Portrait of the Artist Post 1

My first post about this book has nothing to do with the content, but everything to do with the structure. I am about 50 pages into the book and I am just now getting used to the dialogue format. At first it was very difficult for me because I am used to a double quotation mark to begin and end each spoken sentence with a second set for subsequent quotes. For example:

"I dropped my glasses" Stephen said. "On the footpath."

I am also used to the single quotation marks used frequently in English literature. Joyce doesn't use either of these. He opts for the dash marks to denote dialogue, but doesn't signal the end of the quote. He will start a sentence with the dash, indicating something spoken, but when he goes into the "Stephen said" he doesn't employ a second dash, nor does he use another dash when the dialogue continues. It takes a while to get used to, and often time I will think that a character is continuing to talk when the narrative has taken over. So it has taken me quite a while to get to where I am, but I am able to recognize it much better now.

Joyce is difficult to pick up at first because the text seems scattered. But I have a weapon in my corner that most people don't: I have an Irishman who studied Joyce while he was a young Dubliner. His insights are deep. I may steal some of his thoughts and post them here.