Ulysses

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Summary: "Ulysses" is a comedy. "In risu veritas"--James Joyce.
Review: The novel of the century! "Time" Magazine got it right! And "Ulysses" really is a comedy. A long comedy, albeit, but I find that opening the book at random and reading a page or two is an enriching experience. Read Joyce for the way in which he strings words together: beautiful. He often said that there was nothing that he couldn't do with language, and he was right. (N.B.: Please buy the "Gabler Edition," aka the "Corrected Text," of "Ulysses," as I understand the publisher is discontinuing that edition, which is the best one.)

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Summary: Great; not among the greatest
Review: That "Ulysses" is a great novel and a (not the) turning point in the history of modern imaginative prose is, I think, proven beyond reasonable doubt. But, after having read it twice, a nagging doubt remains: is it a life-enhancing achievement ? Like the best of Shakespeare or Tolstoy. Does it achieve universality beyond obvious plodder-type references harking back to Homer ? Which are pros and cons ? Among pros, I'd say that most important are exuberant playfulness of language and gorgeously hilarious stampedo of comic banal incidents. Joyce is truly great comic writer. As for his status of the progenitor of experimental prose, I'm more sceptical. The stream of consciousness technique remained confined mostly to English-language literatures; what's more objectionable, it doesn't seem to possess potency of meditative-reflective approach of a Conrad or Proust, nor direct prophetic insight of a Dostoevsky or Lawrence. There is something arid and self-defeating in the very nature of Joyce's endeavor. Among cons two come to mind immediately: a scholastic network of cross-references that serves as the underpinning of the entire structure-something that impresses a naive innocent reader as an erudition beyond, beyond...but, actually is an exercise in a dated and dead world view ( and even this is far from being impeccable-Joyce's reading in philosophy is superficial; he confuses Duns Scotus and Johanes Scotus Erigena ); the other con is the all-pervading banality of virtually everything. As if a double perspective is achieved simultaneously: Joyce's work is as detached as possible, yet, its all-devouring meaninglessness betrays the author's mindset. And this mindset I would call as subjective and life defeating as any imaginable. Conclusion: Joyce's inventiveness and humor produced a great book. At the same time, his aesthetic pseudoreligion and something I could call only a soulless Weltanschauung prevented him to create a summit like "A la recherche", "Heart of Darkness" or "The Devils". A great novel. Among the most influential. Not among the greatest.

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Summary: Too disjointed and convoluted for me.
Review: I would have to say that I have easily read close to 1,000 books in my lifetime. I would also easily have to say that I have never read a book that was as incomprehensible as Ulysses. I really do not believe that one has to have cliffnotes or any type of 'helpers' to read and understand a book. Yet, I firmly believe that Ulysses should be accompanied by several texts explaining page by page what you just read. It was so disjointed and difficult to comprehend that I was beginning to question my sanity in even attempting to sift through it and find a plot. I would not recommend it to anyone and I feel sorry for English majors who are forced to read it. I chose to read it and would not make that choice a second time.

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Summary: Form and content achieve a splendid balance in Ulysses.
Review: Ulysses (1922) breaks traditional conventions of fiction: like Finnegans Wake (1939) it can hardly be appreciated completely unless passages are read aloud; like Homer's Odyssey it chronicles a plot of epic proportions, with details so rich and colourful they virtually epitomize realism and the stream-of-consciousness technique; and like the short stories in Joyce's Dubliners (1914) or Classical Greek drama, it focuses on a very specific, particular situation: a day in the life of a Dublin canvasser, Leopold Bloom.

Ulysses gained a favourable reputation among Modernist contemporaries like Ezra Pound. Its inclusion of the vulgar language of Dublin's people was offensive to many, leading to public book-burnings and prohibitions against its publication. By the 1960s, when such concerns over language had dissipated, Ulysses still remained the esoteric interest of a limited number of readers. This is due partly to the text's numerous obscure passages and its reputation for being a "difficult" text. However, a basic knowledge of the Odyssey and an acceptance of the stream-of-consciousness technique -- which had, we should note, been employed in limited measure by writers like Dickens -- allows the patient reader to revel in decoding the text's plot, its puns, and its symbolic levels of meaning. Indeed, many editions of the work feature outlines listing some of the main features of each passage -- the equivalent of the pithy chapter titles that usually accompany the text of more traditional novels.

