"Araby"

James Joyce makes me nervous.  I am wary of texts like Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake which left me feeling stupid in college, and even though I know that I should go back to them now that I am better equipped to deal with his style and density, I am deterred by mental blocks that convince me to steer toward other, flittier books every time I think about reading them.  Then I read the stories in Dubliners, and I kick myself for not reading all of his writing.  "Araby" is such a simple story, virtually without plot, yet that same stark simpleness represents the despair that every kid feels when they think about how bleak and dreary their hometown is.  When the protagonist realizes that the bazaar is really just a couple of closing booths and that the people who work there are just as boring as his fellow Dubliners, his epiphany is one of anger and bitterness.  Who hasn't felt that disappointment?  I am going to download Finnegan's Wake onto the Kindle today.  I will either read it this summer, or I will think about reading it and then wind up with the latest China Mieville instead.  Oh well.  It's worth a try.