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THE REVIEW
"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" (original title of the book) is the second book by James Joyce after the short story collection "Dubliners". The result of a long development started in 1903 and completed in 1916 after reevaluations and various title changes, the novel is a point of contact between the bildungsroman, autobiography, and a declaration of poetics. In fact, the book is the story of Stephen Dedalus (the same name as one of the protagonists of "Ulysses") from childhood to early adolescence and it has many points of contact with Joyce's personal history. The young man, after various conflicting experiences with his family and the school he attends, discovers himself as an artist, and this event coincides with his definitive maturation and the abandonment of his homeland, which he considered backward and completely inadequate to his needs (as it was for Joyce himself). Interesting on a linguistic level (it was one of the author's first experiments in this sense) is the change in language depending on the stages of the protagonist's life. It ranges from the childhood nursery rhymes to the refined, redundant, and exuberant speeches of adolescence. A classic that is definitely more accessible (but no less interesting for that) than "Ulysses".
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Summary by Bot
James Joyce's Dedalus, originally titled A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, is a seminal coming-of-age novel that blends autobiography with poetic insight. It follows Stephen Dedalus's journey from childhood to adolescence, mirroring Joyce's own experiences. Noteworthy is the innovative use of language that evolves with the protagonist's growth. This classic is accessible yet rich, offering a profound look at artistic self-discovery.
James Joyce
James Joyce (1882–1941) was an Irish modernist writer whose innovations in stream of consciousness reshaped the novel. His major works include Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake.05 Reviews
