A Review of "The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man", by James Joyce

THE PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN, by James Joyce
Considering the fact that the Portrait is a writing of a sort that the early reviewers had not encountered before it is understandable that Joyce was not praised by the critics while alive. Recognising the literary greatness of this novel seemed an almost impossible task at the time of its publishing. In a reader's report for the publisher Duckworth & Company, one of the reviewers called Garnett admits that the book is "ably written" but needs revision because it is too "discursive, formless, unrestrained, and ugly things, ugly words, are too prominent." The novel is too "unconventional," Garnett asserts, and "unless the author will use restraint and proportion he will not gain readers". …