I really like Joyce but the one complaint I do have is his harder works require a bunch of homework
Like if you're going to read Ulysses, there are a bunch of companion books that are entirely footnotes for the thousands of unexplained references. Ofc you don't have to read every footnote, but there's considerable overhead involved in reading him
Ditto for the Wake, most people just give up and assume it's nonsense. But there is some general story behind it and it too has a bunch of homework
Portrait is more approachable and I got more out of it per ounce of labor involved
It's nice to be able to just pick up a book and read it, no? Like if you know basic Russian history you can pick up a Dostoevsky and read through it without too much hassle
I'm not sure what changed in the literary world that made authors prioritize showing off over being understood by anyone
Like if you're going to read Ulysses, there are a bunch of companion books that are entirely footnotes for the thousands of unexplained references. Ofc you don't have to read every footnote, but there's considerable overhead involved in reading him
Ditto for the Wake, most people just give up and assume it's nonsense. But there is some general story behind it and it too has a bunch of homework
Portrait is more approachable and I got more out of it per ounce of labor involved
It's nice to be able to just pick up a book and read it, no? Like if you know basic Russian history you can pick up a Dostoevsky and read through it without too much hassle
I'm not sure what changed in the literary world that made authors prioritize showing off over being understood by anyone