James Joyce: The Essential Works in One Sitting

by Joelle Herr

Whether you need to get to know Ulysses in a hurry or are a long-time fan of James Joyce, this pocket-sized tome is the go-to reference, complete with comprehensive plot summaries and character profiles from his timeless works. Accompanied by illustrations throughout, the book also includes specially selected short stories and poems, reprinted in full.

Genres: Classics

208 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 2014

About the author

When I'm not committing various sacrilegious acts (literarily speaking) with and to the works of Dickens, Twain, Joyce, Shakespeare, and other greats, I have the best day job in the world--owning and running Her Bookshop, an independent bookstore in East Nashville, Tennessee.

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice enough little introduction if you're a lay reader (I want Harold Bloom's job. Give it to me.) who honestly has no idea about Joyce and just wants the dirty, quickly, and for whatever reason hasn't just used Wikipedia. For people studying Joyce, or literature in general, in a more serious (you are citing your research) capacity, look elsewhere unless you just fancy a bit of fun. If you already know a bit, the factual errors and omissions will put a serious dampener on your fun, and for this it loses a few points. For example, Herr states that Stephen refuses to pray at his mother's funeral, whereas he actually refuses to pray at his mother's deathbed. Yes, I am the kind of person that writes a thesis on Joyce and then goes back and reads an introduction to Joyce, so he can get annoyed about the inaccuracies, perceived or otherwise. I want Harold Bloom's job. Give it to me.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I forced myself to read it literally in one sitting. It's not a comfortable book to do with. I held it one handed and felt myself get arthritic.

It's a cute jab at summarizing Joyce--but not really an effective one. I honestly am fairly new at Joyce--but got a wealth of understanding by the supplementary work of Anthony Burgess' ReJoyce and by Joseph Campbell.

I'm not sure who this was useful for--as while it does give a plot summary, it doesn't allow you to grasp any nuance to even pretend to have read it (which is a failure in my opinion). It then also gives up completely on Finnegan's Wake, in my opinion. The book literally shrugs its shoulders and is like "even the historians and critics don't get it". It's perhaps honest...but come on at least pretend there's a carrot there.

[Ayan Tarafder · Rating 5 out of 5]

ব্রিটিশ মিউজিয়ামের গ্রাউন্ড ফ্লোরের সুভেনির শপ টা থেকে কিছু বই সংগ্রহ করে ছিলাম (দৈর্ঘ্যে প্রস্থে দুইটা ছোট ম্যাচ বক্সের সমান বড় হবে এমন! ), তা ওর মাঝে জেমস জয়েস এর কাজকর্ম নিয়ে এই বইটাও ছিল। উদ্দেশ্য, বহু দিন ধরে প্ল্যান করা ' ইউলিসিস' এর প্রস্তুতি নেওয়া! তা সেই প্রস্তুতির কদ্দুর কি হলো বলা যাচ্ছে না তবে জেমস জয়েসের জীবন ও সাহিত্য কর্ম নিয়ে চমৎকার ধারনা পাওয়া গেল এখান থেকে ! ২০৮ পৃষ্ঠার বই টা তে উনার লেখা ৮ টা সিলেক্টেড কবিতা আছে, বেশ কিছু ছোট গল্প আছে ( সব যে ভাল লাগার মত তেমন মনে হয় নি) আর ছোট্ট করে সারাংশ আছে 'ইউলিসিস' আর ' ফিনেগানস আওয়েক ' এর। তা এই 'ফিনেগানস আওয়েক' ভদ্রলোক লিখেছেন ১৭ বছর সময় নিয়ে পুরোপুরি ননলিনিয়ার ন্যারেটিভে আর তাতে ব্যবহার করেছেন ৬২ টা ভাষায় প্রচলিত নানান শব্দ!৬২ টা ভাষার শব্দাবলী !! এখনো বলা হয়, এই বই পড়বার এটেম্পট নিয়ে ৯৯.৯ ভাগ লোক বুঝতেই পারে না যে কি পড়ছে, তবে এইটা মানে যে মহত কিছুই পড়ছে :) ভাবা যায় !!!

[Doug Moramarco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat interesting as a review, but ultimately it's sloppy and lazy as scholarship, implying that it was also written in one sitting.

[Selene Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good. Quick and easy to read very dry.
I read James Joyce in college and it’s been a while - this was a quick refresher into his world.

[Debs · Rating 4 out of 5]

These little books are just brilliant. This one sounds up beautifully the absolute tosh that came out of Joyce's pen 😂

[Magnús · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stórskemmtileg hugmynd að bók, en það er ekki mjög þægilegt að lesa smásögur eða annað samfellt mál í svona litlu broti. Ljóðin koma hinsvegar prýðilega út og ég þarf endilega að skoða þau betur. Titillinn er reyndar lygi, því það tók mig nokkur skipti að lesa í gegn um bókina.
Ég hafði lesið Dubliners smásagnasafnið áður, á íslensku, en ég hef ekki lesið annað efni eftir Joyce. Ég hef ekki þorað að leggja í doðrantinn Ulysses, en kannski maður fari bara rólega af stað og byrji á ljóðalestrinum í Chamber Music.

Tveggja ára dóttir mín hefur svo tekið ástfóstri við smábókinni, en það er skýringin á því hversvegna ég var svona lengi að klára hana.