Ulysses chronicles a place and time (Edwardian Dublin) but also a site and an age (the city and the 20th century). It does so with language that reflects the irony and fragmentation associated with the Modern era and its problems, as related in the novel. It took many laborious years to write (arguably, only Finnegans Wake would be more challenging to its author). Nonetheless, both of Joyce's long works have been immense influences on fiction and poetry in this century: they have re-asserted and re-emphasized the non-linear, non-written aspects of language (e.g. the Wake begins by ending its last sentence); they have (in Derrida's estimation) overturned Western society's privileging of speech (logocentrism) over writing (since many of the words and puns can only be understood via reading them on the page); and yet they retain a simple, straightforward backbone of human experience, connectedness, and imagination as their primary themes.

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Summary: Everything Captured
Review: Truly a monumental acheivement in the history of writing. Ulysses to me is a brilliant example of how our everyday actions gather significance simply because they are ours. This book should be read by readers who wish to appreciate life...not to understand details.

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Summary: Ulysses is a materpiece
Review: While I have a number of quibles about what Random House/Modern Libary put on their 100 best list, I had no problem at all with what they put first. If I had to pick one book as the best book of the century, it would by Joyce's Ulysses. It's a book I first read about 25 years ago and have returned to it every couple of years since.

Ulysses is a rich, complex book that works on many levels. Most people tend to focus on its experimental prose, which Joyce used to both explore his characters and to widen the scope of his novel. But, beneath all of this, Ulysses is a novel of character, a profound look at the human condition. The book experimentation works because it is grounded on the story of Leopold Bloom, who is fundamentally a decent, likeable man. It's also the story of Stephen Daedalus, who, while somewhat of a prig, is a very intersting person, whose thoughts and ideas are exciting to follow.

The more I think about it, the more I think that it'll soon be time to read Ulysses yet again.

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Summary: excellent
Review: Easily one of the greatest English-language books ever written. It is certainly not "about nothing"--those that say so are talking about its lack of a standard plot. It's about the relationships people build with one another. Look at the relationships depicted: Bloom's love for Molly despite her infidelity, Molly's love for Bloom despite the infidelity she percieves, Molly's purely sexual love for Boylan, Bloom's fatherly love for Stephen, Stephen's constant searching for paternal influence, etc, etc. Joyce examines in minute detail each one of these and allows the reader to come to his own conclusions about the characters and their feelings.

It _is_ a difficult book. Stick through it; it's worthwhile. For me, it really started to come together around "Oxen of the Sun" (chapter 14). After "Ithaca" (ch. 17) I felt like I'd known Bloom all my life. And "Penelope" (ch. 18) is remarkable not for what it reveals about Molly, but for what it reveals about Bloom.

If you didn't get anything out of _Ulysses_, you didn't read it carefully enough. I suspect many people pick it up without knowning anything about it, and I further suspect that many people who read it for a university course are only skimming it for essay topics (of which there are plenty). Get something like "The Bloomsday Book" to help you through it, read something about the book before you start to read it, read it carefully, and read it more than once. That's the only way you can get everything out of it.

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Summary: The worst novel ever written.
Review: There is nothing intellectually challenging about this book. Instead, it is a cruel insult to the intelligence of any thinking person who tries to read it. Even the people who don't "get it," and feel compelled to give this miserable piece of trash 5-star ratings let some of its true character seep through.

In the 5-star reviews alone, we see: "my head aches after reading it," "one will never be able to understand," "a vast, complex book about nothing," "when I finished Ulysses, I felt an emptyness," "meaning that vanishes in the distance of one's ability to comprehend it," "Ulysses is not Ulysses," "sometimes the narrative line just seems to dissapear."

Anyone with respect for themselves should skip this "book about nothing" and find a book about _something_ instead.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I can say quite honestly that this is one of the best books I have ever read, though I'm useless at placing books in top-10 charts. Most books I've read have something, Ulysses has more or less everything. I recommend the use of notes of some kind, especially for the "Oxen of the Sun" chapter, but I think people shouldn't be too frightened to dive straight in, it's really not such a big bad scary monster!

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Summary: I'd give it 5 stars were there not the book I'm reading now
Review: If you enjoy Ulysses because you want to be intellectually challenged, then I recommend a more challenging and eye-opening book, called, "Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality." It's brand new! I believe it will become 21st-Century's bible of human understanding in the context of electronic revolution. There are many exciting stories in the book, and those stories are going to enlighten you for good!