Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Ulysses is the best damn example of whatever the hell it is. I don't think I'll ever read, or there'll ever be, another book like Ulysses, lord help us all. Certainly I reckon it's absolutely a work of genius, but so is Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, but I'm not likely to read that either.
Sometimes it's exciting, sometimes smutty (a character fantasizes cleaning chamber pots through an awfully unconventional method), chockfull of references that I get maybe 25% of if I'm being real kind to myself, and unapologetic. It's admirable and unbridled chutzpah to dedicate the entire third chapter to Stephen Dedalus's stream of consciousness rambling, when the only things that ACTUALLY happen in the chapter is he watches a dog pee, he writes a little, and picks his nose.
And that's long before an unnamed narrator spends a chapter grumbling about how he sure doesn't like one of the main characters and throws a tin at him, and a later a woman meditates on how large her lover's thing is.
I have no interest in ever re-reading, or revisiting, this nightmarishly long snapshot of someone's brain. But I don't think I have much choice, since I'll probably think about it for a long time.
Sometimes it's exciting, sometimes smutty (a character fantasizes cleaning chamber pots through an awfully unconventional method), chockfull of references that I get maybe 25% of if I'm being real kind to myself, and unapologetic. It's admirable and unbridled chutzpah to dedicate the entire third chapter to Stephen Dedalus's stream of consciousness rambling, when the only things that ACTUALLY happen in the chapter is he watches a dog pee, he writes a little, and picks his nose.
And that's long before an unnamed narrator spends a chapter grumbling about how he sure doesn't like one of the main characters and throws a tin at him, and a later a woman meditates on how large her lover's thing is.
I have no interest in ever re-reading, or revisiting, this nightmarishly long snapshot of someone's brain. But I don't think I have much choice, since I'll probably think about it for a long time.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It feels like I've run a marathon and I've finally crossed the finish line! I's throughly great to finally be done with this book and I have a new respect for myself! Did I enjoy reading it? Not enough to ever read it again but I definitely enjoy it now that I've finally finished and can look back at the amazing kind of book I just went through. That such brilliant people like James Joyce have ever existed, is throughly amazing! Next to this I'm just an ape looking for ways to copy the humans, not succeeding ever because I'm just not at that level of intelligence! But I can appreciate that such people do exist and that they want to share their intelligence with us mortals ;).
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
stephen dedalus is the most accurate depiction of someone in their early 20s: broke, stuck in their hometown (but telling everyone they’re getting out of here), getting into fights with their friend outside a bar, getting upset they weren’t invited to a party, claiming that nobody understands their “art”
Life Goal Achieved! You all know that I am definitely not a genius. And this book is not enjoyable much of the time. However, it is an incredible, monumental exploration of the written word. It is important. And the Penelope (Molly Bloom Soliloquy) Chapter was so divine that it should have been labeled the original Vagina Monologue. The audio performance of that was perfection.
I had to read, listen, and study my way through this book. I am so glad to no longer be in the dark.
This is how I did it, and it wasn't the perfect plan, but it worked.
I figured it was finally time to take the plunge when everything in my life kept popping up as James Joyce. Last fall I read "The Most Dangerous Book" which told me the story of the publication / obscenity battle. That was mainly due to the Molly Chapter, although the middle chapter was also a scrumptous read-between-the-lines tale, in which Bloom encounters a sea nymph posing as a beautiful young woman, and gets his own pleasure from her. Seriously, anyone wanting to write anything about romance or sex, needs to read this chapter. Pure genius at saying it without saying it, and leaving the rest to the imagination.
Several months ago I found an old hardcover US Edition of Ulysses at the Library and picked it up for a mere quarter. I'm not fool; that was sign enough that it was time to plunge in. (The Greeks would be proud).
So, I pulled out my Odyssey, mainly the audio version but also the Harvard Series, and I also bought an audio of Ulysses, as well as an audio course on it. My plan was to listen to them all basically a chapter at a time, and that what both a good and a bad way to do it. It was good because it helped it all make sense while it was fresh. It helped me keep plunging on. I'm not sure that I know an American born child of the 80s that would find much to understand or like about the book, except the two previously mentioned chapters. But even had I been Irish born, the course would have been a must.
I didn't really want to study about it before hand, so I didn't realize that the chapters didn't actually correspond, because Joyce presented them as they occurred, rather than as they were relayed in the Greek fashion. I also didn't realize how very loosely it is based on the great Greek wandering tale. So the course was invaluable, and it didn't matter that much if the timing was off a bit. Reading it mixed in gave great relief from some of the chapters.
Because some of them were so strange, and long, and puzzling that they even almost put the publisher off. (Yes, hearing that in the course did make me feel better). The publisher had Joyce to explain, I had the course. The whole idea of demonstrating different writing techniques (Joyce, the ultimate showoff) would have completely escaped me, I think. At least, the newspaper chapter was easy to pick up on, as was the great Ivanhoe romantic style.
Some of the chapters I actually enjoyed. Many I hated. Some of the "Odyssey" I liked, some of it I didn't love. It didn't have the same feel for me as the "Iliad", even the audio version. But I loved every single class. The course was awesome.
And then, there is Molly Bloom. She made a believer out of me. That man was a genius. The audio and in fact the whole journey, was made worthwhile just for Molly Bloom's moment. My stream of consciousness isn't near so fascinating.
I had to read, listen, and study my way through this book. I am so glad to no longer be in the dark.
This is how I did it, and it wasn't the perfect plan, but it worked.
