Craig Werner

Books of "Twayne's Masterwork Studies" offer literary analyses, designed to help give students deep insight into works of fiction. Having read nine of them, I find that they vary greatly in quality, utility, and comprehensibility.

Werner's analysis of James Joyce's famous collection of short stories Dubliners is not one of the more accessible choices of the Twayne series -- at least for the general reader. I found it to be impenetrably dense and jargon-ridden, and frankly, got little out of having read it.

Here's a quote from page 98: Invoked by critics in the manner of the Hebrews addressing their refractory, uncooperative and nameless Lord, the Joycean "self" leaves traces of its finally unimaginable being throughout the text, which represents, in this allegory, the world created by the divine breath. But this "self" assumes meaning in relation to its very absence, its coexistence with a "real" "self" that, worst of all, is "somewhere else."

In the author's view, "What has been made of James Joyce is nearly as important as what Joyce made." In other words, Craig Werner believes that works of critics such as himself rank with James Joyce's literature in their importance. No; "I" don't "think" so.… (more)