Has anyone actually read Ulysses (the Joyce one)?

[Inextremis]

I've been meaning to read it for years, and I've started - but my lawd, it's hard going! I think I've had to look up at least five words in the dictionary so far, and the Latin is beyond me. Is it worth persevering? I'm finding it difficult to work out exactly what's going on - so far they've left the 'tower' and seen a dead dog at the forty foot - tell me it gets better?

I skimmed through when I was very young because the Sunday paper said it was filthy - I was very disappointed. Does that count?

@Beeinalily I would say Molly's soliloquy could be considered fairly filthy?

Plus Bloom masturbating looking at Gerty MCDowell & a lot of the stuff that happens in Circe / Nighttown?

It's definitely there but you have to read a lot of other stuff to find it 😅

I imagine Cunty Kate would have been well beyond the pale for many people in 1922, too, just for the name.

I must have started it at least half a dozen times but never got anywhere!

This is interesting as I've always had in mind I'd get round to reading when I have time, when I'm retired, etc. So now's the time to do it and I just might...though I like the suggestion of an audio book perhaps to get me started on it.

Update: just had a quick look and it's available on Borrowbox, so have it downloaded ready to go. I'll dive in tomorrow and will report back.

Unfortunately, yes. I also proofed a friend's dissertation on it, fewer words but equally dull.

I find it really fascinating as, for me, it's anything but dull. Since reading it it has pretty much ruined reading other books for me. They all feel so flimsy by comparison.

I'd say Ulysses is my 'roman empire' and i think about it a surprising amount ot time each day!

I took it as my only book on a holiday once to an isolated cottage. I figured I wouldn't be able to replace it so would be forced to read it. What I recall most is how hard it was, how tedious it was, and not a single bit about the content.

I can happily say I’m now on Episode 8, reading one a day. I quickly realised my 1970s Penguin copy (just the text, no notes, not even the Greek references) was not going to cut it so invested in a reader’s companion. I kept my copy out of respect of the person I “borrowed” it from 30+ years ago…

I’m enjoying the challenge but now realise that without knowledge of the city, the times and the culture of pre-independence Ireland it could be tough going. I’m a 57yo TCD graduate and am pulling out so many of the tapestry threads from distant memories. The turns of phrase, associations, songs, SOC just resonate with me.

As I said above, reading this book has been on my bucket list for so long, it’s almost a relief to have got into it at last. I needed accountability and found it in a reading group that has started up in my city. By the end of the month I’ll have finished my own reading of it, ready to glean a more in-depth interpretation from the experts.

No. I'm an English postgraduate. I know no one who has actually read it.

Surely someone's dc read it as a toddler?

@Sgtmajormummy thanks for sharing that update! I'm so glad you're enjoying it!

I'm re-reading it in a reading group & we're up to episode 12 now, Cyclops.

I'm loving it all even more second time round doing a deep read & i too, am a mid 50s TCD graduate.

I was reading the first 20 pages or so of Cyclops earlier this evening & laughing out loud 🤣 it's hilarious in places!

@Bourbonbonbon I find it strange that as an English postgraduate you've never met a person in all those years of studying English whose read it? I wonder how or why that can be? Do you have no interest yourself?

Yes, I read it during a summer job as a student with very long breaks. It helps to read it out loud in some parts.