Joyce Changed the Atmosphere over Ireland

[MagnusTC]

"But I don't think most people realize that Joyce's aims were of a special kind, because they weren't really all that global, they were actually very simple. From my point of view, it's a concrete fact that Joyce actually did change the atmosphere over Ireland. I mean, it was Joyce who created the true atmosphere, who created a new aura over Ireland. That's actually what his sole aim was. It was an unbelievably titanic goal, and it was really a matter for him of changing the aura over Ireland. And he achieved it absolutely. Changes have come about there, changes that are concretely perceptible to anybody with a sensitive mind, to any sensitive observer..."
(A quote from a conversation between Joseph Beuys, Heiner Bastian and Jeannot Simmen, Düsseldorf 1979)

I believe this might be true of many great works of fiction. That they not only change our perception, but concretely create the atmosphere of places around us. I'll have to think more about this!

[Malone]

Joyce may have created the atmospher over Ireland, but it was Beckett who made it rain and rain and rain....