NationStates Jolt Archive

I was wondering if any of you have read the book Ulysses by James Joyce. I've wanted to read that book and have attempted many times, but the style of writing is beyond me. The reason I want to read the book is because I find the writing style to be interesting, I've read and enjoyed A Portrait of The Artist as A Young Man, and it is considered by some to be the best and most important novel of the 20th century.

Another question: What in your opinion is the best novel of the 20th century?

I enjoyed Portrait as well, and was taking a course in Ulysses before I moved, but I didn't finish the book. It was difficult to grasp both the book and the discussions we had in that class, and I often spent three or more hours a night reading it and the notes for it. I will finish it one day.... maybe. It's an insane book though.

No idea about the best book, too much stuff I haven't read.

If you really want to learn it, take a class on it with someone who really knows it, because it's a brutal book. It's worth the effort, but it's brutal.

Finnegan's Wake, however, I don't know if it's worth it.

I enjoyed Portrait as well, and was taking a course in Ulysses before I moved, but I didn't finish the book. It was difficult to grasp both the book and the discussions we had in that class, and I often spent three or more hours a night reading it and the notes for it. I will finish it one day.... maybe. It's an insane book though.

If you really want to learn it, take a class on it with someone who really knows it, because it's a brutal book. It's worth the effort, but it's brutal.

I'm a high school student, and there are no classes on Joyce and I don't think he's covered in British Lit.

I'm assuming you're talking about college classes, well I don't know if my parents would approve of me using their hard earned money to learn about one book....

Finnegan's Wake, however, I don't know if it's worth it.

I tried to read that book, I had no idea what he was talking about, Stream of Consciousness is hell to read.

I'm a high school student, and there are no classes on Joyce and I don't think he's covered in British Lit.

I'm assuming you're talking about college classes, well I don't know if my parents would approve of me using their hard earned money to learn about one book....

You're going to college eventually, right? Wait until then. But you won't have to take a class just on that book--lots of teachers will include it in an upper division Brit Lit class, or a 20th Century Lit class, or an Early Modern class. It fits into a lot of categories.

I was wondering if any of you have read the book Ulysses by James Joyce. I've wanted to read that book and have attempted many times, but the style of writing is beyond me.

I have read that and also Illiad.

I had to move a lot since my dad gets transferred every other year (I studied in 8 schools before college) ...so I had no permanent childhood friends...so libraries were my hangouts and books were my friends. I have always wondered about the many parallels of the Greek epics to the Indian epics (Rama's fight for abducted Sita : Agamemnon's fight for Helen and Arjuna's travel adventures : Ulysses's adventures).

Another question: What in your opinion is the best novel of the 20th century?

Very difficult to answer because individuals differ so much in what they look for in a novel. My personal favorite is "Ponniyin Selvan" - a Tamil novel. It is my ambition to translate it in English.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponniyin_Selvan

I have read that and also Illiad.

This is the James Joyce book as opposed to the Greek thing.

You can say anything you like about JJ's version because no one has actually ever read it in full. You can read the first line of each chapter and be more informed that 99.9r% of the entire world.

I'd say similar goes for War & Peace - books everyone says they want to read but never do.

Dostoevsky's the one you want to read, impressive name, easy books.

This is the James Joyce book as opposed to the Greek thing.

You can say anything you like about JJ's version because no one has actually ever read it in full. You can read the first line of each chapter and be more informed that 99.9r% of the entire world.

I'd say similar goes for War & Peace - books everyone says they want to read but never do.

Oh crap. It was a looooooong time ago when I read Illiad and Odysseus. I vaguely remembered James Joyce name on the book.

I did manage to read War and Peace though. Liked it better than Anna Karenina, which I found a bit boring except for Levin's musings.

Back in the day when traveling, seemed every 2nd hand bookstore around the world had a shelf full of War & Peace books, each untouched. Must have seemed a good idea - 'I know, given all the time traveling I'll take a book I'd never read otherwise' - only to discover that a: beer is easily obtainable in every country and b: Harry Potter is much easier read when drunk on a train.

Well done for reading W&P though, I haven't even gone so far as to see if there's a film version out I could crib from.

Back in the day when traveling, seemed every 2nd hand bookstore around the world had a shelf full of War & Peace books, each untouched. Must have seemed a good idea - 'I know, given all the time traveling I'll take a book I'd never read otherwise' - only to discover that a: beer is easily obtainable in every country and b: Harry Potter is much easier read when drunk on a train.

Well done for reading W&P though, I haven't even gone so far as to see if there's a film version out I could crib from.

I think I saw bits and pieces of a black and white movie on the book..and I do remember not liking it. There are very few movies which do justice to the book they are based on anyways.

I had bought the book a long time before I actually started reading it. I had to take a two day train trip (yes - full 48 hours, from South India to North East India and no beers served ;) ) and I managed to read it in a marathon stretch. I liked Pierre a lot. There was one quote which really struck me...I think Pierre says it...it goes something like "when evil/bad people can come together for evil designs..I don't see any reason why good honest people cannot come together for good honest deeds"...made me ponder about it a lot..

