James Joyce

Born in Dublin, James Joyce first chose a medical career, then wandered through the singing, acting, and teaching professions before finally settling his fortunes on writing. His most controversial work, Ulysses, shocked early 20th-century readers and was banned in Britain and the U.S. until 1936. In this program, critics and those who knew Joyce trace events in his life through passages in Ulysses and other works, including Dubliners, his collection of short stories, and the semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Also included are portions of the hyper-symbolic work Finnegans Wake, where language itself becomes the plot, and every phrase a pun with multiple meanings that recall phrases elsewhere in the novel. A BBC Production. (50 minutes, color