Classic Authors: James Joyce

Although James Joyce published few books, his works stand out as masterpieces of style and diction. Secure in his own skill, he experimented wildly, utilizing symbolism, stream of consciousness, epiphany, and other less common strategies. True, readers did not always understand his complex work; still, he became one of the most celebrated writers of his time. Some would say that he is, in fact, the greatest novelist of all time.

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born on February 2, 1882 in Rathgar, Ireland, a suburb of Dublin. His parents, John Stanislaus and Mary Jane Joyce, had 12 children, only eight of whom reached adulthood. The family lived in poverty, thanks to John Joyce, an expert loafer and drinker. He invested poorly, dragging himself and his family into financial ruin.

As a young boy, James attended Jesuit schools, proving himself to be an able student. In 1899, he began studying at University College, Dublin. As an undergraduate, he involved himself in various social causes, studied languages, and published essays on literature. He read the "modernists" and became known as a radical thinker. Also during this period, James broke with the Catholic Church, with which he had been affiliated throughout his life. He graduated in 1902 with a Bachelor's of Arts degree.

Two years later, James Joyce left Ireland with his lover, Nora Barnacle. Although Nora was not educated and had difficulty understanding James' writing, she was vivacious and fun. Apparently, the couple enjoyed a happy existence. While abroad, they parented two children, a boy and a girl. James finally married Nora in 1931.

From 1905 to 1915, James and Nora resided in Trieste, where James taught English at the Berlitz School. By this time he had begun writing Stephen Hero, which would eventually become A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man(1916). In 1907, he published Chamber Music, a collection of love poems. In the next seven years, he wrote short stories about life in Dublin, which would appear in 1914 as Dubliners.

In 1915, James moved his family to Zurich, where he lived in poverty while writing two of his most well-known volumes, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses(1922). His financial situation was alleviated when the American poet Ezra Pound took an interest in his cause, and offered to finance his career. With Portrait, he also established himself as a skilled writer. The very autobiographical story was serialized in The Egoist from 1914 to 1915, and was published in book form in 1916. The book gained attention, as did his next book, Ulysses. Although it was banned in America, it was frequently smuggled in to the country. In 1934, Random House won a court battle, allowing it to publish the book. Soon after, England began publishing it as well.

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