This is, quite certainly, become my favorite work of nonfiction.

Ellmann has brilliantly captured Joyce's life in excruciating detail. He incorporates quoted conversations, letters, poems, and excerpts from his prose masterpieces. In turn, he creates a cohesive portrait of James Joyce that emphasizes the two passions in his life: his art and his family.

Ellmann also includes helpful sections of literary analysis. He provides an excellent background on all the minutiae regarding Dublin life that makes up Ulysses. Additionally, he offers a concise and persuasive defense of Joyce's last and most contentious work, Finnegan's Wake.

If you have even a passing interest in Joyce or his work, this book comes highly recommended. However, due to its density and length, I would suggest diving into Edna O'Brien's more compact biography first as a warm-up. It will help you better understand the context and background before delving into Ellmann's comprehensive work.

Overall, this is a must-read for any Joyce enthusiast or anyone interested in the life and works of this influential writer.

A detailed examination of James Joyce's life, Richard Ellmann's biography doesn't shy away from his negative traits. It's a fascinating read, rich in detail and captivating. It might just change your perception of one of the 20th century's greatest writers.

Most people are familiar with Joyce for his dense books, a few stories, and a nearly unreadable one. But there was much more to him. He was a talented poet, a gifted writer, and incredibly intelligent, fluent in about half a dozen languages. He pushed himself and his prose into uncharted territory. Ellmann's breakdown of Joyce's major works, especially Finnegans Wake, is particularly enjoyable. He also touches on other books and plays.

However, Ellmann isn't blind to Joyce's flaws. He wasn't a nice person. He was irresponsible with money, arrogant, and not always kind to Nora. He burned through friendships and was only casually related to his siblings. His reckless attitude and drinking habit left his family in poverty. Despite being a gifted writer, he could also be petty.

Comparing it to Brian Boyd's biography of Vladimir Nabokov, Ellmann's approach is refreshing. Boyd focused too much on Nabokov's novels, interrupting the narrative with detailed dissections. Ellmann, on the other hand, weaves the inspirations into the story, only stopping to explain a few key works.

One drawback is Ellmann's dismissal of Nora Joyce. She's often in the story, but never the focus. By the end, I felt I knew Joyce's son and brother better than the woman he lived with most of his life. Maybe it's because she was private or because of Ellmann's attitude towards someone who didn't read Joyce's novels. But it feels like an important part of the picture is missing.

Overall, it's a great biography. Recommended, especially if you think Joyce is too hard to read. Reading Wake might not be easy, but Ellmann makes it sound exciting.

You know you are reading a comprehensive biography when there's a sentence that says nothing much happened to the subject that month except his cat got into a fight.

This is all the more remarkable because it's the story of a man who mostly lived an interior life, as seen through the eyes and notes of the people he encountered.

Although Joyce touched the edges of major 20th Century history, especially intellectual and artistic history, the world hardly seems to have touched the man we come to know in these pages.

Probably essential reading to understand Joyce's works, which are autobiographical in nature, and fascinating in pretty much every possible way.

At 770+ pages, it's not for the fainthearted. However, it is totally worth the effort if you have any interest in the root stock of modern fiction.

This biography delves deep into Joyce's life, exploring his thoughts, emotions, and the events that shaped him.

It offers a unique perspective on a literary giant and provides valuable insights into his creative process.

Whether you're a die-hard Joyce fan or simply curious about the history of modern literature, this book is sure to captivate and inform.

So, if you're up for a challenging but rewarding read, pick up this comprehensive biography of James Joyce.

It ran a bit long for Goodreads, but you can see my review of this famous biography over at my main site.

There, it serves as my annual Bloomsday post for 2019. It begins:

Biography is indeed the most traditional, perhaps even rigid, of the prose genres. It surpasses murder mysteries or romance novels in its formality. It progresses from birth to death (or from family history to cultural legacy) at the stately pace of the old three-volume Victorian novel and with the regularity of the sonnet or the villanelle.

