James Joyce
James Joyce (2 February 1882 - 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet and critic. He is most famous for his novels Dubliners (1914), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1914-1915), Ulysses (1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939).
Biography
He studied in Dublin, went in 1902 to Paris to study medicine, then took up voice training for a concert career. Back in Dublin, he published a few stories but, unable to make a living by his pen, left for Pola to tutor in English. He started the short-lived Volta Cinema Theatre in 1909, and left Dublin in 1910. He later went to Zürich (1915), where he formed a company of English players, settled in Paris (1920-40), then returned to Zürich, where he died. His early work includes the short stories, "Dubliners" (1914), and "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" (1914-15). His best-known book, "Ulysses", based on one day in Dublin (June 16, 1904), appeared in Paris in 1922, but was banned in the UK and USA until 1936. Work in progress began to appear in 1927, and finally emerged as "Finnegans Wake" (1939). Hailed as the father of literary modernism, his work revolutionized the novel form, partly through the abandonment of ordinary plot for "stream of consciousness", but more fundamentally through his unprecedented exploration of language.
Frank Zappa and James Joyce
James Joyce is mentioned in the list of influences inside the sleeve of Zappa's debut album "Freak Out!" (1966), under the heading: "These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them".
Frank Zappa about James Joyce
Interviewer: Why is James Joyce on the list of names on Freak Out!?
Frank Zappa: "Well, I can't say that I've ever read anything by Joyce all the way through, but the few pages I looked at I saw it and said, now there's a real guy. It doesn't take much to have an influence on me."
Interviewer: There are signs that literary and academic people are at last coming round to appreciate your monstrous creativity. I think I can see signs of a Zappa industry in academia that one day might rival the Joyce industry.
Zappa: "[laughs]".
Interviewer: Do you have a message for such people?
Zappa: "Get a real estate license."
- Quoted from The Last Days of Frank Zappa, Interview by Ben Watson, 1993.
