The Years of Bloom: James Joyce in Trieste, 1904-1920

by John McCourt

Since the publication of Richard Ellmann’s James Joyce in 1959, Joyce has received remarkably little biographical attention. Scholars have chipped away at various aspects of Ellmann’s impressive edifice but have failed to construct anything that might stand alongside it. The Years of Bloom is arguably the most important work of Joyce biography since Ellmann. Based on extensive scrutiny of previously unused Italian sources and informed by the author’s intimate knowledge of the culture and dialect of Trieste, The Years of Bloom documents a fertile period in Joyce’s life.
    While living in Trieste, Joyce wrote most of the stories in Dubliners, turned Stephen Hero into A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and began Ulysses. Echoes and influences of Trieste are rife throughout Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. Though Trieste had become a sleepy backwater by the time Ellmann visited there in the 1950s, McCourt shows that the city was a teeming imperial port, intensely cosmopolitan and polyglot, during the approximately twelve years Joyce lived there in the waning years of the Habsburg Empire.  It was there that Joyce experienced the various cultures of central Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. He met many Jews, who collectively provided much of the material for the character of Leopold Bloom. He encountered continental socialism, Italian Irredentism, Futurism, and various other political and artistic forces whose subtle influences McCourt traces with literary grace and scholarly rigour. The Years of Bloom, a rare landmark in the crowded terrain of Joyce studies, will instantly take its place as a standard work.

Genres: Biography

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 7, 2000

Reviews

[Michael D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting account of Joyce's early years in Europe. A shambolic, even ridiculous figure whose everyday existence was a penurious disaster, 'Shem The Penman' it seems, made life utterly miserable for all those closest to him, none more so than his long-suffering wife Nora and ridiculously supportive brother Stanislaus. McCourt writes well about Trieste and conjures up the spirit of the time admirably.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loads of new information and really well written. Makes me want to read more of Joyce, which is always a sign of good criticism.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful book about Joyce's years in Trieste but not written about as much. For centuries Trieste has been the cross roads of many cultures and ideas and movements. The early 20th century was a fertile period for artist, writers and thinkers in the city. That is when Joyce came to Trieste with Nora to earn a living teaching English at the Berlitz school as well as write. It is there he came into contact with different writers and thinkers who who were to influence him and characters in his books. An enjoyable read for me having spent time living in Trieste during my youth. McCourt gives an in depth background on the history and undercurrents of the period and how it helped shape one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. I may actually have the courage now to attempt one of his novels now! Not sure though.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fascinating. I wish I'd had been able to read this before ever reading Ulysses.