James Augusta Aloysius Joyce was born in 1882 in a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century he wrote his first poem at the age of 9.
He attended University College Dublin and after graduating went to Paris to study Medicine, but returned to Ireland when he heard his mother was dying, where he made a meager living by doing book reviews after her death.
In 1904 he tried to publish an essay entitled “A Portrait of The Artist” unsuccessfully, and years later, completely reworked as a novel this became “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.”
After various stints in Europe (mainly Zurich and Paris) where he met Harriet Shaw Weaver (who became his mentor and gave him thousands of pounds to allow him to write and not have to work) he wrote his famous short story collections and novels such as “Ulysses” and “Finnegan’s Wake.”
Joyce perfected the stream of consciousness technique of writing and his fiction is centered on Dublin, his characters resembling friends and relations he had there.
An alcoholic, he died at the age of 59 due to a perforated ulcer.
My favourite Joyce quotes:
“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”
“No pen, no ink, no table, no room, no time, no quiet, no inclination.”
“When I die, Dublin will be written in my heart.”
”I shall write a book some day about the appropriateness of names. Geoffrey Chaucer has a ribald ring, as is proper and correct, and Alexander Pope was inevitably Alexander Pope. Colley Cibber was a silly little man without much elegance and Shelley was very Percy and very Bysshe.”
Clip of Joyce:
Ok, so he pioneered “stream of consciousness” aka “interior monologue” in his novels, which means I have a lot to thank him for. I love using interior monologue (although i call it internal monologue) perhaps too much lol. Do you use interior monologue in your writing?
Related articles
- The variants and editions of Ulysses. (bobrbogle.wordpress.com)
James Joyce was such a great writer and a lucky one – having someone give you thousands of pounds to write is not so bad!
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Oh i know! Bit like Forster inheriting that money…. alright for some innit lol
Thanks honey xx
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““Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” I took this quote to college with me. It made things easier.
Great writer.
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Thanks honey 🙂
It is definitely a great quote!
I think it needs pinning up above my desk lol
xx
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You’re doing a great job on the A-Z challenge, Vikki! I always try to guess which writer you’re going to pick for the next day’s letter. (K= Kafka?) I can’t wait to see!
And I use lots of interior monologue too. 🙂
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Thanks Kirsten 🙂
Its hard deciding, thats for sure! I did initially think of Kafka, but then i thought, no, it has to be that prolific writer who , love him or hate him, ALWAYS has brilliant advice for the aspiring novelist 😉 You’ll have to wait til tomorrow he he he 😉
Im so glad im not alone in that!
xx
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I love your diverse letters by the way. Ah Joyce. I’ve never read him. Never been much of a classicist. “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”
I don’t think you can write anything without using internal monologue.
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Thanks Sue 🙂
I wanted to be different lol
Im trying not to make every single post about a writer who’s a literary genius, but its been hard work deciding on each letter i can tell you! lol
I TOTALLY agree…i LOVE IT! 🙂
xx
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I am really enjoying your theme. I love Joyce!
Peanut Butter and Whine
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Awwwww, thanks honey 🙂
xx
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I read Ulysses last year – wow – I got to the point where I thought “I’m going to finish this even if it kills me!” LOL Having said that, It does have magnificent moments 😉
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Oh Dianne, i think you need a round of applause for that! Ulysses is on my “100 things i want to do before i die” list lol
Go you!
xx
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Great post, Vikki. I like Joyce although I find him difficult at times. I use internal dialogue quite a bit to show the difference between a characters actions and thoughts.
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Thanks Elizabeth 🙂
I just don’t like using the words “he/she thought” all the time lol
Thanks honey xx
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Very informative post. Thanks for stopping by this morning.
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You’re very welcome Jean, and thank you 🙂
xx
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I like Joyce and I love your quotes. I never made it through Finnegan’s Wake though.