Bhang Lassi is the way to go on Indian trains : )

I've got it sitting in my bathroom. I've read through 3/4 of the lengthy introduction, but haven't made a start on the actual novel yet.
I read Dubliners (highly recommended - more a collection of vignettes than real short stories but wonderfully written) on holiday and thought it was excellent, so I got Ulysses with high expectations. Unfortunately i think the introduction, written by some Oxford postgrad, has rather put me off - i didn't know much about Ulysses before i bought it and it seems to require far more dedication than i'm up for atm. Even when I do get in the mood for a lengthy and challenging book, I think it'd more likely to be Proust, so it seems Ulysses will have to wait a long time :(

The best book of the 20th century that i've read was Catch-22. The best book of the 19th century was Germinal although Les Misérables comes very close.

I'm a high school student, and there are no classes on Joyce and I don't think he's covered in British Lit.

I'm assuming you're talking about college classes, well I don't know if my parents would approve of me using their hard earned money to learn about one book....

Mine was a high school course. I used to go to a special high school :)

But yeah, you should wait until you have the oppurtunity to take a class.

I was wondering if any of you have read the book Ulysses by James Joyce. I've wanted to read that book and have attempted many times, but the style of writing is beyond me. The reason I want to read the book is because I find the writing style to be interesting, I've read and enjoyed A Portrait of The Artist as A Young Man, and it is considered by some to be the best and most important novel of the 20th century.

Another question: What in your opinion is the best novel of the 20th century?

I was quizically looking at this post thinking that I was sure the book Ulysses was written by Alistair MacLean. I worked it out though. My literary knowledge obviously isn't that great.

I was quizically looking at this post thinking that I was sure the book Ulysses was written by Alistair MacLean. I worked it out though. My literary knowledge obviously isn't that great.

Oh yeah, HMS Ulysseus. It was his first book IIRC. He is one of my favorite authors. Golden Gate, Fear is the key, Athabasca, When eight bells toll....great reads...

If you really want to learn it, take a class on it with someone who really knows it, because it's a brutal book. It's worth the effort, but it's brutal.

Finnegan's Wake, however, I don't know if it's worth it.

i hate to reveal my anti-intellectualism but what about reading a brutally hard to read book is worth it?

does joyce have some insight into the human condition that is only accessible by reading the book? are the metaphors he uses amazingly deep? is his use of language so beautiful that once you understand it you weep?

its an honest question. i would really like to know why someone would want to read this book.

i hate to reveal my anti-intellectualism but what about reading a brutally hard to read book is worth it?

does joyce have some insight into the human condition that is only accessible by reading the book? are the metaphors he uses amazingly deep? is his use of language so beautiful that once you understand it you weep?

its an honest question. i would really like to know why someone would want to read this book.

well, there are some people who like to do puzzles or sudoku, and some who don't. sometimes it's fun to try to figure out a text, something that take a little more work than a standard novel.

pyotr, if you're really interested, find someone who is organizing or sponsoring a bloomsday event (google it) in your area and tell them you want to read it. there are lots of communities of joyce fans who might be glad to have a discussion group and help you through it.

Dostoevsky's the one you want to read, impressive name, easy books.

Big fan of Dostoevsky, I've read The Brothers Karamazov The House of the Dead and Crime and Punishment. I'm reading Notes From Underground right now, planning on reading Demons.

Big fan of Dostoevsky, I’ve read The Brothers Karamazov The House of the Dead and Crime and Punishment. I’m reading Notes From Underground right now, planning on reading Demons.
If you can, read The Idiot. IMHO it’s Dostoevsky’s best.

If you can, read The Idiot. IMHO it’s Dostoevsky’s best.

Isn't that one about a Christ-like figure being rejected and abused by society and battling a Satanesque character?

I've never really considered it.

Isn’t that one about a Christ-like figure being rejected and abused by society and battling a Satanesque character?

I’ve never really considered it.
Yeah, thats the one, if you want to interpret the book that way. It examines the whole concept of duality and dualism, as well as the frailty of humanity when afflicted by disease.

More importantly, it’s a stonking good read, certainly up there with The House of the Dead and Brothers Karamazov. If you're a fan you should certainly read it.

well, there are some people who like to do puzzles or sudoku, and some who don't. sometimes it's fun to try to figure out a text, something that take a little more work than a standard novel.


you know, that doesnt really help. when i do a sudoku im not impressed with the groupings of numbers at the end. when i read a book, i want to have been moved by it. if its just the equivalent of a really tough cryptoquip, i dont see the point.

I could only get to like chapter 2 of Ulysses too confusing...

i did read a little of Dubliners which i really liked

i hate to reveal my anti-intellectualism but what about reading a brutally hard to read book is worth it?

does joyce have some insight into the human condition that is only accessible by reading the book? are the metaphors he uses amazingly deep? is his use of language so beautiful that once you understand it you weep?

its an honest question. i would really like to know why someone would want to read this book.

Speaking only for myself, I like it because I find it to be a look into the Modernist mind. The Modern movement really shook up the art world across all genres, and I'm interested in it. It's rare to be so close to such a huge movement and be able to look back at it--it's like being able to see Leonardo's work while it was still fairly new, and while it was still affecting artists. Those artists were living in some of the most turbulent times in history, having their long-standing truths ripped out from under them, and they were reacting to that. The more I study that period, whether it's in music or visual art or literature, the more fascinated I am by it.