Stephen’s broken glasses are a metaphor. His whole worldview, as you noted, is myopic. Just as he cannot see to read his lessons, similarly, he cannot understand the minds of those around him. And he feels likewise punished unjustly. He reacts in both cases to this injustice by seeking to right the scales in his favor. As all such efforts must this ends in failure, because there are no scales, and there is no underlying justice. Only knowledge, and perhaps agency, both of which he struggles with. This struggle forms the core of his alienation. Stephen feels, as perhaps we all do sometimes, that this world is not for him. It has been made with someone else in mind. This was a deeply personal novel for me. When young Stephen was trying to say his prayers in time so he wouldn’t go to hell I had tears in my eyes. The eager sadism of righteousness. Stephen oscillates between guilt and hedonism, never understanding that he is missing the human connection and compassion that is the source of flourishing. I continue to find the honesty and insightfulness of your reviews refreshing. Thank you! I am traveling this week, but when I return home, I will share the edition of my copy. I find the annotations extremely useful since I know little of Irish culture and history.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
You are completely in your rights to love this book, don’t let me disuade you. Joyce did a wonderful job with it. It is very honest and he didn’t try to paint himself as some saint, and I really respect that.
@kidding23
4 ай бұрын
Found your channel over your video on faulkners as i lay dying, I think that and this video are some of the coolest things (on this platform) honestly discussing books I’m interested in, so thanks so so much first of all. I wasn’t expecting you to start discussing something I’ve been wondering about, but I’ve been thinking about how to deal with art or media that supposedly is great but that I can’t recognize/ don’t see that way, i thought what u said was awesome. Listening to your thoughts on the book made me realize a bit more why I loved the book so much, I had similar impressions about a difficult type of person being portrayed, I loved it though because it seemed to understand a part of me. Like given all the stupid decisions and problems that the Stephen-life brings or needs, I have a soft spot for it, either cuz I relate or because I sympathize. Might be a bad way to live and might be an ignorant way to think but yk… In a sense I’m ready to put this up there with things that edgy teen boys relate to, right next to donnie darko and fight club.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
4 ай бұрын
Well, hello and welcome to my channel. This book, regardless of my aesthetic taste, is worth loving. Funny you should mention it but I really want to read Fight Club. It’s been ages since I’ve watched the movie so it would be perfect timing. Taste is so subjective and I find it silly when some people can’t put their taste aside to try to see what the artist is trying to convey. And sometimes when one doesn’t connect with a work of literature it may just be that one may be in the wrong place in their life to appreciate it. Chew on the meat and spit out the bones; this is the approach I try to take. Thank you for watching.
@reaganwiles_art
Жыл бұрын
OK. I'm ready to hear it. This is my favorite work by Joyce, after! Chamber Music which I feel is the best book of lyrics I've ever read.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
I've never heard of Chamber Music. Thank you for putting in on the radar.
@TheCodeXCantina
Жыл бұрын
Oh yes! I’ve been waiting for this!!!
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
Oh good!
@angelacraw2907
Жыл бұрын
Great video. Thanks.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
Glad you liked it!
@BrandonsBookshelf
Жыл бұрын
Love your assessment of does this book strike your personal aesthetics. Though it always breaks my heart when others do not love one of my top two favorite books of all time, I do understand your points here. I will say I love the "in his head" part of the book. I think its a brilliant and interesting way of seeing the ego, anxiety, and loneliness of a young, conflicted man.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
It's definitely all of those things, Brandon. You are completely in your right to adore this book. And while I didn't love this book, I'm really glad I read it. We're all (myself especially) caught in the struggle of understanding our own taste (aesthetics). I find myself especially recently, wrestling with the utility and frivolity of art forms. And this novel made me think about that struggle in interesting ways. Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts.
@BrandonsBookshelf
Жыл бұрын
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize I'd really love to hear you expand on that more. You should do a whole video!
@maxwashingtonmusic7000
Жыл бұрын
Interesting thoughts! Enjoyed! I read Portrait ages ago. I remember enjoying it. Gonna put it on my re read list. I’m curious to see how I’ll feel about the character in Portrait. I’ll check out the other book you mentioned. I remember enjoying the movie The Dead starring Angelica Huston. Directed by her Pop. Written by her brother. And I love the hilarious Joyce scene in Back To School. I’m an Irish-American and an author. Great channel! I put your books on my list on Goodreads. Cheers 👍📖📘📕✨✨✨✨
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
Hello! Welcome to my channel. I've never watched that movie. I'll see if I can google that scene. Happy NANO!!!
