Thread: Joyce's Ulysses

So this week I have to begin tackling this novel for a British Literature class.

We're reading it along side Dubliners (also by Joyce), so I'm definitely going to be drowning in Joyce the next few weeks.

I've never read any Joyce before and I'm curious to know what everyone thinks of this novel.

Good? Bad? Impossible to get through?

Racheal

I like Dubliners much more than Ulysses. Not impossible to get through, but you do have to push. It's not the most enjoyable thing I've ever read.

In my experience Ulysses is best taken late at night after a slurp of Old Bushmills and read out loud. It will grow on you. The more you can get through in one sitting the better because, if my memory serves me well, it is one day in Bloom's life. The words play like music... but Harrison Birtwistle, rather than anything you can sing along to. If you have to study it I'd recommend checking a Richard Elman (sp?) companion out of the library.

Have fun

Yeah, something audio might be fun to try. I'm not a big fan of stream of conscious style books, so this should be a fun read.

I'll definitely check out the Richard Ellmman annotated version of Ulysses; I have absolutely no knowledge of colloquial Irish so I'm sure I'll get a bit confused, LOL!

Thanks for the tip!

Racheal

My AP English class just started reading A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man and the whole stream-of-consciousness is making it hard for me to stay focused on the writing. Especially the beginning when it jumps around from what appears to be some of the most random things ever.


I really hope it gets better throughout the rest of the book.

Originally Posted by Fyodor

the whole stream-of-consciousness is making it hard for me to stay focused on the writing. Especially the beginning when it jumps around from what appears to be some of the most random things ever.

I feel your pain.

I've never had to work so hard to comprehend a novel before. The stream-of-conscious style is quite confusing, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it (after only 230 pages, LOL!).

My professor gave us a tip tonight on "how to read it" and I think it sounds useful.

He said to read it once with a pencil in hand, marking things you find confusing.

Then re-read it and do the same, only this time mark the things you understand.

Next he said to compare the two and then make a list of questions you still have because chances are more than one other person in your class has the same question.

I'm definitely going to be trying this when I read the next chunk of Ulysses.

Oh, and if all else fails: Chapter Summaries.

Though I'm not saying to read ONLY them; I read the text first and then the summaries (and if I'm still confused, I read the text again).

Good luck with Portrait!

Racheal

We read Portrait and Dubliners for Irish Lit my junior year in college.
Joyce is definitely a tough read. We studied him for several weeks and I still would not say I "knew" his works. But I can try to help out best I can, if you have specific questions.

He said to read it once with a pencil in hand, marking things you find confusing.

Then re-read it and do the same, only this time mark the things you understand.

Next he said to compare the two and then make a list of questions you still have because chances are more than one other person in your class has the same question.

This is actually a good idea. I might have to try it. Thanks.

We read Portrait and Dubliners for Irish Lit my junior year in college.
Joyce is definitely a tough read. We studied him for several weeks and I still would not say I "knew" his works. But I can try to help out best I can, if you have specific questions.

Yeah, I think it would have helped more if our teacher spent more than a day teaching us about the author and his style.

Originally Posted by Fyodor

Yeah, I think it would have helped more if our teacher spent more than a day teaching us about the author and his style.

I agree! To conquer Joyce's work one needs to discuss it.

My class is 3 hours long and meets once a week, and at the end of class we take a quiz on the reading due for that day.

But usually we spend the first 2-2.5 hours discussing the reading, which I think greatly helps! I would definitely not be doing so hot on the quizzes were it not for our discussions before hand.


Maybe approach your teacher outside of class and ask him/her to spend a day of class discussing/reviewing the novel?

Good luck!

Racheal

It took me about three months to get through Ulysses; that's how difficult it is! However, it is a very good book. I suggest printing out the article on Wikipedia or borrow/buy the SparkNotes to it, because you'll be lost unless you have read the Iliad and/or The Odyssey, or another stream-of-consciousness work, such as those of William Faulkner or Virginia Woolf.

Originally Posted by Cervantes

It took me about three months to get through Ulysses; that's how difficult it is! However, it is a very good book. I suggest printing out the article on Wikipedia or borrow/buy the SparkNotes to it, because you'll be lost unless you have read the Iliad and/or The Odyssey, or another stream-of-consciousness work, such as those of William Faulkner or Virginia Woolf.

Oh, yeah.

I'm SparkNote-ing it for this one.

But don't get twitchy guys, I'm also reading the text. I just need a little help understanding WHAT I'm reading. LOL.

Racheal

I've never read Ulysses but its on my list of books to read this year!

I'm reading "A Portrait of an Artist" now for British Modernism. About to tackle "Ulysses" in the coming weeks. I can say that while his style might be difficult, it's undeniably intoxicating.

This thread has inspired me to get my hands on a copy and have a crack.
The most ambitious thing I've ever read was Anna Karenina, and it was incredibly rewarding inspite of the daunting scope.

I'm game for a challenge.

Most important with Joyce is to read his work and discuss what you've read, since that's what Joyce intended. However, remember that much of what the works describe is not modern; it may be contemporary yet that means something completely different in the 21st century (the Monty Python writers were huge fans of his work, which is a telling clue to the cynicism and sentimentality that Ulysses and Portrait and Dubliners created, if that's any help).

I read Joyce for university work, yet it wasn't until years later that I had the time to read the works with pleasure. Your professor should sympathize with that reality and should encourage discussion and even acting out the stories. That can give the work some tangible reward. Otherwise it's history without substance, language without meaning, truth without perspective.

I will answer any specific direction questions about Joyce using PM.