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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
This is the everything book. It is that because, in describing the single day of 16 June 1904 in Dublin through stream of consciousness and other dense techniques, it depicts its characters and an entire society more vividly than any novel before, and moreover it transcends the time and place of its setting though a collection of all manner of universal human quirks. But it is also that because it is a exhaustive catalogue of English prose. Every way the language had been used since Chaucer is alluded to here, together with Joyce’s own dazzling innovations. As I just finished Ulysses for the third time, it is that linguistic richness and ingenuity that particularly delighted me this time around. I look forward to another go in a decade or so.
On the internet a great deal gets said about the difficulty of this novel. I first read Ulysses as a bookish high-school student. Even then I found the book-learning that Joyce’s work wears on its sleeve to never be too daunting; so much of it requires only a basic Western humanities education as was common in his own time and survived well enough to my own youth in the late twentieth century. Of course, with knowledge acquired over the years, re-reading has brought additional insights, but the basic plot was accessible from the start. The one challenge of any trip through Ulysses is not the intellectual references, but rather mundane details of Irish history and politics that would have been known to each and every one of Joyce’s compatriots at the time, but now are obscure especially to foreign readers.
On the internet a great deal gets said about the difficulty of this novel. I first read Ulysses as a bookish high-school student. Even then I found the book-learning that Joyce’s work wears on its sleeve to never be too daunting; so much of it requires only a basic Western humanities education as was common in his own time and survived well enough to my own youth in the late twentieth century. Of course, with knowledge acquired over the years, re-reading has brought additional insights, but the basic plot was accessible from the start. The one challenge of any trip through Ulysses is not the intellectual references, but rather mundane details of Irish history and politics that would have been known to each and every one of Joyce’s compatriots at the time, but now are obscure especially to foreign readers.
Well I finally did it. After years in which I tried and failed and after repeated attempts and after three decades of saying I ought to, this week I read Ulysses. I was assigned Ulysses in college and like everyone else I took the easy way through it by reading crib notes and rambling on and on until my professor was bored with my paper and gave a passing because that's what professors do. But that's not reading Ulysses; that's not understanding Ulysses.
Today I write this review with a new understanding for what James Joyce did. It's not just that he invented the stream of consciousness blatherings, a modernist voice, and deep introspection in his narration. It's not just that he revitalized Irish literature or that he placed himself at the top of the intellectual heap. It's not just that he proved that a classic could be rewritten and masked in its rewriting. It's that Ulysses by James Joyce became the initiation of the liberal intelligentsia.
It is the hazing. It is the right of passage. It is the culmination of diverse branches of thought resulting from years of education in the arts, literature, natural sciences, and language. Ulysses is the book that ties it all together.
I'm not going to talk about the themes or the plot or the dialogue or the character development or the style because so many others have done that here and elsewhere and there are entire college courses on it and to be quite frank I don't understand it completely. What I am to talk about is what I, as an outsider, discovered about the magic of this book.
Imagine that you have read and understood all of Shakespeare, that you have studied the Bard to the point of memorization and analysis, that you see his works imitated and copied nearly everything else and that you love him. Imagine that you have written papers on Homer and Virgil and that you have read Milton and you know Dante in the Italian. Imagine that you have a working knowledge of Greek and Latin and are able to quote the 10 Premier classical philosophers. You listen to classical music because you love it. You attend opera because you understand it. And at the end of all of these travails you feel you should have a certificate of completion, that everyone should know how smart you are.
That is Ulysses!
When you say to others, “I get Ulysses.” This is your entry into the club. We all want to belong to something special and secret. We all want to be included in a group that is exclusive enough as to deny admittance to most on earth. But how do you know if you're in the club without a hazing ritual, without an initiation? How do you know that you really belong without some secret handshake or sign or wink or nod or opening of the door by a doorman who knows your name and expects you?
This is Ulysses!
Once you have achieved your Western civilization education and are ready to step into the club of those who know, those who understand, Ulysses awaits.
None who are in the club dares speak ill of the initiation ritual. None who are part of that society dare criticize the work of their master, James Joyce. Those who are part of the 'in crowd' want their select membership to be appreciated and revered by all who do not belong. They want their membership to be validated by those who've been there longer.
This is Ulysses!
Whether they understand it or whether they pretend to by repeating homilies of others, they want to belong. I understand wanting to be part of a crowd - wanting to fit in. I understand the desire to be special. I understand the longing and the needing and the pleading that goes with being an outsider. I understand their wails of torment at the travails for which they had passed. I understand the price they have paid. And even though I understand this I can still say with surety - Ulysses is crap.
