James Joyce

Did anyone else have a difficult time starting Ulysses?

“Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A yellow dressinggown, ungirdled, was sustained gently behind him by the mild morning air. He held the bowl aloft and intoned: Introibo ad altare Dei.”

No, no problem, it starts beautifully, doesn’t it? And besides all its other qualities it is also a quite entertaining, even funny book. She just finished reading it.

I’m not talking simply about the first paragraph. I never said it wasn’t amazing, it’s the comprehension I’m having trouble with.

I understood that, was just bantering with you. :) For a well written, witty introduction Hugh Kenner’s Ulysses is still recommendable, even though it’s more than 25 years old. And for a line by line companion Gifford/Seidman Uysses Annotated is the source. But honestly, the most important thing is to have patience with this book and to approach it with the same mind in which it was written: playful. Have fun exploring it during the next few decades.

(For the first chapter, reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man might or might not prove helpful: the character of Stephen Dedalus comes from that novel and he brought some topics with him.)

I've only read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners. Both are great. The short story titled "The Dead" made me cry. I love the cruel way that Joyce makes Gabriel feel so ashamed after hearing from his wife about the existence of Michael Furey.

Joyce rocks forever and ever!