Ulysses - James Joyce

James Joyce’s Ulysses is probably the best novel ever written. It has been rated as such by numerous bodies of earnest critics and academics and even by anarchic groups of mercenary readers and general malcontents. You can’t argue with it: it is the best novel ever written. It also happens to be over 900 pages of really rather difficult reading. But it’s not as difficult as you might think (especially if you purchase Harry Blamire’s The Bloomsday Book (which is absurdly expensive (£16?), but worth getting if you’re serious about Ulysses)), and is extremely rewarding when you get into and through it. Ulysses describes a day ...  Read the complete review

Ulysses is both a start and an end. It is the start of something spectacular, exciting, innovative and revolutionary in the medium of the novel, and yet it is also the end of the novel, for post-Ulysses, there is very little left to be said by way of a series of words arranged in chapters and bound under a common name. Of all the modern classics, it is perhaps the most daunting. More so even than Proust's In Search Of Lost Time which seems as broad and as deep as the very notion of "time" itself. More so than any of the fragmented, challenging, anti-narratives that followed. Ulysses MEANS something more than can be contained in its pages, and most ...  Read the complete review

Ulysses by James Joyce For me, James Joyce's Ulysses is not just a novel; it is a complete project. When I first read the book a couple of years ago, I was very apprehensive; I prepared some reference books and articles from the Internet, took a deep breath, and yet was unsure as to whether I would be able to appreciate such a difficult book properly. The novel has the same structure of The Odyssey, and I honestly don't remember which one of the two I read first, but I don't believe that reading Homer's epic is a prerequisite for reading Joyce's twentieth century epic. As I mentioned earlier, there are so many guides that can help ...  Read the complete review

Yes, this is a book surrounded by a high fence of erudite opinion. It is one of those texts used by some as a test of whether you are a member of the club of educated opinionators. But this doesn't mean that you shouldn't read it. I was intimidated and baffled by Ulysses for a long time - until I heard somebody read it aloud. At that point it became hypnotically fascinating. It helps having some explanatory commentary to help you along. It also helps to know that it doesn't have to be read in sequence (although the opening episode is a great beginning) or all in one sitting (you can intersperse episodes between other things you have on the ...  Read the complete review

I think people have the general impression that this book is difficult to read. Certainly the book seems to be the subject of myriad analyses by reading groups, especially in the USA. I read it, and apart from a couple of chapters, I am mystified by it's 'difficult' tag. It is simply a very good story told in very imaginative ways. One chapter where I feel Joyce went over the top was when he starting writing in historical literary styles, starting with ancient latin and progressing to the modern day. This takes a lot of hard work to understand, or alternatively use one of the many guides. I loved the book, most of it was very easy to ...  Read the complete review