Shocking Discovery

As I was searching for someone to read about James Joyce's Dubliners I decided to look on WorldCat. I was trying to find an article or anything about the different kinds of viewpoints and perspectives that different people have when reading Dubliners. I found a book that looked promising but as I was clicking on the links I realized that I had to go and get it from the library. So I did. When I found the James Joyce section I found a few more books that looked interesting. I walked away from the library with four different books in my hands. James Joyce: New Perspectives; Joyce, Ireland, Britain; James Joyce's Dublin Houses; James Joyce and the Common Reader. After finding these books I decided to head over to the reference books to look at the Atlas of Literature, which was talked about during our library instruction the other day. As I was reading that book I realized how little I actually knew about James Joyce.

I knew a few facts about the guy but nothing really solid. What I had been focusing on my study and research was not too much about his life (even though I said I was going to start researching him). I had been focusing most of my research on other people's view of Dubliners and more of Irish history. What I found out from the small section about James Joyce shocked me.

In my mind most famous writers who are dead and long gone I sort of romanticize. In my mind I concoct this vision of what sort of person they are, and usually they are upstanding citizens who are really smart, they have a wonderful family and a perfect life. But really their lives are not perfect, whose is? The Atlas of Literature kept talking about James Joyce and his sketchy life. Apparently he was not the upstanding citizen that I thought him to be. He had an affair, tried to get his wife to cheat on him and seemed to live a kind of wild life. Although I don't know all of the facts since the section in the book didn't give too many details. But this reading really helped me to know where I need to go next.

I know this blog doesn't follow the assignment as it should but the next one. I just needed to get this out so that I may know what I first need to research instead of jumping right into the analysis of his stories, first I need to understand that author.