A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce.

'His soul had arisen from the grave of boyhood, spurning her grave-clothes. Yes! Yes! Yes! He would create proudly out of the freedom and power of his soul, as the great artificer whose name he bore, a living thing, new and soaring and beautiful, impalpable, imperishable'

I started reading this book ready, anticipating even, disliking it. Having previously read enough Joyce to realise that the was no way (absolutely no way) I could ever enjoy any of his books it was quite a surprise when I enjoyed this one. Stephen Dedalus, a moniker Joyce himself adopted early on in his writing career, fascinated me. I had been told next to nothing about the style and plot of this book before I started reading so I was surprised when it developed into a reasonably familiar 'bildungsroman' (or coming of age story) where we follow the development of a boy growing up in Ireland. Through childish eyes we see Irish politics, which I will not pretend to know anything about, the dynamics of a family and the development of religious thought in a child. 

Religion is a key theme throughout the novel, coming from a Catholic background the Church is a major institution in his live providing the centre from which he draws all his experience. If the novel is limited in any way it in the inability Stephen has to draw away from the Church, it is what defines him throughout, even when he decides on atheism he still defines himself in opposition the his previous self. It consumes his every thought, he is fascinated with his interaction with God and actually atheism would be an incorrect label for his condition by the end of the text. God always exists to him but he eventually decides he can't follow him and turns away, his belief in God is firm throughout but how well he follows him is sporadic and varies massively from going out of his way at the age of sixteen to sin (Lust mainly) to swinging back to a life of piety where he punishes himself heavily for imagined slights and sins and actually considers becoming a priest. 

The truly interesting thing about this novel, that I found baffling throughout, is why I found it so compelling. Stephen is not a likeable character, in fact I think he is deliberately presented as obnoxious. He is aloof and steadily derides the intellect of those around him, placing himself above his family, his friends and his teachers. He considers himself destined for great things but does not seem to expend effort towards anything external to his thoughts. He is so inwardly focused that he forgets to actually live. He spends time thinking about the moral implications rather than ever acting upon his own feelings. The linguistic theme of the novel is detachment and he repeatedly distances himself from himself, not allowing him to ever truly be an empathetic character. And yet, despite all this I became emotionally involved in his outcomes, despairing of his often seemingly idiotic choices and lack of any likeable personality traits or even really a personality at all.

Despite very little happening, despite a large proportion of the book being devoted to religious philosophy, I really enjoyed this book and will probably read it again. If I can work out why exactly this is I will be happy.