Forward recommended

I picked up my old high school copy of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man the other night and decided to start off at the very very beginning -- with the forward (which I definitely never read in high school). If your copy has an introduction like this (mine is by High Kenner) I highly recommend reading it, or at least skimming it, because I forgot that the beginning of the book is quite confusing. It isn't complicated in that you have to keep track of herds of characters, but rather it takes a while to figure out who the narrator actually is... or rather, his age... Let's just say that this book is written from the perspective of the protagonist, and the protagonist's journey starts at a very early age... ; ) I believe it makes more sense as you get into it (and the protagonist grows up) but being as I haven't gotten very far yet, I couldn't tell you for sure.

The introduction in my book went into quite lengthy detail, almost a critical analysis, so no need to read it thoroughly. But Hugh Kenner will set you straight on a few things. Have fun!

Carolyn