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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Okay so it started out and I thought cool, this guy has some very unique imagery, a poem disguised as prose. And the stream of conciousness was pretty easy to follow, quite fun actually. But then there were pages upon pages with attempts at different forms like newspaper headlines and play scripts. And as things wound on I felt like I was listening to the Doors--I mean Riders on the Storm is cool the first minute or two, but 7 minutes later you are screaming for it to end. The brothel scene and post-brothel refuel towards the end, perhaps due to the drunkness of the participants, was particularly muddled and difficult to follow and here is where I admit I left religiously reading word for word and skimmed sections. That's right from about 550 to 780 something I pulled a Watt and touched down where I felt appropriate. And I will say the ending thoughts of Molly Bloom and her reminiscence of Leopold's proposal were as fun to read as the beginning, but I was a lost cause at that point. If you want to say you've read it then by all means pick it up, it does have some fun parts, but if you feel your time limited in the arena of reading please move on!
I think the label masterpiece is well earned, and despite the immense difficulty I still enjoyed the experience! There is so much here I feel like I missed I know I'll have to read this again next Bloomsday. Perhaps then I can give a more coherent review of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Antisemitism
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Police brutality
"The uncertain glory of an April day, which now shows all the beauty of the sun, and by and by a cloud takes all away" - a poetic way to sum up how I feel about Ulysses. Can't say I really loved the experience. It's full of little games and ploys that expose the frailties of the mind and the difficulty of human expression, but reading it always feels like an academic exercise - I can imagine gleefully dissecting its eccentricities if I was back at uni, but with my English degree long behind me, it all gets a bit tedious. Everything is suffocated by stylistic pretensions, so that what happens and to whom is of little consequence compared to how it is all depicted in broken half-thoughts and a quagmire of anaphoric, cataphoric and exophoric referencing.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I would have never gotten through this book if it wasn't for the Audrey audiobook and amazing guide notes by Sophie Corser. I'm glad I finished it, and there is some beautiful writing sprinkled throughout.
However, I couldn't connect with the characters, and disliked the bizarre writing style which changed constantly, the awful racism and general behaviour of all the characters. I'm really not sure why so many people re-read this book. It shouldn't be so hard to understand a book, and the strange words are really just Joyce's inability to use hyphens so he'd rather just make up words.
Anyway, I did it!!! It's over! But it was not my cup of tea, at all.
If you want to tick it off your TBR, I highly recommend the Audrey audiobook with chapter recaps that really help when you barely understand this book'splot, character summaries and connections for all the messy people in this book, and beautiful custom illustrations. Last but not least, the incredible resources and insights from Sophie's multimedia notes were a lifesaver!! They are detailed enough for a full experience, without the overwhelm of this behemoth odyssey.
Thank you to Audrey for the listen-along! It was a wonderful community discussion. The forums will always be up if anyone wants to check it out. ๐
However, I couldn't connect with the characters, and disliked the bizarre writing style which changed constantly, the awful racism and general behaviour of all the characters. I'm really not sure why so many people re-read this book. It shouldn't be so hard to understand a book, and the strange words are really just Joyce's inability to use hyphens so he'd rather just make up words.
Anyway, I did it!!! It's over! But it was not my cup of tea, at all.
If you want to tick it off your TBR, I highly recommend the Audrey audiobook with chapter recaps that really help when you barely understand this book'splot, character summaries and connections for all the messy people in this book, and beautiful custom illustrations. Last but not least, the incredible resources and insights from Sophie's multimedia notes were a lifesaver!! They are detailed enough for a full experience, without the overwhelm of this behemoth odyssey.
Thank you to Audrey for the listen-along! It was a wonderful community discussion. The forums will always be up if anyone wants to check it out. ๐
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First of all I want to thank @listenwithaudrey for the month long listen-along of Ulysses. It was a wonderful experience to read this brilliant book with the kind and supportive Audrey community. It was the best month ever, I donโt think I wouldโve found a new all time favorite book in Ulysses without all of the amazing friends Iโve listened the book with and Sophieโs guide was always super helpful. ๐๐๐
I am absolutely in love with this masterpiece of a book, I found so much joy while reading this novel. I loved the beautiful writing, all the fun words, the atmospheric scenes. I loved being in this world, I felt myself in the book while reading it, I didnโt wanted to leave the pages of the book. I know some people who finish Ulysses are probably happy to be done with it and they feel free to read anything elseโฆ but for me I just wish to re-experience the time I had while reading the novel. I found so many moments, words and quotes I loved some I could relate to, it was just a purely incredible story. I loved it, I feel like I cannot express my feelings properly towards this book because I just loved it so deeply. When I find a miracle like this I always feel like I canโt bring my emotions into words.
๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ:
โsnotgreenโ
โshellcocoacolouredโ
โseawardpointed earsโ
โgreengoldenlyโ
๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ฌ:
โโ๐๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐? โ๐'๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐ถ ๐๐๐๐๐ถ๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐พ๐ธ๐ฝ ๐พ๐๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐ป ๐๐พ๐ป๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐ธ๐. โฌ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐ป๐ ๐พ๐ ๐ถ ๐๐๐๐๐ถ๐.โ
โ๐๐ถ๐'๐ ๐ท๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ท๐ถ๐ธ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐. โ๐พ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐น๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐น.โ
โโ๐๐๐น ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐ฝ ๐๐ฝ๐พ๐ธ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐
๐ถ๐๐.โ
๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฌ:
I really enjoyed the part where Mr. Bloom was at the chemist, it was such an atmospheric scene. I felt like I was there with him, almost like I could smell the lemony scent of the soap. ๐
โ๐ฏ๐ฝ๐ โฌ๐๐๐ถ๐๐พ๐ธ ๐ข๐ถ๐๐น๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐. โ๐โ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐น ๐๐พ๐๐๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฝ ๐๐พ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐ป๐.โ
โฌ๏ธ I find this view very beautiful. Such a nice and special way to look at death.
If youโre thinking about reading Ulysses, please do, it is such a phenomenal book. I highly recommend listening the book on Audrey they have such a fantastic narration and guide with amazing and helpful notes. Also I suggest listening to the book while following along with a physical or digital copy of the book. I found it so much easier and fun to follow along in the book while hearing the story. So donโt hesitate to pick up Ulysses, it is such a treasure!
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A long-delayed journey has commenced โ Ulysses by James Joyce.
Iโm reading an audio version, brilliantly narrated by Jim Norton, via the Audrey app. There are other audio versions of course but I cannot conceive of any better than this.
The Audrey app provides a guide to the reader that you can access after youโve read the chapter. Itโs comforting to know that there is reader support for this legendarily difficult book. I start my reading on 16 June, Bloomsday.
Usually I make notes as I read โ impressions of the journey or thoughts on or spin-offs from. Sometimes they are extensive. With so much written about this work and the notes on Audrey itself, I limit myself.
I note approvingly how superficially well-informed on Jewish practices Joyce is. (And I wonder why he has chosen a Jewish central character.)
I note his immense vocabulary and his use of French and Latin and Italian at times (and remember how Patrick Whiteโs occasional use of untranslated French dialog by a few English speaking characters at times annoyed me โ it does not annoy me here).
I note some humour, some Shakespearean references, indeed a whole discussion of whether Shakespeare was Hamlet. I see the reference to Shakespeare bequeathing to Annemaree Hathaway his โsecond best bedโ and recall recently learning when visiting Shakespeareโs birthplace that, far from being an insult, this was the actual marriage bed, the one they enjoyed together. The โbest bedโ was for public show.
I ponder the irony of naming a novel set entirely in one day and in one (small) city after a character who spent twenty years getting home.
Over all, my notes are few.
Until Section 14 โ Oxen of the Sun. The opening is so strange that I pull up the Joyce Project website, which among many things, contains the entire text in searchable format. And as I relisten to the opening paragraphs, I read along:
โ
Deshil Holles Eames. Deshil Holles Eamus. Deshil Holles Eamus.
Deshil Holles Eames. Deshil Holles Eamus. Deshil Holles Eamus.
Send us bright one, light one, Horhorn, quickening and wombfruit. Send us bright one, light one, Horhorn, quickening and wombfruit. Send us bright one, light one, Horhorn, quickening and wombfruit.
Hoopsa boyaboy hoopsa! Hoopsa boyaboy hoopsa! Hoopsa boyaboy hoopsa
โ
Itโs a very arresting start to a lengthy section that changes literary gear several times, from this exultant tripling of three phrases, through a considerable passage told in passive voice, to an exegesis on conception and birth.
Now that I have the e-text before me, I find myself looking up words. Not all of them are to be found.
After the chapter is concluded I read the Audrey notes about it. Though some things are clarified, I am made painfully aware of Joyceโs extraordinary erudition. He is, in that section, parodying the styles of several great writers. Given my immense ignorance of their works, knowing this makes little difference to my appreciation of what he has achieved.
Joyce loves to play with words, to string together words containing the same or a similar sound: โWhich example did he adduce to induce Stephen to deduce that originality, though producing its own reward, does not invariably conduce to success?โ Itโs an enjoyable playfulness.
Joyce also likes turning a thought inwards on itself to absurdity: โWhat, reduced to their simplest reciprocal form, were Bloom's thoughts about Stephen's thoughts about Bloom and Bloom's thoughts about Stephen's thoughts about Bloom's thoughts about Stephen?โ
I write in a note before commencing the final chapter โYet for all that, I find it far too often tedious.โ
A recurring question that had nibbled at the margins of my Ulysses-reading consciousness was why so many pubs were named after Molly Bloom. The final chapter, Penelope, answers it.
This chapter, brilliantly read by Marcella Riordan, is in its entirety an interiorityโ an internal monologue of Marion (Molly) Bloom. And Molly is an extraordinarily well-drawn person I think โ complex, vulnerable, bold, strong, contradictory.
On the printed page there are just a few very long sentences (some over 30 pages) in what is one of the longer chapters in a lengthy book. The audio reading is a great help.
Sometimes you just make the journey to know youโve made it. Iโve made it. Iโve arrived. But the journey was so difficult and deep appreciation of it requires more background than I can bring to the task, that this literary masterpiece is โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5 from me. #areadersjourney