My first James Joyce. The writing was quite enjoyable to read and it evoked a melancholy feeling in me. I enjoyed and appreciated it more when I was reading the text rather than listening to the audiobook. 

I read on wikipedia that Joyce wrote the book to inspire Irish people to reflect on their lives and shake them out of the status quo... to help them develop a stronger sense of national identity. He felt that people were "frozen" and several of the characters do literally freeze up when they have to make a pivotal decision. So, it was interesting to reflect on the effectiveness of those two concepts when I was reading.