While this genre offers its writers the opportunity to achieve virtuosity within a pre-given form, it can be an odd choice when its subject is an experimental novelist like James Joyce. Joyce, when writing Finnegans Wake, said, “I might easily have written this story in the traditional manner. Every novelist knows the recipe.”

What makes it even odder is that Joyce used his own life as the material throughout his career. So, one could say that he had already written his own biography in the cipher of his ingenious fictions.

Doesn’t the biographer run the risk—to borrow from Kierkegaard—of turning wine into water?

Read more....

A workmanlike biography that tells you everything you could possibly want to know about James Joyce.

It is a comprehensive account that leaves no stone unturned in presenting the life and works of the renowned author. However, for me, the best biographies are those that have the power to inspire, to make you eager to explore more about their subject.

After going through this long experience of reading about Joyce, I emerged well-informed. But, to be honest, I was hardly excited to delve deeper into his works. I must admit that I gained very little admiration for Joyce himself. He comes across as a rather narrowminded know-it-all. His actions and attitudes, as described in the biography, do not exactly endear him to the reader.

Perhaps this is a personal perspective, but it does make one wonder if there are other biographies out there that could present Joyce in a more favorable light and reignite the spark of interest in his literary contributions.

Where does time go to? I read this years ago. It was a thought-provoking question that still lingers in my mind. Recently, this book was recommended to me again. As I searched through the shelves, I came across this very dusty book in my biographies' section. It was as if it was waiting for me to discover it once more.

If you want to know everything about Joyce, then this is the ideal book for you. However, it is rather long, with over 800 pages, to be precise, 887 including the index. I went through a "biography period" where I seemed to end up with tomes rather than just books. But this one was different.

There are some fabulous photos of Joyce and his family, and a splendid one of Joyce with Augustus John. Now, the latter was also an excellent person to read about. The photos added a personal touch to the story and made it even more engaging.

This is a highly recommended read. The only reason I haven't given it five stars is that it could have been shorter. Nevertheless, it is a comprehensive and detailed biography that provides a fascinating insight into the life of Joyce.

Good criticism, and good literary biographies, have the power to open up new worlds for the reader. They allow us to appreciate the art produced by the artist in a way that would have been impossible otherwise.

To write a literary biography worthy of Joyce is no easy feat. It is an intimidating task in and of itself. However, Ellman has managed to achieve this with remarkable success.

The degree to which he succeeds at this task is truly staggering. His work is a testament to his deep understanding of Joyce's life and work.

We should all be grateful to Ellman for his efforts. He has given us a valuable gift in the form of this literary biography. It is a work that will be studied and enjoyed for years to come.

Good man himself Ellman.

This work should basically be considered essential reading for all lovers of Joyce. (Of course, loving Joyce should also be considered essential.) (So, really, this should simply be considered essential.)

A moving and powerful work of biography, it is overflowing with detailed minutiae, abundant quotes (both from Joyce, about Joyce, and in correspondence to Joyce), and a warmth that brings Joyce and his family to life. It is also a work of studied scholarship. As much of Joyce's work was fed by his life and experiences, Ellman weaves Joyce's work into the biography, and manages to illuminate Joyce's life and works in tandem.

Joyce's life was fascinating. His relationships with Yeats, Eliot, Pound, Wyndham Lewis, Italo Svevo, and Beckett all play prominent roles. Appearances from Proust, William Carlos Williams, Shaw, and Wells (and I'm sure I'm forgetting others) were surprising and delightful. In turn, this book never failed to be fascinating. (And, hey, BBC members: Kay Boyle shows up – one time only – in a footnote!)

To put it bluntly, I loved Joyce prior to reading this book, and reading this book has only strengthened and expanded on that regard. I've long been resolved to revisit Joyce's oeuvre sometime in the next couple years, and emerge from this book certain that I must do so. There is little else I could ask of the work, and in fact would never have thought to ask for it to begin with.

