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If you haven’t read it, I recommend trying. The language and form is difficult, but just treat it like a scramble down a hill: maintain direction, pay attention

If you haven’t read it, I recommend trying. The language and form is difficult, but just treat it like a scramble down a hill: maintain direction, pay attention to your surroundings, but mostly just go with the flow.

ubermonkey 5y ago
This is excellent advice. Honestly, it's worth it if you love language and literature at all. Joyce did something extraordinary here. There's a text called the Bloomsday Book that you may find useful if you get lost.
- thorin 5y ago
  I really struggled with it, during a time when I was reading many large or difficult books: Don Quixote, Moby Dick, The Quran. I like the idea of it, but couldn't get into it. I was perhaps considering the audio book instead as that might inject a bit more life into it.
blowski 5y ago
I've heard many times that it's a difficult book that I'm thoroughly put off. Can you give me a sales pitch on why I should read it?
- staccatomeasure 5y ago
  * many people think it’s the best English novel of all time (worth seeing what they’re seeing) * bragging rights * personally, I found it like going to a different world. It’s equal parts emmersive, foreign, and familiar. There’s moments it’s a slog to get through and moments it’s a page-turner. In the same way The Beatles Get Back was so great because it actually felt like being in the studio, reading Ulysses isn’t like reading a story, it’s like being in a different world.
- ramesh31 5y ago
  >Can you give me a sales pitch on why I should read it? Reading it is fun just for the sake of it, like dancing. You don't have to read the whole thing. Every paragraph is a delight. It's less about the story, and more about the language itself.
- kinghtown 5y ago
  Just buy a used copy and keep it around the house. It’s a difficult book but not that bad. The hard parts are the stuff about turn of the century Irish politics which no one outside of Ireland really thinks about too much (which you may be thinking is a ridiculous detail to focus on a book, but bear in mind Joyce was trying to paint an accurate picture of Dublin at the time), there is also a huge cast of characters to keep track of and almost all of them have considerable depth, and there are admittedly some parts which are perhaps to experimental for their own good or have dated a bit poorly as literary experiments but the vast majority of the book is absolutely lovely. It’s a near perfect book and only one chapter for me doesn’t work (Oxen in the Sun) but the whole thing really is a peak literary experience which only gets better with a reread. it’s a lot more manageable if you read his books in order starting with Dubliners. Ulysses is not exactly a sequel but reading through his work chronologically kind of prepares you for his eccentricities. just don’t consult reading guides or appendixes too much because that sort of stuff will just kind of ruin it.
  - twoodfin 5y ago
    Agree with this completely, even though Oxen is probably my second favorite episode after Cyclops.
twoodfin 5y ago
That reading direction is spot on. Also, it's normal to struggle through the early Stephen chapters. The prose becomes much more conventional and accessible once you meet Bloom in "Calypso". My constant recommendations for those interested in tackling Ulysses: - RTÉ produced a fully cast, essentially unabridged dramatization[1] which is phenomenal. So much of the "fun" of Joyce is found only when reading it aloud. - Frank Delaney's ridiculously ambitious paragraph-by-paragraph[2] unpacking of the novel in podcast form was sadly cut short by his death, but remains a charming journey through the first sections of the novel. [1] https://www.rte.ie/culture/2020/0610/1146705-listen-ulysses-james-joyce-podcast/ https://www.rte.ie/culture/2020/0610/1146705-listen-ulysses-... [2] https://blog.frankdelaney.com/re-joyce/ https://blog.frankdelaney.com/re-joyce/
Wonnk13 5y ago
That's how I approached Gravity's Rainbow, but I still couldn't get through it.

ubermonkey 5y ago

This is excellent advice. Honestly, it's worth it if you love language and literature at all. Joyce did something extraordinary here. There's a text called the Bloomsday Book that you may find useful if you get lost.

thorin 5y ago
I really struggled with it, during a time when I was reading many large or difficult books: Don Quixote, Moby Dick, The Quran. I like the idea of it, but couldn't get into it. I was perhaps considering the audio book instead as that might inject a bit more life into it.

blowski 5y ago

I've heard many times that it's a difficult book that I'm thoroughly put off. Can you give me a sales pitch on why I should read it?

staccatomeasure 5y ago
* many people think it’s the best English novel of all time (worth seeing what they’re seeing) * bragging rights * personally, I found it like going to a different world. It’s equal parts emmersive, foreign, and familiar. There’s moments it’s a slog to get through and moments it’s a page-turner. In the same way The Beatles Get Back was so great because it actually felt like being in the studio, reading Ulysses isn’t like reading a story, it’s like being in a different world.
ramesh31 5y ago
>Can you give me a sales pitch on why I should read it? Reading it is fun just for the sake of it, like dancing. You don't have to read the whole thing. Every paragraph is a delight. It's less about the story, and more about the language itself.
kinghtown 5y ago
Just buy a used copy and keep it around the house. It’s a difficult book but not that bad. The hard parts are the stuff about turn of the century Irish politics which no one outside of Ireland really thinks about too much (which you may be thinking is a ridiculous detail to focus on a book, but bear in mind Joyce was trying to paint an accurate picture of Dublin at the time), there is also a huge cast of characters to keep track of and almost all of them have considerable depth, and there are admittedly some parts which are perhaps to experimental for their own good or have dated a bit poorly as literary experiments but the vast majority of the book is absolutely lovely. It’s a near perfect book and only one chapter for me doesn’t work (Oxen in the Sun) but the whole thing really is a peak literary experience which only gets better with a reread. it’s a lot more manageable if you read his books in order starting with Dubliners. Ulysses is not exactly a sequel but reading through his work chronologically kind of prepares you for his eccentricities. just don’t consult reading guides or appendixes too much because that sort of stuff will just kind of ruin it.
- twoodfin 5y ago
  Agree with this completely, even though Oxen is probably my second favorite episode after Cyclops.

twoodfin 5y ago

That reading direction is spot on. Also, it's normal to struggle through the early Stephen chapters. The prose becomes much more conventional and accessible once you meet Bloom in "Calypso". My constant recommendations for those interested in tackling Ulysses: - RTÉ produced a fully cast, essentially unabridged dramatization[1] which is phenomenal. So much of the "fun" of Joyce is found only when reading it aloud. - Frank Delaney's ridiculously ambitious paragraph-by-paragraph[2] unpacking of the novel in podcast form was sadly cut short by his death, but remains a charming journey through the first sections of the novel. [1] https://www.rte.ie/culture/2020/0610/1146705-listen-ulysses-james-joyce-podcast/ https://www.rte.ie/culture/2020/0610/1146705-listen-ulysses-... [2] https://blog.frankdelaney.com/re-joyce/ https://blog.frankdelaney.com/re-joyce/

Wonnk13 5y ago

That's how I approached Gravity's Rainbow, but I still couldn't get through it.