@TH3F4LC0Nx
Жыл бұрын
I really love your take on this book! The impartiality is greatly appreciated; what with all the genuine praise and in-depth analysis, I honestly could have thought you adored this book until you said you didn't. 😂 I've had similar experiences with other books (cough cough Gravity's Rainbow 😒) where there's obviously a lot to fawn over but you personally didn't connect with it because you feel like it sacrificed certain elements for certain others. Honestly I probably should have started with Portrait before tackling Ulysses, but Joyce has never been an author who has interested me a great deal; I just read Ulysses cuz of its status. So I doubt if I'll ever get around to reading this one, although I do have a copy of Dubliners... 🤔 Also, fun fact, the part about Joyce refusing his mother's dying wish is worked into Stephen's character as a major motif, cuz he reappears as a side character in Ulysses, dragging a lot of guilt. Anyway, fantastic vid as always! 😁
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
I wanted to read A Portrait of the Artist before reading Ulysses because I had heard that there were some reoccurring characters between the two. I had also thought that perhaps it would be a small introduction to Joyce's style. (leans in close and whispers so the books cannot hear) I have Gravity's Rainbow on my shelf. (glances at said book) I think that one will give A Portrait of the Artist a run for it's money. A part of me wonders if I'm criticizing this book for what it never intended to be, so maybe it not all merited. But I always wonder what is the artists obligation to the reader and what is the reader's to the artist? There is a relationship between the two no matter how free of the reader the artist wants to be, and the reader can miss the whole point of the work if they aren't openminded and don't try hard enough to interpret the work.🤷♀ Anyway, thank you for watching.
@barbarajohnson1442
Жыл бұрын
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize well said
@literatimedium
Жыл бұрын
Another great literary review!
@4jeffinseattle
Жыл бұрын
agree
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
@@4jeffinseattle Thank you!
@brianbuch1
Жыл бұрын
Love the discussion of belonging. Joyce realized that in writing his epic, Stephen would be wrong for his Ulysses. He invents Bloom, but of course Bloom's predicament is that he longs to belong; to Ireland, to the society of his city, and to his marriage, and he's thwarted, despite his efforts at good will, in all these areas. He has no aesthetic pretensions, other than a vague wish to write something, and even then he's going to write something realist "My experiences in a cabman's shelter." He has none of Stephen's strategies either. He can't be silent, won't be exiled, and while he's got cunning, it's not in service to his art; he has none, but only to getting through his material and emotional life.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
This sounds like it may be more in my wheel house. One day it will be read!!! 🤓
@barbarajohnson1442
Жыл бұрын
Well, I will be impressed if you can review Ulysses, given its " grand appeal" but I couldn't. I did read portrait in my 20's...probably no frontal lobe yet...so I thought I enjoyed it.
@glennmoonpatrol8676
Жыл бұрын
I thought it was Oscar Wilde who wrote it so I put on the video and was glad to see that it was JJ. I would be surprised if Oscar Wilde was reviewed badly; one of my favorite writers even though I have only read two pieces.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
I have yet to read an Oscar Wilde. What 2 works of his have you read?
@onecircle1
Жыл бұрын
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize 'The Portrait of Dorian Gray' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. Don't worry there are more and I now have a collected works volume on the shelf to read eventually. There are about 10 books lined up in front of it to read. As for classics I got bogged down with Charles Dickens and his symbolic irony writing style and had to put down Little Dorrit..
@peterock4210
Жыл бұрын
I genuinely enjoyed this novel, second reading helped a lot. My frustration is with Ulysses. I think I have attempted at least three times. It bothers me that I cannot climb this mountain. Finally, I realize that my reading time is too short to be this frustrated. Just read something else!
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
I can completely understand you loving this novel. Life is too short to do things you don’t care about. There are so many other books out there demanding your personal attention. 👍🏼
@BookishTexan
Жыл бұрын
I can’t help but think that if Joyce/Stephen had been able to shift the focus away from himself the book would have broader appeal. But then it wouldn’t be the same book and it wouldn’t be the product of a singular, if self obsessed, consciousness. Portrait is not a book I like or think is particularly great. I feel the same way about it’s almost direct descendant Catcher in the Rye. I see what other people think is great about it, And just disagree. Great review and discussion.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
I agree. It would have broader appeal, but it wouldn't be the same book. That's very interesting that you say that about Catcher and the Rye. I started reading it, got a few pages in, and got distracted by another book years ago. I'm planning on reading it and now I'm intrigued to spot the similarities. Thank you for watching and sharing.
@DenkyManner
Жыл бұрын
Read it a long time ago, I think I liked it. Didn't hate it. I've read Dubliners 3 times, not getting it at all the first time and then returning to it understanding more. I think for some people we need to just get over the first hump of reading Joyce without liking it and then come back years later.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
It's always good to circle back to works and try them again. Sometimes we're not in the right "place" for certain books.
@brianbuch1
Жыл бұрын
I don't know where you got the title of your channel, but near the end of the sermon, the preacher makes the point that dying in sin means that it truly is too late to apologize to "an offended God".
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
It’s too late to apologize to an offended reader!! 🤣😂🤣 I’m not easily offended though, especially when reading. I always try to see what the author is trying to say amidst all the things I may see as “flaws”. You have to chew on the meat and spit out the bones.
