Ulysses at 100: The Birth of the Modern
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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.
* 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.
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.
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.
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-...
Trying to decipher all of convoluted thoughts, cryptic language (despite being raised by a speaker of hiberno-english) and allusions to Greek mythology and other literary works of art simply made me feel my ability to read and write was suddenly compromised. Of course reading Homer at the same time didn't exactly make things easier.
I fantasize that one day I'll be somehow able to pick up another copy, understand and enjoy it, and suddenly have all that I perceive as lost to somehow make a miraculous return.
My route: 1) I read it out loud with someone I loved at a beautiful moment in my life. I don't know how anyone could simply replicate this, but you should try. 2) Years later, I got the audiobook and listened to it on repeat for awhile, until I started to really know and feel the text. 3) I just keep it around, occasionally reading a chapter, and now the experience is about as extraordinary as one can get from reading a book.
Nevertheless, if you were able to enjoy Kerouac's On the Road, you'll be able to enjoy Ulysses. They read similarly. Someone else here commented "enjoy it like a scramble down a hill" or something to that effect. Pace is very important.
I was surprised when reading a letter to the publisher tucked in the opening pages. The author complains about a ban in the United States and resulting copyright issues once the ban was lifted. The requirements to obtain a copyright were virtually impossible given the circumstances of the ban, and this opened the door for thieves to sell illicit copies.
I've never actually read it, and don't care to, but isn't it basically a very difficult puzzle (i.e. the satisfaction comes from figuring it out, e.g. the references, allusions, and wordplay packed to an insane density into some bit)? So it can be enjoyable, but most people aren't up to the task (but may still pretend, like you describe).
Edit: I might actually be thinking more of Finnegans Wake than Ulysses.
In Plato's "Republic," he talks about the pleasures associated with the three parts of the psyche: the logistikon (reason), the thymoeides (spirit), and the epithymetikon (appetite). He said that only those people who know the pleasures of reason, in addition to the other two, can judge between the three. He uses this to argue that the pleasures of reason are more enjoyable than the pleasures of fame or the senses, even though most people think otherwise. People who don't know the pleasure of reason may settle for the pleasure of fame, not knowing any better. I think it's possible the pleasure gained from reading Ulysses is like this.
It's a "woke" argument; you can't really argue against it, and that's frustrating. You say, "yeah, but I read Ulysses, and I didn't like it," and they say, "yeah, you must not have read it deeply enough---if you did, you would like it more than you like watching TV or eating ice cream." And they may be right, or they may be wrong. It's like a Buddhist evangelist telling you once you meditate enough, you'll see that they're right about things. You say you did meditate a lot, but they say you need to do it more. You can't argue against it, but you also can't prove them wrong.
I enjoy reading classics. I haven't read Ulysses, but I would say I enjoy reading the Iliad more than almost any other work. When I pick it up and read a few pages, the intensity of emotion is sometimes so strong I get a shiver down my back. This almost never happens when watching television or eating. Those are both great too---balance is good---but I think the pleasure of reading is the strongest for me. It's hard to describe, but I don't think it's just because of some prestigious literary associations---although it is partly because of that for sure. And what's wrong with that? There is something enjoyable about knowing many other people in history have read a book and enjoyed it too. It makes you feel connected to the "great web of humanity." Many people prefer watching football games in crowded arenas to empty couches at home.
Ulysses very much rewards the reader of the classics, you should give it a try sometime!
You might be interested in the Catherine Project.
I also (truly) enjoyed the Iliad. It is rich with appreciable association.
Having studied english lit in college, I guess I feel betrayed by works like Ulysses. On some level I feel I was promised that immersing myself in the canon to the extent that I could enjoy such a text in the way you described would give me a richer way to perceive reality/life/humanity/whatever. I believe that such is the case with works like the Iliad, the Pentateuch, etc... but for Ulysses, it felt less like connecting myself with more of reality and more like binding myself to the narcissistic culture of literary fiction.