A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

James Joyce's first novel, a poignant coming of age tale, is brought to the reader anew in this splendidly produced edition.

First published in 1916, this story follows the unconventional and iconoclastic Stephen Dedalus, a young artist and thinker strongly modelled upon Joyce. In part autobiographical, the story charts the departure of Dedalus from traditional Irish views of Catholicism. As a result of this stifling, Stephen embarks on a journey of self-exile to Europe, where his artistic awakening and development proceeds apace. 

As with other works of Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man is notable for its original stylistic elements: through the use of free indirect speech, we witness the steady evolution of Dedalus's mind as he encounters and absorbs new locales and experiences. The change of outlook and philosophy, whereby the young man embraces aestheticism and a love of beauty, comes in spite of the advice of his best friend Cranly to make compromise with the deeply held traditions of his Irish homeland. 

Poignantly, the book opens with the following quotation from Ovid's Metamorphosis:

Et ignotas animum dimittit in artes. 

("And he turned his mind to unknown arts.")