Thank you.
Today I write this review with a new understanding for what James Joyce did. It's not just that he invented the stream of consciousness blatherings, a modernist voice, and deep introspection in his narration. It's not just that he revitalized Irish literature or that he placed himself at the top of the intellectual heap. It's not just that he proved that a classic could be rewritten and masked in its rewriting. It's that Ulysses by James Joyce became the initiation of the liberal intelligentsia.
It is the hazing. It is the right of passage. It is the culmination of diverse branches of thought resulting from years of education in the arts, literature, natural sciences, and language. Ulysses is the book that ties it all together.
I'm not going to talk about the themes or the plot or the dialogue or the character development or the style because so many others have done that here and elsewhere and there are entire college courses on it and to be quite frank I don't understand it completely. What I am to talk about is what I, as an outsider, discovered about the magic of this book.
Imagine that you have read and understood all of Shakespeare, that you have studied the Bard to the point of memorization and analysis, that you see his works imitated and copied nearly everything else and that you love him. Imagine that you have written papers on Homer and Virgil and that you have read Milton and you know Dante in the Italian. Imagine that you have a working knowledge of Greek and Latin and are able to quote the 10 Premier classical philosophers. You listen to classical music because you love it. You attend opera because you understand it. And at the end of all of these travails you feel you should have a certificate of completion, that everyone should know how smart you are.
That is Ulysses!
When you say to others, “I get Ulysses.” This is your entry into the club. We all want to belong to something special and secret. We all want to be included in a group that is exclusive enough as to deny admittance to most on earth. But how do you know if you're in the club without a hazing ritual, without an initiation? How do you know that you really belong without some secret handshake or sign or wink or nod or opening of the door by a doorman who knows your name and expects you?
This is Ulysses!
Once you have achieved your Western civilization education and are ready to step into the club of those who know, those who understand, Ulysses awaits.
None who are in the club dares speak ill of the initiation ritual. None who are part of that society dare criticize the work of their master, James Joyce. Those who are part of the 'in crowd' want their select membership to be appreciated and revered by all who do not belong. They want their membership to be validated by those who've been there longer.
This is Ulysses!
Whether they understand it or whether they pretend to by repeating homilies of others, they want to belong. I understand wanting to be part of a crowd - wanting to fit in. I understand the desire to be special. I understand the longing and the needing and the pleading that goes with being an outsider. I understand their wails of torment at the travails for which they had passed. I understand the price they have paid. And even though I understand this I can still say with surety - Ulysses is crap.
Thank you.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
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
truly in a class of its own
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading Ulysses has been one of the most challenging literary experiences I’ve undertaken, and while I respect its monumental place in the canon of Western literature, I must admit that I did not find it a particularly enjoyable experience as a whole. The novel is undeniably a landmark in terms of its innovative structure, vast creativity, and the sheer complexity of its construction. The variety of writing styles Joyce employs throughout the novel is impressive, showcasing his command over the English language in ways that few authors can match. The research and intellectual effort required to produce such a work must have been immense, and I deeply respect Joyce for his ambition and skill.
That said, my overall experience with Ulysses was marked more by frustration than pleasure. I found the content at times painfully dull, and at other times simply nauseating, with a plot that I found ponderous, trite, and tedious. As a modern parallel to Homer’s The Odyssey, Ulysses strikes me as the very opposite of its grand and epic predecessor. While I understand that Joyce’s intent was to present a more mundane, perhaps even trivial, version of the hero’s journey, I found myself questioning the purpose of this choice. The Odyssey has its own flaws, but it is still a gloriously epic adventure, full of drama and heroism. In contrast, Ulysses often left me wondering, “To what end?” But then, I suppose, what is the point of any art. This is a line of thought I don’t care to pursue any further at present, for fear of meandering off the primary object of the present book review into Joycean tangents and digressions.
However, not all was lost in this literary labyrinth. There were episodes where I did derive some enjoyment, especially when I allowed myself to step back and view the text through a more abstract lens. By metaphorically crossing my mind’s eye(s), I was able to appreciate the bizarre and often surreal nature of some of Joyce’s episodes.
One of the highlights for me was Episode 14: Oxen of the Sun. This episode, with its chronologically successive prose styles, mirrors the evolution of English writing from Chaucer to the present day. Though relatively useless as a means of advancing the plot, it was, with the aid of guides and resources, an entertaining trip through the history of the English language. Joyce’s self-confidence is on full display here as he demonstrates his proficiency in almost any writing style.