@travishanks4176
Жыл бұрын
I’ve read lots of reviews of this classic. Great job of going your own way - explaining how it’s great, but not your cup of tea. Definitely keep Ulysses on your list - Leopold Bloom has many more facets to him than Stephen. Bloom is a one of a kind character who you get to know and possibly love by the end of the day/novel.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
Thank you so much! I'm definitely going to give Ulysses a go.
@apollonia6656
Жыл бұрын
I had to read "The Dubliners" for "A"Level Eng.Lit but the class was told to read "Finnigan's Wake" as an introduction to Joyce. I am not kidding ! went to the shop,went through all the FWs and then informed the saleslady that all the FWs were imprinted ! She laughed,I didn't 😏 I hate JJ....Years later I read (wrong word to use in the case of this book) Ulysses....how did I miss getting a nervous breakdown. Well,at least when asked " Have you read Ulysses, I smile,say yes and the and " But I much prefer Homer's "Odyssey" ! Btw: It is true,I love Homer. I am a medic and read psychology before end and can tell you that Neologisms can be a sign of schizophrenia ! 😉 So,I put in a "strsightjacket"....ooops, meant corner far away from all my other books.. Mo,never read Portrait and have no intentions to do do. However,I did enjoy your comments. Regards from the UK and apologies for typos by UT 😊
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
11 ай бұрын
Nothing is for everyone :) I have a copy of Ulysses and fingers crossed I don't get a nervous break down. Welcome to my channel and thank you for watching.
@reaganwiles_art
Жыл бұрын
I think you should eschew all-ALL-considerations of your own qualifications to do this kind of work. Your criticism is enough. You are astute. Do not denigrate yourself. Your reviews are among the best-except for the self criticism. Don't refer to yourself. You're work is sound. Don't secondguess yourself.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for your kind words. My intentions are to acknowledge that I am perhaps going about my analysis or reviews in a manner that may differ from the academic community. I fully acknowledge that I am ignorant of much, but it is my hope to do away with the pretentions that may discourage some from engaging with literature and the discussion of literature. There is value and wisdom in the blue-collar domain as there is in academia, but I don't want it to seem like I am pretending to be something I'm not. I have known extremely wise journeymen and caregivers, and I have known PHD and masters students with no thoughts of their own. And of course the reverse is true also. My hope is to encourage those who do not think their opinions or thoughts are meritorious enough to be voiced aloud (perhaps because I myself believed such things at a time) to engage and challenge themselves and see that they are welcomed.
@BobLikesPizza99
Жыл бұрын
I read it years ago and liked it, but I reread it recently and was like, meh.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
I think it would have better appeal the younger one reads it.
@AngryPict
Жыл бұрын
This and Catcher In The Rye both had me going: meh
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
I haven't read Catcher and the Rye yet but it seems you're not alone in your perspective.
@Khatoon170
Жыл бұрын
How are you doing mrs Stella iam Arabic lady and subscriber to several British and American KZitem channels I sent comment to you from long time iam busy with educational cultural channels to improve my English increase my cultural level we are as foreigners subscribers as overseas students first of all make friendships with people from different countries ihope we became intimate friends from now on iam very happy to be subscriber to author and learn from your knowledge your name is Italian origin means celestial star my name is Turkish origin means Nobel lady as princess you wrote novel across wire plot summary of it tribute to tenacity of people who have learned to survive against most impossible odds returns to these forgotten people their identity pride happy thanksgiving Christmas in advance you have different date in thanksgiving in USA on November you in Canada on October it’s harvest time as I read it’s great time to spend autumn season in Canada best wishes for you your family friends
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
Hello again, Khatoon! I hope you are well. Stella is of Latin origin and I am of Portuguese descent. Fall is beautiful where I live in Canada, but it is short lived. Winter has arrived Nov 1st and the snow is here. I really like a lot of outdoor winter activities, so I'm not sad about it. Good luck in continuing your cultural and linguistic studies. You can do it!
@alyssaerinhoover
Жыл бұрын
May I ask what your profession is? You could totally be an English professor.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
That's very kind of you to say. I have worked in many fields and have been through polytechnic post-secondary school several times. Currently I am a Chemical Engineering Technologist and am employed as a Control Centre Operator.
@alyssaerinhoover
Жыл бұрын
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize that’s very cool!
@reaganwiles_art
Жыл бұрын
Hate me if you must for saying so-your reviews are in the top few best I've seen on BookTube. But don't get a Big Head either. Read a lot off work by Ezra Pound. Unfortunately we don't have anyone as brave these days as Pound. He did not give a fuck if people did not like him.
@ItsTooLatetoApologize
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for your kindness. While I admire those who do not care about the opinions of others, I would like to encourage dialogue, and I find a humble approach works well for that. Most of my viewers are not subscribed to me so they do not have a chance to know me. So, I prefer an unassuming approach that will hopefully welcome them in. Thank you for being here.
@reaganwiles_art
Жыл бұрын
@@ItsTooLatetoApologize oh so cunning! Beautiful and wicked! Sorry, had to.
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