My Brother's Keeper

Although the intended scope of this memoir was never fully realized, My Brother's Keeper offers a unique perspective on James Joyce. For many years, Stanislaus Joyce shared friends, books, misadventures, and a few triumphs. All along, Stanislaus was in his brother's shadow, as James Joyce continued to develop his literary genius.

With this memoir, Stanislaus stands out from behind his brother's legacy, as he sheds light on those early days in Ireland. And, while he's at it, Stanislaus creates his own lasting legacy in words.

Even though Stanislaus never was famous or well-known, in this book, he offers a never-before-seen view of his brother's early days. Stanislaus saw his brother in a way that no other human being could have. They shared many of the same struggles: in school, and at home. He shared ideas and dreams with James, and he knew where some of his brother's most famous characters originated. From the same beginnings, the brothers went their separate ways. James went on to become one of the greatest writers of the 20th century; and Stanislaus would become a professor of literature in Trieste. Their paths were not so very different after all.

The Cain and Abel Story

In his introduction to the memoir, Richard Ellmann writes: "What Joyce's brother Stanislaus has done for us is to make us acquainted with the family environment in which the two boys grew up, with details that no one else could have provided." Stanislaus was there for his brother's death, his mother's illnesses, and the other family struggles.

Stanislaus saw himself as Cain, and his view of their early days seems much more harsh and unforgiving. He said that James "liked to go on these trips with his father," while Stanislaus "was glad that my father would be out of the house for almost a whole week." Frustration shines through in the way Stanislaus writes about his brother. But, there's also a note of amazement, as he recollects those by-gone days.

As Stanislaus says, "It seems to me little short of a miracle that anyone should have striven to cultivate poetry or cared to get in touch with the current of European thought while living in a household such as ours, typical as it was of the squalor of a drunken generation. Some inner purpose transfigured him."

The Development of an Artist

With some regret and poignant recollections, Stanislaus was the keeper of the family secrets. He was there to read and to argue for the survival of the early writings of James Joyce. And, while he failed to save those works, this memoir brings those lost works back to life.

Somehow, the Joyce brother rose above the domestic violence, alcoholism, and tragedy of their home life, and they both left Ireland. Along the way, Stanislaus was writing in his journal, and apparently James was reading the journal and creatively appropriating the stories and characters that he found there. James also used Stanislaus as a "whetstone," trying out new ideas on his brother.

So, if the memories of Stanislaus are to be believed, he helped to make James Joyce the great writer he would become. James strove to create a reality literature, which was "a parody of life." And, he wanted to offer himself up to the religion of literature. As Stanislaus explains, "In our world today, serious literature has taken the place of religion. People with liberty of choice go... to literature for enlightened understanding... And it answers in parables."

James Joyce succeeded in creating for himself a permanent place in the religion of literature. But, with this memoir, Stanislaus has found "a permanent place on the bookshelf beside the works of his brother," as T.S. Eliot says.