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James Joyce
- Thread starter CapitalGuy
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Slow, challenging.
After you are done, try Dante's Inferno.
Then move to the Canterbury Tales in the original Olde English.
After you are done, try Dante's Inferno.
Then move to the Canterbury Tales in the original Olde English.
Reading Joyce is an aquired skill, but worth it. Read quickly, don't get bogged down, don't re-read passages. In the end it will all come together. Read some Tom Clancey for a break. Then go dive into some more Joyce. At this point you will know the difference between Mcdonalds reading and real cuisine literature.
YellowDog said:Buy the Coles notes instead.
I was going to say this but you beat me to it. I think that this is what most people do.
MissCroft said:I've never been able to get very far into it. That whole 'stream of consciousness' thing just bugs me. It does help though if you have a few drinks beforehand...
the same goes for sex with ugly people lol
Bloom was a hobbyist!
I haven't looked at it in a loong time but as I recall, Bloom, the hero, was a hobbyist. That should get you going.
CapitalGuy said:So I'm thinking of reading Ulysses. Anyone tried it? Any advice on having a go at it? Thanks.
I haven't looked at it in a loong time but as I recall, Bloom, the hero, was a hobbyist. That should get you going.
Tried reading Finnigan's Wake, and tried, and tried. Have yet to find anyone that has completed the book. Think Joyce was fucking with his readers when he wrote it. The man must have had a sadistic side to him.
I tried reading Ulysses back in my early college years couldn't get past page 25. Dubliners was a great read though.
Joyce's writing style reminds me of someone who has too many thoughts in their head and tries to express them all at once.
Joyce's writing style reminds me of someone who has too many thoughts in their head and tries to express them all at once.
smiley27 said:I agree about Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but you can't be serious about Finnegan's Wake! That's probably the most difficult piece ever written! It's completely illegible, unless you speak 10+ languages. As far as I remember, Joyce himself spoke 13 and he was using them all in the book, making up the words combining these languages, not even to mention sentences that can span over few pages! While in Ulysses Joyce uses the technique of "interior monologue" of a consious man, in Finnegan's wake he tried to do similar, but for an unconsious man (= in a sleep)! I fluently speak 5 languages and found FW impossible to read. Many experts in the field would agree that Finnegan's Wake is interesting only for linguists.
As for Ulysses, it's the masterpiece, still very difficult reading, but way easier than Finnegan's Wake. You must be really determined and very concentrated, but you will make it. It helps if you read Homer's Odyssey first, it will give you somewhat better understanding, because Ullisses actually refers to Odyssey. (Ulysses is another name for the Greek hero Odysseus.)
Finnegan's Wake......I wanted to like it...But man, the toughest book I've ever tried to read.
In terms of traditional storyline, it's important to understand that Ulysses is essentially about two guys wandering around Dublin -- a young guy who is struggling with his role in life as an artistic soul, and a middle-aged average man whose wife is cheating on him.
Yet, it is a fantastic novel, and well worth the read.
(Can't speak for Finnegan's Wake -- I've never worked up the nerve to read that one).
Yet, it is a fantastic novel, and well worth the read.
(Can't speak for Finnegan's Wake -- I've never worked up the nerve to read that one).
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