  The surface of the life Joyce lived seemed always erratic and provisional. But its central meaning was directed as consciously as his work. The ingenuity with which he wrote his books was the same with which he forced the world to read them; the smiling affection he extended to Bloom and his other principal characters was the same that he gave to the members of his family; his disregard for bourgeois thrift and convention "was the splendid extravagance which enabled him in literature to make an intractable wilderness into a new state. In whatever he did, his two profound interests - his family and his writings - kept their place. These passions never dwindled. The intensity of the first gave his work its sympathy and humanity; the intensity of the second raised his life to dignity and high dedication.

This is an extremely massive book,

undoubtedly one of the very best biographies of James Joyce that is currently available.

It delves deep into the life and works of this renowned author,

providing a comprehensive and detailed account of his journey.

The author has done an excellent job of researching and presenting the facts,

while also offering unique insights and interpretations.

Whether you are a die-hard fan of James Joyce or simply interested in learning more about this literary giant,

this book is a must-read.

It will surely captivate you from the very first page and keep you engaged until the end.

So, don't miss out on this opportunity to explore the fascinating world of James Joyce through the pages of this remarkable biography.

An amazing biography offers a wealth of context for a deeper understanding of Joyce and his work. It is truly a remarkable piece of literature that delves into the life and mind of this great author. The audiobook, narrated by John Keating, is highly recommended. After listening to Ellmann's biography and being immersed in its musicality, I feel compelled to go back and read it again to further solidify my understanding of its themes. These themes include alienation and family ties, the profound love of language and sound, and above all, a most unwavering artistic purpose. Reading the biography not only provides insights into Joyce's life but also enriches our appreciation of his literary masterpieces. It is a journey that every Joyce enthusiast should embark upon.

Ellman's biography of James Joyce is an absolute must-read for anyone who holds the writer in high regard on multiple levels. I count him among my favorite writers, vying for the top spot. Having conducted extensive research on Joyce while delving into his works, especially when exploring the self-referential and meta aspects of his novels, I was already familiar with many things. However, there was still a wealth of fascinating and insightful information that I had no idea about.

If you think that only 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' is autobiographical, you are completely mistaken. While that work is the most straightforward encapsulation of Joyce's real life experiences, every page he ever penned was brimming with his personality and the lessons he had learned throughout his life, including the infamous and difficult-to-comprehend 'Finnegans Wake'.

Not only are the real parallels in 'Ulysses' and his other writings extremely captivating and a crucial factor in understanding his craft, but his actual life was also quite intriguing and peculiar. All the little anecdotes and different stories within his life are a pleasure to read about. The relationships with his family, the rivalries and feuds with other writers or colleagues, his travels, and the financial problems he faced throughout his life - all these elements, elaborated on by Richard Ellman in great detail, help you gain a deeper understanding of his work.

Would I recommend a 1000-page biography of Joyce to a newcomer before they attempt to read his works? Of course not. At the end of the day, he is a challenging, overly dense, and esoteric character and author that not everyone will appreciate. However, if you know that his words resonate with you as much as they do with me, then this biography is the key to unlocking the fullest meaning and making the esoteric a little more accessible.

This was a very enjoyable read, a long journey that I am certain will make my second exploration of Joyce's catalog even more rewarding.

This is the canonical biography of James Joyce. The prose and style are truly impeccable, and the research is extensive, perhaps even overly so.

There are two main reasons why I deducted one star. Firstly, this book demands extensive knowledge of Joyce's work to truly relish it. By extensive, I perhaps imply that one would need to visit Dublin every Bloomsday to attempt to decipher the secret codes of Ulysses.

Secondly, the book was initially written in the late 1950s and revised in the late 1970s. The way biographies are composed and what readers expect from them have changed significantly since then. As I mentioned, the prose is excellent. However, the problem is that the book is perhaps too analytical and doesn't devote much time to aspects that contemporary readers would be interested in knowing, such as Joyce's alcoholism or his sentimental life outside of marriage. This is not a book that presents a three-dimensional James Joyce.

There is yet another issue that could be either a positive or a negative depending on a reader's personal preferences for biographies: Ellman scarcely offers a value judgment on Joyce's behavior; he simply allows the references to lead to their own conclusions.

Overall, while this biography has its strengths in terms of prose and research, it also has some limitations that may prevent it from fully satisfying the expectations of all readers.