I figured it was finally time to take the plunge when everything in my life kept popping up as James Joyce. Last fall I read "The Most Dangerous Book" which told me the story of the publication / obscenity battle. That was mainly due to the Molly Chapter, although the middle chapter was also a scrumptous read-between-the-lines tale, in which Bloom encounters a sea nymph posing as a beautiful young woman, and gets his own pleasure from her. Seriously, anyone wanting to write anything about romance or sex, needs to read this chapter. Pure genius at saying it without saying it, and leaving the rest to the imagination.
Several months ago I found an old hardcover US Edition of Ulysses at the Library and picked it up for a mere quarter. I'm not fool; that was sign enough that it was time to plunge in. (The Greeks would be proud).
So, I pulled out my Odyssey, mainly the audio version but also the Harvard Series, and I also bought an audio of Ulysses, as well as an audio course on it. My plan was to listen to them all basically a chapter at a time, and that what both a good and a bad way to do it. It was good because it helped it all make sense while it was fresh. It helped me keep plunging on. I'm not sure that I know an American born child of the 80s that would find much to understand or like about the book, except the two previously mentioned chapters. But even had I been Irish born, the course would have been a must.
I didn't really want to study about it before hand, so I didn't realize that the chapters didn't actually correspond, because Joyce presented them as they occurred, rather than as they were relayed in the Greek fashion. I also didn't realize how very loosely it is based on the great Greek wandering tale. So the course was invaluable, and it didn't matter that much if the timing was off a bit. Reading it mixed in gave great relief from some of the chapters.
Because some of them were so strange, and long, and puzzling that they even almost put the publisher off. (Yes, hearing that in the course did make me feel better). The publisher had Joyce to explain, I had the course. The whole idea of demonstrating different writing techniques (Joyce, the ultimate showoff) would have completely escaped me, I think. At least, the newspaper chapter was easy to pick up on, as was the great Ivanhoe romantic style.
Some of the chapters I actually enjoyed. Many I hated. Some of the "Odyssey" I liked, some of it I didn't love. It didn't have the same feel for me as the "Iliad", even the audio version. But I loved every single class. The course was awesome.
And then, there is Molly Bloom. She made a believer out of me. That man was a genius. The audio and in fact the whole journey, was made worthwhile just for Molly Bloom's moment. My stream of consciousness isn't near so fascinating.
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5/5
Phweeeeeeeee. Success. This has been the only book to date that I have viewed with trepidation. Blood and guts I can deal with. Dryness I will tolerate and breeze on through if need be. This though. This was intimidating. It was sophomore year? Yes, sophomore year of high school, when I heard tales of this vicious beast of a mind twisting hazard to health. All in literary form. Amazing.
But the book. Perhaps in ten or twenty years or so I'll settle down and drag out the definitions and footnotes and explanations to every single little bit Joyce throws out. This time round I just read and understood what I could. And I have to say, this man was a genius. He could take any literary from known to man at that time and extend it beyond all possible reason, while keeping true to the inherent character at all times. Amazing. You have to have that kind of mentality I think, to get through it, if you lack the cultural knowledge and appreciation. The fact that he knew so much and saw so much of it as ridiculous, and spent the time and immense effort (going blind while writing something does not sound pleasant at all) of conveying exactly what he felt about all of it is just. Well. Read the book.
And for all those who read it and hated it and refused to attempt some grasping of meaning, your loss. If that was your viewpoint on the matter, you were either taking the book or yourself way too seriously. The only reason why you'd read the book was if you knew what you were getting in to. Joyce distilled all this as experimentation and parody, and in a few brilliant cases some serious reflection on life and its meaning.
So. I liked it. Barely understood one word in twenty, probably, if not fifty. But it wasn't all like the last chapter, and frankly I didn't mind the pure stream of conscious so much as the multitudes of references that I didn't get. Besides that. I have triumphed, and plan for a more through triumph in the future. But for now. A rest.
Phweeeeeeeee. Success. This has been the only book to date that I have viewed with trepidation. Blood and guts I can deal with. Dryness I will tolerate and breeze on through if need be. This though. This was intimidating. It was sophomore year? Yes, sophomore year of high school, when I heard tales of this vicious beast of a mind twisting hazard to health. All in literary form. Amazing.
But the book. Perhaps in ten or twenty years or so I'll settle down and drag out the definitions and footnotes and explanations to every single little bit Joyce throws out. This time round I just read and understood what I could. And I have to say, this man was a genius. He could take any literary from known to man at that time and extend it beyond all possible reason, while keeping true to the inherent character at all times. Amazing. You have to have that kind of mentality I think, to get through it, if you lack the cultural knowledge and appreciation. The fact that he knew so much and saw so much of it as ridiculous, and spent the time and immense effort (going blind while writing something does not sound pleasant at all) of conveying exactly what he felt about all of it is just. Well. Read the book.
And for all those who read it and hated it and refused to attempt some grasping of meaning, your loss. If that was your viewpoint on the matter, you were either taking the book or yourself way too seriously. The only reason why you'd read the book was if you knew what you were getting in to. Joyce distilled all this as experimentation and parody, and in a few brilliant cases some serious reflection on life and its meaning.
So. I liked it. Barely understood one word in twenty, probably, if not fifty. But it wasn't all like the last chapter, and frankly I didn't mind the pure stream of conscious so much as the multitudes of references that I didn't get. Besides that. I have triumphed, and plan for a more through triumph in the future. But for now. A rest.
It took almost 18 months (with about 3 months of not reading it at all, Oxen of the Sun almost did me in). I read it in 5 page increments, while reading annotated notes along with it, reading online summations of sections, and listening to a bbc produced reading of the book. With all of this, I can safely say that I have but scratched the surface. There are endless depths hidden within the pages of this book. I read something to the affect that Ulysses contains all of human existence and experience. That is truer than can be known without diving into it yourself. Few things in this world can truly inspire awe....James Joyce's Ulysses is one of those things.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes