Scan barcode
doiread's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
colepizzy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
andiejaynephd's review against another edition
Been a long time since I read this... must read again so I can rate it.
lydiathetattooedlady's review against another edition
3.0
Some amazing, amusing language play. Joyce was a polymath: there's quotes in Spanish, Italian, Greek, Latin, French (thankfully, I was reading a Borrowbox library edition, so I had translations at my fingertips); there's bits about history, geography, plays, politics... and it's all very well done, and those bits are fascinating, but there's a huge, dull lull in the middle of the book, and I couldn't get over my main problem of it being an epically sized book about a day in the life of three people, none of whom I actually liked or wanted to know about.
p010ne's review against another edition
2.0
I have finally listened to the audio version of this "Classic" and was amazed to find my favorite Holy Week music (since I first heard it performed when I was a child during WWII) "The Holy City" featured in Part 3 Chapter 4!
I found Paul Bryant's review (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/120808667) an informative and extremely abridged overview of much of the book.
This is certainly a stream of consciousness (subconscious ?) literary work that could be a precursor to much of our contemporary "Reality" entertainment presentations. Many of the episodes seem to me to be similar to bawdy vaudevillian acts. I also viewed the YouTube full length movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5F_zwFhjdW8) which is also a severely abridged presentation but effectively provides an additional overview of the work.
I am in awe and highly amused by the detailed descriptions of mundane objects (also bodily) such as when one is about to draw water from a water faucet at the kitchen sink and the chemistry aspects along with the Dublin municipal infrastructure involving water is detailed!
I understand this is a loosely imagined "modern" interpretation of Homer's "Odyssey" that takes place during the single day of June 16,1904.
I found Paul Bryant's review (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/120808667) an informative and extremely abridged overview of much of the book.
This is certainly a stream of consciousness (subconscious ?) literary work that could be a precursor to much of our contemporary "Reality" entertainment presentations. Many of the episodes seem to me to be similar to bawdy vaudevillian acts. I also viewed the YouTube full length movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5F_zwFhjdW8) which is also a severely abridged presentation but effectively provides an additional overview of the work.
I am in awe and highly amused by the detailed descriptions of mundane objects (also bodily) such as when one is about to draw water from a water faucet at the kitchen sink and the chemistry aspects along with the Dublin municipal infrastructure involving water is detailed!
I understand this is a loosely imagined "modern" interpretation of Homer's "Odyssey" that takes place during the single day of June 16,1904.
xthando's review against another edition
2.0
Look, I went into "Ulysses" knowing it was supposed to be some kind of literary Everest. I was ready for a challenge, and I definitely got one. I can appreciate what Joyce was trying to do with the stream-of-consciousness style, and I understand why it's considered groundbreaking. But honestly? I just didn't connect with it at all.
The biggest problem for me was the characters. I didn't dislike Leopold Bloom or Stephen Dedalus, but I also didn't care about them. Their lives, their thoughts, their struggles… it all felt so distant and unrelatable. Maybe it's the setting (Dublin in 1904), maybe it's the constant internal monologues, but I just couldn't find a way to invest in their stories.
And speaking of those internal monologues… I get it. I really do. My own brain often feels like a never-ending stream of random thoughts and observations. But reading 700+ pages of that? It became exhausting. I understand the appeal of capturing the unfiltered human mind on the page, but for me, it just felt tedious and self-indulgent.
I think "Ulysses" is a book that you either love or hate. I respect its place in literary history, and I can see why some people are so passionate about it. But for me, it was a slog. I finished it, but I can't say I enjoyed it. It's possible it's more enjoyable the second time around, but I can't see myself ever picking it up again. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to "get it," or maybe it's just not my kind of book. Either way, this one wasn't for me.
The biggest problem for me was the characters. I didn't dislike Leopold Bloom or Stephen Dedalus, but I also didn't care about them. Their lives, their thoughts, their struggles… it all felt so distant and unrelatable. Maybe it's the setting (Dublin in 1904), maybe it's the constant internal monologues, but I just couldn't find a way to invest in their stories.
And speaking of those internal monologues… I get it. I really do. My own brain often feels like a never-ending stream of random thoughts and observations. But reading 700+ pages of that? It became exhausting. I understand the appeal of capturing the unfiltered human mind on the page, but for me, it just felt tedious and self-indulgent.
I think "Ulysses" is a book that you either love or hate. I respect its place in literary history, and I can see why some people are so passionate about it. But for me, it was a slog. I finished it, but I can't say I enjoyed it. It's possible it's more enjoyable the second time around, but I can't see myself ever picking it up again. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to "get it," or maybe it's just not my kind of book. Either way, this one wasn't for me.
jonfaith's review against another edition
5.0
Oh, that, "apathy of the stars." I am wistful and amazed.
P.S. I have since read texts by Julian Rios and Enrique Vila-Matas who devoted novelistic approaches to Ulysses that ultimately steer the reader back to Bloom and Dedalus. I know of no other groundswell that continues to percolate and excite.
P.S. I have since read texts by Julian Rios and Enrique Vila-Matas who devoted novelistic approaches to Ulysses that ultimately steer the reader back to Bloom and Dedalus. I know of no other groundswell that continues to percolate and excite.
spinnsea's review against another edition
5.0
Perhaps the best book ever written. Ever. Hysterically funny, time-stopping engrossing, and unfathomably dense. This book is like a challenging lover: you have to work really hard and are rewarded with untold waves of pleasure which stay with you long after the moment of pinnacle has been attained.
janae126's review against another edition
5.0
I loved it, I hated it, I wouldn't have been able to get through it without section summaries ahead, and a great narration. Without getting into the weeds, this book was a 1000 page wild ride that took place over just over ONE DAY. Huh? This is such a unique style of writing, that after getting over the annoyance of the clever things Joyce kept doing (that surely mostly went over my head), that he expected (or perhaps intentionally didn't expect) the average reader to get, I started to really appreciate the uniqueness of what Ulysses and JJ had to offer.