Member Reviews

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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “Like art, this book is best when you don't try to "get it" but just let it be. I love this book mostly because of the way it's written rather than what the story is about. It's really quite genius and stands alone, following it's own formula. Nothing compares, really...and that in itself says everything.”

  OneGoodBumblebee wrote this review Thursday, July 31 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “It is hard to classify Ulysses, and even harder to actually make it through. The book makes you work--it's not about the plot, but about the *experience* of reading.
  
  In this book (I hesitate to call it a novel), the Plot decides that it's tired of being obvious and in the forefront, packs up its bags, and goes on vacation to let the words and Language itself take the centerstage. And Language has a ball--it's as if the words start dancing, laughing, and making fun of the reader as they play games. Just flip through and you'll see what I mean. An entire episode ("chapter") that's written as newsletter headlines? As a Q&A? as 50 pages of ONE SENTENCE?! Let alone the sentence-by-sentence text itself.
  
  Language not only plays a game, but pushes its limits. In the experience of reading this text, you become very aware of where language breaks down. It's hard work to be a reader of Ulysses and have to piece together the puzzle of what's going on. Indeed, many times there's no way of knowing, but that's part of its beauty. This is not a pre-packaged cut-and-dry novel; this is a reflection of the realities and conflict in life. You need to become comfortable with confusion, conflicting voices, and not knowing what's going on. Test the waters with T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" or similar modernist works.
  
  That being said, I still strongly recommend it. I read this text with a class, which was most helpful--our learned professor was a guiding light through the confusion and twists and turns and discussions helped lead us through. But there is an infinite sense of peace and accomplishment as you reach the last pages. Like the characters, you were lost, but found you way. The chaos of the world threatened to close in around you, but you found connection.
  
  These words may mean nothing until you have survived the experience, but in the end you will find them to be some of the most beautiful words ever written: yes I said yes I will Yes.”

  Menelanna wrote this review Saturday, July 19 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “Here is the classic stream-of-consciousness exercise in looking through the author's eyes at 24 hours in the life of the hero. Required of English Majors when I was in college back in the day. We hardly knew what to make of it then, but now it's clear that all filmic and literary vision since has grown from the tale of Stephen Daedalus looking at Dublin.”

  Deni H wrote this review Friday, May 23 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “Loved this - even though I ignored it at undergrad level, will forever be grateful we had to read it for the MA. It requires the reader's guide to FULLY appreciate the depth. I ended up reading it 3 times in total! It should definitely be on the list of books to read before you die!”

  S L wrote this review Friday, April 11 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “This book is insane, but in one of the best ways possible. I can't really describe it, so you'll have to read it. Be prepared to not understand what is going on. Yet the writing is so brilliant, that I forgive that, and blame myself for being too dull to understand. I'll have to read it again.
  
  ”

  David B wrote this review Friday, March 21 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “You must have a previous reading of "A Portrait of The Artist as A Young Man' to get to this book or you won’t understand the inner monologue, Joyce develops it in this novel. You can't begging with Joyce not knowing what it and him are about!! Don't be silly and naive!
  
  It really is a hard reading, but not as people commonly say.
  There're some parts that demand a certain knowledge of history mostly, but nothing, as was said, that will interfere on your understanding of the book.
  It is just a common day on a common Irishman's life, nothing more. But it, still, is a brilliant book.
  It's not for everyone, but it doesn't mean that only a highly intellectualized person can read it, and most important appreciate it. I say it's not for everyone cause I think Ulysses is a book that cannot be translated, as well as 'A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man', what of course limits the number of people who can have access to it.
  
  The book is humorous and intelligent. I loved it.
  Joyce puts a lot of himself in this two novels, 'Ulysses' and 'A Portrait of The Artist as A Young Man', through the character of Stephen Dedalus, his alter-ego. Thus, he discusses politics, religion, family, economy and lots of other subjects in a way that doesn't load the book with too many intentions, it's not heavy in this way.
  The book is as natural as common day.
  ”

  Isabel L wrote this review Tuesday, January 22 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 3 stars

  “Before I considered reading this book, I had seen reviews about just how difficult it was to read, but like most who have read it, I thought to myself, "I read the classics all the time, just how difficult can this book be?!" Well, you have to be pretty well read to approach this novel. Most of the book is inner monologue style, and it is 99% full of obscure references. It helped me to have at least some background with the Odyssey and the Bible to understand this novel. I personally do not like a "talking heads" novel, so I found that I simply skimmed the pages out of boredom. Most of the book's references are very dated so I found that most of the text went "over my head." I salute those who "get" this novel, because you must be quite a worldly individual to not need help with it. For the "joe everyman" like myself, it kicked my butt. I love to read, but this book was honestly making me tiresome of it. You really need alot of patience, a huge dictionary, a small library of other classic novels, and an understanding of Ireland's history to get through it. When I finished this book, I took nothing with me due to its difficulty. I had to use the SPARKnotes to even get an idea of what I just read. Without it, I would've just given up. I only gave it 3 stars because if I understood what I read, I could honestly tell you whether I liked it or not, but since I didn't understand 98% of the book, I'll just sit "middle of the fence." I know it's a cop-out, but I'm not afraid to say that this book was just out of my league.
  
  Also as a side note, don't get this version of the novel because the binding is total [...] ”

  Haka92 wrote this review Monday, January 7 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 4 stars

  “There's a lot of rubbish written about this that put people off reading it, but don't be it's worth the effort, just take it slow, and remember to laugh. Yes laugh, because there are funny parts in it. Enjoy the language and don't take it too seriously. Most people who moan about Ulysses do so because they were forced to read it, for school, college, whatever, and that does rob it of joy. So just relax and if you find a page, or so hard going, skip them and don't worry you won't have missed anything.”

  Mike W wrote this review Thursday, November 15 2007. ( reply | view 3 replies | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 0 stars

  “I know it's a terrible cliche' to list "Ulysses" as one your favorite books, but this is one of those rare occasions when something actually lives up to its hype. For all the terrible stream-of-consciousness writing Joyce inspired lesser artists to create, the man himself was a master of the form. He had an innate understanding of the power and potential of language. Don't let this book's notorious difficulty prevent you from reading it. It will require several readings (one of my college professors reads it once a year and admits that he still doesn't understand all of Joyce's allusions), but it will always take you somewhere interesting, fun, and enlightening. ”

  J W wrote this review Wednesday, October 31 2007. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “Naturally, it's a challenge, but one that rewards the diligent reader. Don't try to wrestle it; let it carry you.”

  Mr. Dan Kelly wrote this review Wednesday, October 10 2007. ( reply | permalink )