Ulysses - work of genius or emperor's new clothes?

miec

I've read Ulysess three times, for me it is a complex yet beautiful book, and yes I would define it as a classic under my definition of classic, which is, every time you read a book, you get a new meaning / interpretation from it.

It is not an easy book to read, well it wasn't for me, but I also read it without guides because I wanted my own experience of the book. I didn't get many parts the first time but by christ there were parts that moved me to tears (episode two when Stephen is working in the school and thinks about the boy with the messy copy book and the scene where all the boys are playing hockey). I got lost in episode three, still don't get it. I love Calypso (episode four) and I love Bloom, he really is a deep, loving, decent character and he shines in the Cyclops episode when he challenges the citizen, and as for Nausicaa, for me that has to be one of the most erotic pieces of writing I have ever read. And yet, when I read Eammus episode I was utterly, utterly pissed off, I knew Joyce was playing the reader with the meandering, non-entity type writing until the final paragraph, yes in ways he was arrogant, the thing is for me I had a relationship with that book, I laughed, cried, was exasperated, cursed fecking Joyce, etc. What a boon for any author so in that sense for me it is a work a genius. Ironically Joyce intended it for the ordinary man and woman but I think Joyce made the assumption that everyone thought and read like him and in reality that is not the case. A huge proportion of people couldn't read, let alone read Ulysses, also at the same time he said that this book would have professors talking about it for 50 years and he achieved that goal. The Joyce industry is massive now. I'd like to end of on my own observation of the book, which is that yes it has many themes, allusions, etc, but for me it is also a love story: the love between an older man towards a younger man who has no proper paternal figure, and the love between a man and woman who are married and have lost their way with the hope of reconnecting with each other. For me the book is deeply profound on a number of levels.

stoneill

I have just started reading Ulysses, I bought it as it was only €2.99 - I'm at the part where Stephen is moping about Sandymount. I am only starting to enjoy it now.
There are bits that take a bit of time to realise, like Stephen carrying his ashplant, I was imagining him with a small plant in a pot under his arm wondering what the fcuk was that about only to figure out it was his walking stick.

It was a bit of a put off seeing the the introduction was 13 chapters long - I didn't read that, I figured that it was some literary hack giving his own opinion, so feck that.

squeakyduck

SuperInfinity wrote: »

With people celebrating Ulysses today, I'm just curious as to what this board thinks of the book?

I think it's a case of emperor's new clothes, another way for certain snooty literature people to prove how they're a class above the average reader. What do you think?

I've read Ulysses through fully 3 times, after having to read certain sections for an exam. (not a good idea) Even when reading it the third time, I would get frustrated at the parts I couldn't understand but Joyce wrote some (maybe most) of the book under the influence of alcohol so it's understandable that the reader cannot grasp the book in its entirety. In one of my first Joyce lectures it was said that anyone who can fully understand the entirety of Ulysses is a liar, very true!

When writing Ulysses, it's clear that Joyce is trying to celebrate the everyday life that is apparent throughout the book (trivial situations are given a huge amount of description) He did want people at the time to read his work, but he wanted people to ponder over the true meaning of the book also, (still a very debated book!)

Some parts of the book make for difficult starting from Proteus (chapter 3 - Stephen walking around on the beach) and especially within circe the night town episode, but most of it is easy to read and come back to when bouncing between Stephen and Bloom.

I was out on Blooms day with my class for the day that was in it, the amount of Americans and older people carrying around the book and reading the first page aloud and putting it down (and verbally wondering what it was about was unreal.) The book has become known as above the normal reader even though I could read a decent amount of the book and understand it. Personally if I had never read the book, I would probably be afraid to pick it up!

Boo Radley

squeakyduck wrote: »

Personally if I had never read the book, I would probably be afraid to pick it up!

That's a bit of a chicken or egg statement!! How did you manage to read it initially if you were too afraid to pick it up because you had not read it? Unless... no, infinite loop in my mind.

Messing of course

FoxT

Ive read Ulysses or tried to yes very difficult for the layman to get into it oh yes I think it was very clever though very clever & i got the RTE recordings & listened to those too Yes & I think it was a great literary experiment yes indeed but cannot really critique it as id have to go away & get a classical education first yes yes when I was younger Mollys solliquoy was fantastic fapping material Ohhhhyes!

squeakyduck

Boo Radley wrote: »

That's a bit of a chicken or egg statement!! How did you manage to read it initially if you were too afraid to pick it up because you had not read it? Unless... no, infinite loop in my mind.

Messing of course

I guess it was a sill statement! :P

I ended up reading it properly for the first time when I had no other choice but take a Ulysses class (all the others were booked up) but I loved it. The person teaching loved the book, it's much easier to study something when you have a person passionate about the subject guiding you!