Re Joyce

by Anthony Burgess

Book Overview

A great and inventive writer enjoys himself immensely in discussing and explaining perhaps the most inventive and important writer of the twentieth century. Vigorous, humorous, and perceptive, Anthony Burgess's commentary is an excellent introduction and a valuable companion to reading Joyce.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393004457
• ISBN13: 9780393004458
• Release Date: January 1968
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 274 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A student reads a master- teacher

Burgess is a novelist of tremendous linguistic energy and inventiveness, one who searches out many worlds, scholarly and not. His career path seems much more ' foxlike' and scattered than does the hedgehog - like career in Joyce which seems to go increasingly toward the realization of one great system in literature. In this study of the work of Joyce he tells the life- story but concentrates more on introducing the common reader to Joyce's two large tomes, Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake. He writes with skill and sympathy and even the seasoned Joyce reader can learn much from his work. It is a valuable contribution to the vast Joycean scholarship which continues to grow and grow with the years.

A terrific introduction

Burgess, who is known for his almost fetishistic interest Shakespeare, was also quite a Joyce-head as well. This introduction, while difficult to find, is truly wonderful. I have read a few books on Joyce, and none can match Burgess' eloquence and enthusiasm. Ellman's biography is still the definitive Joyce tome, but Burgess has a freedom to wax fan boy in a way that Ellman could not, and the result is marvelous. Burgess' comments on Joyce's life are witty, touching and truthful, but what makes this book a must-have is his commentary on Finnegans Wake. No other critic has, in so few pages, made the "man-made mountain" seem so clear. There are a few moments when Burgess labels certain linguistic acrobatics as "obvious" when they are clearly not. This book is not, in fact, for the ordinary reader. Presumably, however, an ordinary reader would not tackle the Wake in the first place. Burgess must be excused a touch of pretension here and there (he is a literary scholar, and literary scholars all lost touch with the ordinary reader ages ago), and the sheer rapture of this introduction makes it a must-read for any aspiring Joyce fan. A lovely book, well worth the high price for a used copy.

One Great Mind Parses Another

If you are looking for a fairly short, easy to digest introductory guide to Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake, this is it. Anthony Burgess, in addition to being a witty novelist and critic, also had the chutzpah to publish an abridged version of Finnegan's Wake, so you know he knows his stuff! This is not a page by page explication of Joyce's complex works, ala Gifford or Gilbert, but more like a defense for the intelligent reader who may be wondering if these novels are worth the time.It is wonderful that the cover of this June 2000 paperback reissue has features an image of Joyce looking away, his face hidden from the reader. Joyce remains an enigma-- a sparkling inspiration to readers who enjoy thinking about the questions and don't care about definitive answers.If you've read A Clockwork Orange or Nothing Like the Sun and are curious about Anthony Burgess' critical work, this is one of his best performances.

ReJoyce fair readers, for your guide to the labrynth is here

Without a doubt, an attempt to read the works of James Joyce, one of the most demanding authors to live (and one of the best as well) comes with no small amount of trepidation. But thankfully, the Joycian disciple Anthony Burgess has written the book for both the neophyte and the seasoned lover of Joyce's work. ReJoyce features pretty much all that is needed to tackle his canon. The fascinating autobiographical sketch and the analysis of the early works are merely a fitting prelude to the bulk of the book, which is devoted to Joyce's dizzying last two novels, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. The critical analysis of the last two is both brilliant and eminetly approachable, and more than any of the other volumes of scholarly work on Joyce's last two novels, Burgess's analysis helps to make them both understandable and enjoyable. Without a doubt, ReJoyce is among the best guides to Joyce out there on the market now, and well worth it for both the longtime reader or the newcomer to Joyce

This book is one of the most delightful companions to Joyce

Anthony Burgess is best known as the author of brilliant novels such as A Clockwork Orange and Enderby; but he has also produced a substantial body of non-fiction, including several works about James Joyce. I suppose it is only natural that one of my favorite pieces of Joyce criticism would be penned by one of my favorite novelists, a writer who has never concealed the influence of Joyce upon his own deft games with language. ReJoyce does not attempt to explicate or annotate the entire Joycean canon, nor is it exactly a biography. Rather, it is a very personal "reading" of Joyce; a delightful "companion" and a brilliant illumination of his narrative technique. According to Burgess, "My book does not pretend to scholarship, only a desire to help the average reader who wants to know Joyce's work but has been scared off by the professors." Reassuring, but a bit disingenuous -- Burgess's work, though clear and easy to read, never panders to the "simple," and he stocks its pages with enough insight and revelation to impress even the most demanding professor. His primary focus is Joyce's use of language, and he takes great delight in exploring the structure, intentions, and psychology that underpin Joyce's revolutionary technique. But what differentiates -- and elevates -- ReJoyce from most other works of similar Joyce criticism is the clarity and liveliness of Burgess's own unique style. Burgess writes with a lucidity and wit which is rare in academic scholarship, and he never once comes across as being dry, obscure, or condescending. Not a book written by a professional critic, this is a book written by one very talented author about another: and the fact that Joyce was not only a fellow writer but something of a personal hero makes it a very enjoyable reading experience! His sense of admiration of Joyce's genius is liberally mixed in with a playful sense of irreverence, and this mix of guileless enthusiasm and intellectual appreciation enlivens every page. In structure, the book is elegantly simple but highly effective. Burgess follows Joyce as a writer, tracing his development from his days as a nine-year-old Parnellite to his last years working on Finnegans Wake. Joyce's life is seen as a humanist journey; self-cast into the role of Daedalus, he was on a quest to "rival the primal Creator" as he fashioned increasingly more complex worlds, all aiming for the "ennoblement of the common man." Burgess relates Joyce's life through the framework of his writing, placing each work in a historical context which illuminates Joyce's family, his society, and his own changing ideas about his role as a writer. Against this background, Burgess highlights the many factors which played a hand in shaping Joyce's style, and shows how Joyce himself responded to these forces. Burgess sees a synergistic relationship between Joyce's technique and the image of "reality" it was trying to reflect, a tension which engendered a constant, almost dialectical pressure, fo