Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Ulysses

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Ulysses by James Joyce

7 reviews

witherskeleton's review against another edition

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challenging funny lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sunn_bleach's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"Ulysses" is about the totality of experience. For Joyce, it's the totality of a single man's day in the life. For Melville's "Moby-Dick", it's not just whaling, but the essence of adventure and being out of one's element, then looking back on those salad days with the knowledge and pity of older age. For books like that... of course you won't get everything. It's not your life. It's Starbuck's life, or Ishmael's life, or Bloom's life.

If someone wrote a comprehensive story about your particular existence, then there would be thousands of allusions that a reader wouldn't pick up on simply because the minutiae of everyday existence is filled with nuance and even encyclopedic level of experience. So, I'll recommend that you don't look up footnotes. Just read it. Experience what you experience. Then, whatever you walk away with from "Ulysses" (and other modernist literature) will be completely and uniquely yours as you bring your own allusions and experiences to the book.

That lesson is why this is one of the top five books I have ever read in my life - and that's not even getting into the prose, the deep satire, the idiosyncratic all-caps Dublin, the allegories... life also goes on.

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weeaboocorpse's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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bookish_bry's review against another edition

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challenging funny reflective 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

4.0

What can I say about Ulysses? If you're looking for a novel to read for fun, this probably isn't your best bet. It is a difficult read. It's rewarding, but very hard to get through. Every chapter is in a different style and most of them are difficult styles to read. People have dedicated their lives to understanding it and still haven't managed to do so.

Most of this book is pointless, but that... sort of is the point. Joyce is taking a long epic of heroism and great feats like the Odyssey and comparing it to... some guy wandering around town and living his daily life.

It is definitely a great read, but not always and enjoyable one. I appreciate it and I might read it again someday, but for now I am happy just to be done.

I do suggest you read this if you are the type to challenge yourself, but know what you are getting into.

(Also Bloom please calm down on being horny for 5 seconds. This is all I ask.)

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