James Joyce: A Biography - Rilegato

Bowker, Gordon

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0297848038 ISBN 13: 9780297848035

Casa editrice: W&N, 2011

Riassunto

In almost every recent poll, Ulysses has been acclaimed the greatest novel of the twentieth century. It is generally regarded as one of the outstanding landmarks of literary modernism, as important as T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land in expressing the experimental and international spirit of post-war Europe in the 1920s. Of all the modernists, James Joyce has had probably the most lasting effect on serious fiction. Indeed, Eliot said he had 'killed the nineteenth century'.

Joyce's life followed the classic 'flight into exile' path taken by many creative writers in search of a broader vision. His fight against Irish parochial prejudices and censoriousness, his self-imposed exile from the country he loved, his stoical endurance of near-blindness, cast him in a heroic light. He was fine singer who could have had a successful career in opera and the concert hall. His dedication to authorship also picks him out as a writer in the romantic tradition of total commitment, suffering near-poverty and financial dependency for much of his life in his determination simply to write. He was fortunate in his benefactors.Four women in particular (Harriet Shaw Weaver, Margaret Anderson, Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier), through their generosity, ensured that Joyce was able to focus fully and continuously on his great literary projects, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.

Richard Ellmann's much admired biography of Joyce first appeared in 1959 and was republished in 1982. But new material continues to emerge, and this new biography draws on that and attempts to get beyond the exterior life to explore the inner landscape of a writer who continues to influence and fascinate, well over a century after his birth.

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Recensione:

This biography is both learned and readable; it is an attractive monument to a brilliant, kind-hearted, often unfortunate man. (Edmund Gordon THE SUNDAY TIMES - 19 June 2011)

a scrupulously researched, entertainingly readable biography of a maddeningly protean, contradictory genius. (John Walsh THE INDEPENDENT - 10 June 2011)

'a sound and readable telling of the writer's tale for newcomers, into whose hands it may be given without a qualm." (LITERARY REVIEW - June 2011)

Bowker's biography - packed as it is with incidents, ideas and sympathy - proves inspiring. (Richard Davenport-Hines SUNDAY TELEGRAPH - 19 June 2011)

This sound, hefty biography is enjoyable and fair... (Peter Lewis DAILY MAIL - 17 June 2011)

a readable, reliable biography in a new voice. (Iain Finlayson THE TIMES 18 June 2011)

'This is an entertainingly readable biography of a genius." (BELFAST TELEGRAPH - 18 June 2011)

a very accessible and solid biography. (Lesley McDowell THE SCOTSMAN - 18 June 2011)

The author excels in his wit, clarity and sheer readability as he tackles in full the life of Ireland's greatest writer. (METRO - 24 June 2011)

superb at capturing the sorrowful aspects of Joyce's circumstances. (METRO - 22 June 2011)

Descrizione del libro:

Long-awaited and comprehensive biography of the great Irish author James Joyce, who died 70 years ago

Su questa edizione

• Editore: W&N
• Data di pubblicazione: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0297848038
• ISBN 13: 9780297848035
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 624