James Joyce: A Biography by Gordon Bowker: book review

James Joyce: A Biography (2011) presents a comprehensive account of James Joyce in terms of his autobiographical works that were not readily understood, nor popular; his life in Paris and Europe to escape Dublin – which is the focal point in all of his works; his attitude to religion; and his controversies, including the banning in Britain and America of his most prominent work, the 1922 novel Ulysses.

Bowker begins with Joyce’s family roots, and his attitude to his family and religion that pervades his writings. Politics is a major feature of the biography, parochial and across Europe, as is poverty and financial dependency. Above all, is a step-by-step account of Joyce’s love of literature, and also his love of pulling words apart and re-aligning them, dissecting meaning and interpretation that contrasts traditions and conventions with experimentation. By pushing boundaries, Joyce had to deal with criticism.

I like Bowker’s linear progression of Joyce as an artist, a writer, and the internal and external influences on his writing. I also like Bowker’s chapters on the Paris years (juxtaposed with the violence in Ireland), beginning with the chapter ‘Ulysses: Inside the Dismal Labyrinth (1920-1921)’ and concluding with ‘Always something new on the Robiac front (1930).’ Sylvia Beach’s Shakespeare and Company bookshop had recently opened and poet Ezra Pound ‘was determined that everything be done to help his genius settle in Paris and flourish there.’

The rest of the biography is about Joyce’s ailing health and eye surgeries, his daughter’s health, the advent of war, and his journey to Zurich for an operation.

Bowker presents Joyce as a genius, a man of contradictions, and adept at projecting an alternate image of himself to the world. Bowker doesn’t attempt to decipher the meaning of Joyce’s writing – this is specifically an (almost) day-by-day account of Joyce’s life, writing, travelling, and death – and quite an interesting read, though not a masterpiece.

Note: Gordon Bowker's James Joyce: A New Biography (2013) is an updated biography.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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