Another episode that stood out was Episode 17: Ithaca. Some of Joyce’s most beautiful prose can be found within these pages. This catechismic episode also frequently amused me with its laughably overzealous attention to detail. The passage narrating the simple act of boiling water, for instance, stretches into an absurdly complex description, as if Joyce were daring the reader to endure the tedium of such minutiae:
That said, my overall experience with Ulysses was marked more by frustration than pleasure. I found the content at times painfully dull, and at other times simply nauseating, with a plot that I found ponderous, trite, and tedious. As a modern parallel to Homer’s The Odyssey, Ulysses strikes me as the very opposite of its grand and epic predecessor. While I understand that Joyce’s intent was to present a more mundane, perhaps even trivial, version of the hero’s journey, I found myself questioning the purpose of this choice. The Odyssey has its own flaws, but it is still a gloriously epic adventure, full of drama and heroism. In contrast, Ulysses often left me wondering, “To what end?” But then, I suppose, what is the point of any art. This is a line of thought I don’t care to pursue any further at present, for fear of meandering off the primary object of the present book review into Joycean tangents and digressions.
However, not all was lost in this literary labyrinth. There were episodes where I did derive some enjoyment, especially when I allowed myself to step back and view the text through a more abstract lens. By metaphorically crossing my mind’s eye(s), I was able to appreciate the bizarre and often surreal nature of some of Joyce’s episodes.
One of the highlights for me was Episode 14: Oxen of the Sun. This episode, with its chronologically successive prose styles, mirrors the evolution of English writing from Chaucer to the present day. Though relatively useless as a means of advancing the plot, it was, with the aid of guides and resources, an entertaining trip through the history of the English language. Joyce’s self-confidence is on full display here as he demonstrates his proficiency in almost any writing style.
Another episode that stood out was Episode 17: Ithaca. Some of Joyce’s most beautiful prose can be found within these pages. This catechismic episode also frequently amused me with its laughably overzealous attention to detail. The passage narrating the simple act of boiling water, for instance, stretches into an absurdly complex description, as if Joyce were daring the reader to endure the tedium of such minutiae:
“What concomitant phenomenon took place in the vessel of liquid by the agency of fire?
The phenomenon of ebullition. Fanned by a constant updraught of ventilation between the kitchen and the chimneyflue, ignition was communicated from the faggots of precombustible fuel to polyhedral masses of bituminous coal, containing in compressed mineral form the foliated fossilised decidua of primeval forests which had in turn derived their vegetative existence from the sun, primal source of heat (radiant), transmitted through omnipresent luminiferous diathermanous ether. Heat (convected), a mode of motion developed by such combustion, was constantly and increasingly conveyed from the source of calorification to the liquid contained in the vessel, being radiated through the uneven unpolished dark surface of the metal iron, in part reflected, in part absorbed, in part transmitted, gradually raising the temperature of the water from normal to boiling point, a rise in temperature expressible as the result of an expenditure of 72 thermal units needed to raise 1 pound of water from 50° to 212° Fahrenheit.
What announced the accomplishment of this rise in temperature?
A double falciform ejection of water vapour from under the kettlelid at both sides simultaneously.
For what personal purpose could Bloom have applied the water so boiled?
To shave himself.”
In short, by penning Ulysses, James Joyce doled out the ultimate literary troll to casual reader and scholar alike.
Ulysses was a challenging read, one that I am pleased to have completed, but equally pleased to not revisit. The pleasure I usually derive from reading fiction was largely absent, as my engagement with Ulysses became a mostly academic exercise. While this is not an exercise I dislike per se, I look forward to returning to the comfort of slightly more conventional works of fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Antisemitism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Suicide, Alcohol
Much more fulfilling the second time around. Especially over 5 months rather than 3 years!
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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 don't know how I feel about this book. I'm glad I read the whole thing. There were lots of good lines that I saved so I don't really care that I didn't understand every last detail. I wouldn't read the whole thing again, probably- it took too long. But I'd read sections again. The sections I skipped because they were walls of text and I knew I wouldn't know what was going on, especially- I'd like to know what was going on. I like stream of consciousness it turns out, but having some line breaks occasionally would be awesome... I also wish that the different parts were labeled- once I read a guide I could sort of tell when I got to certain sections and I felt very proud of myself, but it usually took a few pages in before I realized.
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Short summary of episodes 1 thru 17: --The man is the subject and the female is the object, Bloom said. Grammatically speaking, I mean.
Short summary of episode 18: --Yes, Bloom, whatever you'd like to think.
Short summary of episode 18: --Yes, Bloom, whatever you'd like to think.