Irish Thought for February 2....

Irish Writers

James Joyce

Born in Dublin, and widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, James Joyce is often credited for great leaps in the development of the modernist novel.  Joyce has been celebrated for his experimental use of language and stream-of-consciousness narrative, especially in the novels Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.  Although more traditionally written, his short-story collection Dubliners and the novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man are also considered masterworks of literature.  Another random fun fact about Joyce is that in the novel Finnegans Wake, Joyce used a word that he made up "quark."  In 1963 a physicist proposed quark for the name of a yet-to-be named elementary particle.  So, you can make up words!  It just might take 40 years or so for someone to start liking the word enough for it to become a known word.

Modernist Novel - this brand of novel refers to a movement in which writers began to move away from the more romantic and uplifting style of writing.  Instead modernists tended to go down a path of sad, depresssing thoughts of the main character.  Theses writers tend to reflect that they are not satisfied with the path the world was taking.  World War I played a role in writers having a more negative view of the world.