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What did I think? It's complicated, Goodreads. I can see James Joyce is a brilliant writer who knows a lot and who likes to play with language and narrative structures.
However. It requires a lot of effort from the reader. In my case, that meant reading summaries after each chapter and browsing the Joyce Project to click on all the references I didn't get. Maybe my problem is that I am a I-want-to-know-it all. Luckily I read the Odyssey at school, which helped me get the general idea of the chapters.
Ulysses reminds me of people who send you e-mails full of links and you have to click on all of them to get the general idea. You're like: okay then, cool. It's that kind of feeling I have after reading this book. It's brilliant, but there wasn't that much joy of reading as you need to study before you get it.
What got me through was:
- Anthony Burgess' (or Kenneth Toomey's) Leopold Bloomlike funny description of Jimmy Joyce' in Paris in Earthly Powers.
- Skipping parts (yes, chapter 14, I am talking about you).
- The good chapters of course (hello chapter 13 and 15).
- Complaining to my husband. He is really happy that I finished the book :)
However. It requires a lot of effort from the reader. In my case, that meant reading summaries after each chapter and browsing the Joyce Project to click on all the references I didn't get. Maybe my problem is that I am a I-want-to-know-it all. Luckily I read the Odyssey at school, which helped me get the general idea of the chapters.
Ulysses reminds me of people who send you e-mails full of links and you have to click on all of them to get the general idea. You're like: okay then, cool. It's that kind of feeling I have after reading this book. It's brilliant, but there wasn't that much joy of reading as you need to study before you get it.
What got me through was:
- Anthony Burgess' (or Kenneth Toomey's) Leopold Bloomlike funny description of Jimmy Joyce' in Paris in Earthly Powers.
- Skipping parts (yes, chapter 14, I am talking about you).
- The good chapters of course (hello chapter 13 and 15).
- Complaining to my husband. He is really happy that I finished the book :)