The Abridged Badassery of James Joyce
The Abridged Badassery of James Joyce
The Abridged Badassery of James Joyce
while observing the cynicisms of Ireland. An average evening for a man who would produce
what is generally accepted as the last great novel in the English literary cannon.
Growing up in Ireland at the turn of the century, Joyce developed an impressive hatred for just
about everything (excluding alcohol, hookers, and relationships). He left home at the twenty to
become as he bluntly put it “an artist”. He spent his evenings drinking and patronizing brothels,
and days writing critically acclaimed short stories. Like a boss. The nicknames appointed by his
friends included “The Bard”, “The Scholar”, “The cannon-burner”, “Ozymandias”, “Kick-Ass”
and on the rare, intoxicated occasions, “Beyonce” (He had a fantastic alto voice).
In 1916, Joyce (henceforth referred to as the Chosen One) published Portrait of an Artist as a
Young Man, a semi-autobiographical novella portraying a mans life til the age of thirty. The
novel was defiant of the traditional way novels are read and written. It was written in a third-
person narrative that evolves with the narrators age. The books publication was a well-received
“Screw You” to the traditions of English writings and paved the way for
1922s Ulysses. Joyce The Chosen One at this time fell in love and adopted an eyepatch. He had
embodied the roles of a literary rebel, a genius, a pirate, and now had a muse for his works as
well. He refused the institution of marriage, associating it with Catholicism (which he wasn’t too
fond of as well) and instead swore himself to Nora Barnacle on June 16th.
He published his masterpiece Finnegan’s Wake in 1939, after leaving Ireland because “That
former nation is inhabited by drunks, child-beaters, boasters, gossips, schemers, and
f***wits”(citation needed). Joyce died in Zurich in 1941, presumably while riding a dragon into the dark
abyss of the ageless. His impact on the literary world has lasted two generations and his works
will perplex lit. scholars FOREVER. No other author has had such vicious manipulation of
English language or influence since the bible was penned. Look for the movie this summer with
Samuel L. Jackson in the title role.
-11/22/2010