I’ve heard that Joyce himself said that the Ulysses was going to worry scholars for years. So far, he’s been right. I’ve always heard that this was difficult book to read. Not because it is pretty long (it is, there’s no denying it), but the way in which it is written is really incredibly complex. I had to re-read several times some parts and look for guides in order to understand what I was reading. But, for everyone who feels threatened by the length of this huge novel, I’ll say that you shouldn’t fret it. It’s readable, I swear. It took me more than most books, but still, I could read it.

I don’t know what to say about this novel. There’s just so much in it. Joyce has an amazing way of getting into the characters’ minds, and show how incredibly complicated is the flow of our thoughts. I believe that this is why he worked with characters as Stephen and Leopold. They are completely realistic and life-like, it’s amazing.

Also, choosing these characters and throwing them in a completely normal day in a city allows for them to feel even more real. It’s not only that they think like us and so on, but they could also be us. With the almost insane amount of detail thrown in, I practically felt as I was walking about early 20th century Dublin (by the way, I really want to go there some time).

When I began reading this book, I felt almost compelled to compare it episode by episode to The Odyssey, which I’ve studied several times. But the correlation between these two books is not exactly one to one. However, it is useful to have even a superficial grasp of classic literature before reading this, because there are a lot of references either to Greek lit or Shakespeare, so… yeah, you should know a little about them.

Another tip to approach this novel: take your time. I had to read and reread different parts several times to get what was happening. It is complicated and I happened to lose concentration every once in a while. Though, I’d think that losing concentration is part of reading Modernist fiction. In a way, it allows you to follow the way in which thought acts through the novel. If you lose concentration, your mind begins to imitate what the author is trying to portray (as in this case, the flow of their thoughts). You’ll see that the characters also change their subjects several times (especially in the famous no-punctuation-whatsoever final monologue). One cannot help but wonder whether all of them had some sort of ADHD, really.

But, again, it’s interesting to see thee thoughts’ processes and all that. Maybe I have a little voyeur in me, but I like seeing people thinking and figuring out how they do this.

Finally, I can recommend this book. It’s hard, but it’s totally worth reading it (you can also get bragging rights after finishing this bulk of a book). So, if you’re like me and are really curious about this book, it’s a must-read. I’ll probably read this again, because there is just too much for only one reading.