Wow. It's labyrinthian. Lets start by saying this takes place in Dublin circa 1912 or so, but follows the outline of The Odyssey. The main characte... (show more)
Wow. It's labyrinthian. Lets start by saying this takes place in Dublin circa 1912 or so, but follows the outline of The Odyssey. The main character spends one full day in Dublin (that's right 1,000 page novel taking place in 1 day) and the book is broken into episodes each mirroring a part of the Odyssey (like the chapter with the cyclops).
That said, many of the episodes are quite different in style. So much in fact that they seem to be written by different people. For instance, an entire episode is broken into 60 paragraphs each one moving forward in style starting from pre biblical writing, on to the current style Joyce begins the novel with. This is one reason the novel is so cherished, as it is a semblance of old and new styles.
Overall the story isn't what drives this book but the writing. Many times I would be reading a sentence, say a stream of consciousness that has nothing to do with what the characters are saying, but it's one of the most amazing sentences. Also this book is jammed backed with little ideas, or quotes you've heard before elsewhere. For instance in one scene where a main character is about to get beaten up in the street there's a "demon barber" watching who cuts peoples necks ear to ear. Sound familiar?
The story follows a Mr. Bloom, who wakes to make his wife breakfast. From there we find out that he is pretty sure she's cheating on him, that he's a jew, and every little idea you could think of a man might, well think of, during the day. There are episodes where he goes in and out of stream of consciousness while in a dialogue with another character. There is an episode that is written like a play. And the novel ends with the epilogue, told similarly like a diary from his wife's perspective.
Overall out of the 18 episodes I'd have to say 15 or so of them were a joy to read. There are 2 that are so nonsensical it's too frustrating to read. Joyce seems to be in love with very unimportant ideas (either that or I'd need a annotations to understand them) and one whole episode is told through third person narration of 309 questions about the characters. Needless to say they go over many things you already know, and many times seem irrelevant.
Another episode goes in and out of completely insane tangents that, after pages and pages, you realize are just ideas the character has in a split second. He'll be talking to a character, then be thinking of what the world would be like if it were ending, then 1 second later he answers her, only it has been 40 pages.
The final episode may have been my favorite though, which is written from Bloom's wife Molly's perspective in eight giant “sentences” that comprise her interior monologue. Just eight, in 8 sentences Joyce fills 40 pages (depending on your edition). That's nuts! This quite possibly is the best voice of a woman in literature ever. Very entertaining, probing, and interesting, this episode is also told in a stream of consciousness as Molly sits next to her husband after he comes home at 2a.m. after a drunken night.
Overall you'll need to be in love with the written language to enjoy Ulysses. The overall story can be bland, but there are great moments of humor, ideas and entertainment. To get through those ideas you'll need to be aware that Joyce will seemingly go on forever about inconsequential things, but sometimes he refers back to them, and that makes them worth the while. (show less)