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Thanks honey 🙂
Oh, how comes? Hope you don’t mind me asking, just curious.
xx
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I do like a bit of internal monologue at appropriate moments – it’s an easy thing to overdo though.
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It is easy to overdo Patsy, and i do worry about that…have to rein myself in sometimes lol
xx
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I did ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ at A Level and loved it. Our teacher read the dialogue it in a soft Irish accent, although he wasn’t Irish – it was quite magical! I use internal monologue all the time – I wasn’t sure whether it was a bad habit but it’s my style and I guess I’ll be sticking to what comes naturally!
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Oh wow Bel, that must have been amazing!!!! 🙂
I was a little worried that i may be overusing it, but i really like it and enjoy using it. Like you I’m sticking with it 🙂
Thanks honey xx
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I enjoy the literary thrust of your posts. Glad the A to Z Challenge (and your comment on Beverly in Movieland) sent me here. We English majors of the world thank you!
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Awwwww, thanks Beverly 🙂
He he he, you are very welcome!
xx
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“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”
I really like this quote. It is going in my book. I am enjoying your posts.
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Thanks Jai 🙂
That is definitely a good one isn’t it!
xx
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I am loving this series! 🙂
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Awwww, thanks CB 🙂
xx
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I have never read Joyce, I will have to give it a try.
Katie atBankerchick Scratchings
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Thanks Katie 🙂
Yeah, you should…says the person who’s only ever read one short novella lol *blush*
xx
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Paying you a return visit and glad I did. Love Joyce’s work. I hadn’t seen a few of those quotes so that was nice. Thank you 🙂
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You’re welcome Tracy,
Glad you enjoyed your visit, thanks honey 🙂
xx
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Hi Vikki, These are excellent author briefs and I love your favorite quote section. I am going to pin your blog for future reference. Thanks for the fine job you are doing with A to Z. Go bless, Maria
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Awwwww, thank you so much Maria 🙂
Xx
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Great theme! Fascinating mini-bio of Joyce and I’m a confessed quotaholic. Can’t believe I missed Irving and Hemingway.
*Hangs head in A to Z shame*
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Ha ha ha thanks VR 🙂
It’s been really hard condensing down their Bios, especially for people like Hemingway, but I only wanted to look at them from a writing perspective. I hope I’ve been successful 😉
Oh yes, I love quotes! Especially those I can learn from 🙂
Thanks honey xx
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I loved Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but it’s been a very long time since I read it.
TaMara
Tales of a Pee Dee Mama
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Thanks Tamara 🙂
I’ve added it to my wish list.
Xx
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I don’t really use “interior monologue” a whole lot in my writing…well, actually that’s sort of a lie. I do tend to use it in first drafts just because I’m trying to get all of my thoughts down, but I always cut it out in later drafts because it doesn’t really fit my character’s voice and isn’t really the style I’m going for.
The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man wasn’t my favorite book I’ve read for an English class (actually this is sort of an understatement), but I’m determined to give Joyce another chance!
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That’s fair enough Stephanie 🙂
It’s all about our individual voice and style definitely!
Good for you! I’m going to give him a go too 🙂
Thanks for stopping by xx
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There is a rather nice bronze statue of Joyce on the streets of Dublin, but for the life of me I can’t remember which one 😦 lol
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Do you know Sam, I think I’ve seen that (been to Dublin twice) but like you, I haven’t got a clue where it is lol
Xx
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How good are we lol, they have one of Oscar Wilde as well, but again no idea where lol bet they are standing together have a good old laugh 😉
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Why did so many of these authors who perfected contemporary writing become alcoholics? You say: What kind of question is that? Hemingway, Joyce and Fitzgerald all had the thing for the bottle(s) to go with their pen. ~ Rebecca
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I know! I’ve been wondering the same myself lol
Is it because they exhausted their emotions so had to find a coping mechanism d’ya think?
Xx
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I think it is additional coping. 🙂 ~ Becca
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