'Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo ' So begins one of the most significant literary works of the twentieth century, and one of the most innovative. Its originality shocked contemporary readers on its publication in 1916 who found its treating of the minutiae of daily life indecorous, and its central character unappealing. Was it art or was it filth? The novel charts the intellectual, moral, and sexual development of Stephen Dedalus, from his childhood listening to his father's stories through his schooldays and adolescence to the brink of adulthood and independence, and his awakening as an artist. Growing up in a Catholic family in Dublin in the final years of the nineteenth century, Stephen's consciousness is forged by Irish history and politics, by Catholicism and culture, language and art. Stephen's story mirrors that of Joyce himself, and the novel is both startlingly realistic and brilliantly crafted. For this edition Jeri Johnson, editor of the acclaimed Ulysses 1922 text, has written an introduction and notes which together provide a comprehensive and illuminating appreciation of Joyce's artistry.

2007-09-28 Two Provocative Chapters

I read this through college over 20 years ago and still 2 chapters in particular remain with me. They involve a sermon delivered to the boys at school with the intent on explaining the consequences of ill deeds or other "sins". The first of these chapters describes Hell and its horrors leaving the reader truly fearful of even the possibility. With this in mind, the second chapter asks how long do you think people are in Hell, leaving us to consider the reality of eternity. The writing is descriptive and emotive. I'm not any way pious but I remember being so moved I would've rushed out to confess all my wrong doings to the nearest priest just in case any of it was true...