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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Yes, James Joyce is revered by many Dubliners and others, but Ulysses (pronounced You-lis-'ace) was too tangential and long winded for my taste.
Holy shit that was epic. I can’t think of another book quite like it. The writing style ebbs and flows. The language is both complex yet not. It’s funny, sad, insightful, and wilfully silly. It’s a bit of a marathon and the last 80 pages or so feels like the downhill stretch of a long mountain hike. I loved it.
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's hard to rate this book because there are chapters that I really, really enjoyed, like Nausikaa and Penelope, but there are also plenty of chapters that I absolutely hated (particularly Oxen of the Sun and especially Eumaeus). Reading this book in 24 hours was an exhausting and brutal experience, but it was also worth it to be able to go through the entire span of the book in the amount of time that the plot takes place. My group went around Ann Arbor to places that would accord well with whatever chapter we were reading. We went to the bell tower for Telemachus, the cemetery for Hades, the Daily building for Aeolus, etc. I'm not sure I would have ever taken on this entire book on my own, but it was definitely an interesting and worthwhile experience.
challenging
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Read the first 650 pages when I took a class on Modern Literature in college. Wonderful experience, reading it with an able professor as a guide. Read the last 130 pages out of a sheer desire to say that I've read Ulysses, without a guide. Do not recommend.
I tried. I tried. I really, really did. Maybe I'll attempt to tackle it again some day, but James Joyce honey, you are just too much for me.