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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
challenging
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I tried. I thought I could puzzle it out, but alas I made it a few dozen pages and my brain locked up. WTF? Is there actually supposed to be a plot?
This is one of my most memorable reading experiences. I read it in college in a seminar where we started with Dubliners and Portrait and spent the rest of the course reading Ulysses a chapter or so a week. We used Harry Blamire's guide as a companion, but the class came to hate him because he would throw out spoilers without warning. (Did we use the term "spoilers" back then?)
After I read this, I took a disappointing course in modern epics, which made me realize that one of the things that made Joyce unique was his sense of humor. The humor quickly moved this book to a place near the top of my list of favorites. One of the things I love most is how Joyce plays with our expectations as readers. And I loved Bloom from the first moment we meet him with the "pussens."
After I read this, I took a disappointing course in modern epics, which made me realize that one of the things that made Joyce unique was his sense of humor. The humor quickly moved this book to a place near the top of my list of favorites. One of the things I love most is how Joyce plays with our expectations as readers. And I loved Bloom from the first moment we meet him with the "pussens."
Beyond brilliant. I recommend a good audiobook if you are new to Joyce. He's really meant to be read aloud.
One of the few books I've read that I got in a battle with over whether I would finish or not. I grew to resent it. And I like early Joyce so much!
I FINISHED ULYSSES!!! It took me three tries over 25 years but I finished it!!!
I appreciate that this was a new style in its time, but I didn't enjoy the content. I'm glad to be through with this monster.
I reached the summit of Ulysses; one of my last bucket-list books. That was probably the most reading work I've done in a long time (Moby Dick was a picnic compared to this one). I'm out of breath (and who wouldn't be after spending 35 pages worth of Molly Bloom's thoughts... Holy cow! That section was definitely worth the price of admission). My favorite sections were "Oxen of the Sun" and "Penelope." This is the culmination of my Joycian reading--Dubliners, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. In my opinion, anyone who loves literature should definitely take a shot at it. My method included listening to the audiobook and reading along. So I can still say I read the whole book :) The voice actors definitely helped to make contextual sense (as much as I could understand) of the text. I'll be doing some additional investigating just so I can answer some of my questions.
did i read this? i own this edition. i think i read... pieces. can i say i've read it front to back(side)? probably not.