were. One answered:
>--Goneboro toboro lookboro atboro aboro houseboro.

Why in the world do they speak like this? Is this supposed to sound like something I'm not getting?

Help me out here, /lit/.

Hey /lit/

I'm about to start reading A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man. This is my first foray into Joyce, and I'm a little intimidated.

Is there anything I should know before starting this? Anything that would help my comprehension? Any advice you can give to a Joyce newbie?

portrait of an artist as a young man
Lets discuss thoughts on this book

Anyone wanna give me a plot summary for A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man?

Is this really the third greatest novel of all time, /lit/. I mean, I could see it being in the top 50 or even 20, but third?

Hey /lit/ I have to do a book report on this here book so what can you tell me about it? Is it any good? What could be a good paper topic?

this was the absolute worst book i have ever read. I would rather have read the entire twilight series and every fanfic for it on the internet then read another book written by james joyce or in stream of consciousness. Anyone who attempts to write in said style should be hung by their entrails, drawn, quartered and paraded around as an example to all who would try the same.

please tell me why this is considered a "classic" and is not on a list of books to be burned and authors to be blacklisted

Just bought this yesterday at a used book store...what can I expect?