GUIDE TO FRUITFUL READING OF ULYSSES
GUIDE TO FRUITFUL READING OF ULYSSES
THE CHALLENGE
For many people the reading of Ulysses appears to present a challenge rather like the climbing of Mount Everest (or, more appropriately, Mount Olympus). Often they try, but give up the effort (most typically at the third chapter or the seventh chapter which present stylistic innovations.
Often people who would most enjoy the book never read it - this is particularly a shame for those who enjoy humor.
At the same time people who read the book more than once always discover new things which they appear not to have noticed earlier.
The texture of the Ulysses tapestry is rich and the book can be experienced in many ways and through multiple levels of meaning (this has resulted in a massive body of academic work). The book is at the same time very broad in its seemingly universal scope and very narrow in focus on Ireland and the Irish (particularly Dublin and Dubliners).
Here is an effort to serve as sherpa to support and guide the conquest of Ulysses by enterprising readers.
STEP-BY-STEP:
We propose an orderly approach that makes use of materials linked to and posted on this website. The basic strategy is to allow you to familiarize yourself more and more intensely with Ulysses by stages, so that you are comfortable with the book's environment when you begin reading, are sensitized as to what to look for, and are aware of resources that can enrich your experience along the way.
The Suggested Steps:
1) Read one or more introductions and summaries such as those of the Rosenbach library (https://rosenbach.org/ulysses-plot-summary/) or Michael Groden (https://www.michaelgroden.com/notes/)(alternately, chapter summaries can be read just before reading the script or full text of each chapter);
2) Review the Introductory Table posted on the JJ Birthday Celebration Page (if you like, have a look at the more extensive table posted on the Readers/Thespians Page, as well);
3) Read through the 365 tweets posted on the Supplement/Extras Page (start at the end of the document and go to the beginning);
4) Read the 2016 Script posted on the Bloomsday - 2016 Page. This consists of highlights from Ulysses - equivalent to a severely abridged version of the book (constituting about 12% of the text);
5) Read the book (The Gutenberg text with added Episode Titles is posted on the Supplement/Extras Page, but, many different editions are available cheaply (particularly as e-books)/the editions of text corrected and re-set in 1961 are generally regarded as the best these days).
NB you may wish to listen to a recording of Ulysses as you read - the spoken word often brings out elements of the text more vividly than reading alone. Highly recommended are the readings of Jim Norton available through Audible or Amazon and the marathon performance of the Irish radio station RTE available at RTE RECORDING).
NNBB You may wish to make use of Michael Groden's Guide to reading Ulysses- this is a marvelous resource/you will probably find it most useful to consult the notes on each episode before reading it (you might find it helpful to make use of this earlier, for example when you are reading the 2016 Bloomsday script) - to use this resource click on the episode (chapters in Ulysses are referred to as Episodes) first, then click on the category of notes that you wish to consult. There are also links to sources and a bibliography to be found here.
PRELIMINARY REMARK (as you get started):
Ulysses chapters are referred to by scholars as "Episodes", and, following a whim of Joyce, "Episode" headings are not printed in the book. You will find the Episode names in most materials on this website (e.g. the tables, scripts, reading assignments and full book text).
COMMENTS ON INTRODUCTORY TABLE:
Ulysses takes place in less than 24 hours starting at 8:00 am on June 16, 1904. The book is really eighteen novels in one – there is a different masterfully-realized style in each episode. Each corresponds to an adventure of the Greek hero in his travels around the Mediterranean Sea. But, Joyce’s book deals with the amble across Dublin of an Irish anti-hero (an advertising salesman named Leopold Bloom).
Bloom is a much beloved character with extensive interests and sensibilities whose name has been incorporated into the holiday that celebrates James Joyce and Ulysses. The two other principal characters are Stephen Dedalus a largely autobiographical representation of Joyce in his early twenties, and Molly Bloom (Leopold Bloom's wife) whose closing soliloquy constitutes the most famous ending in all of literature.
The book itself weighs in at almost 700 pages, and contains some 33,000 different words (about the same number as in the works of Shakespeare) among the 260,000 words of the text. Although Ulysses takes place in less than a full day, it touches upon a vast number of different matters – scientific, literary, mythological, medical, economic, religious, political, historical, sociological, psychological, philosophical and other themes.
But, if Ulysses is seemingly universal, it is also a very local work of art. Joyce once said that if Dublin disappeared in a natural catastrophe, it could be rebuilt from indications in Ulysses. Joyce’s Dublin is populated by a considerable population of very Irish people with myriad occupations, personalities, and eccentricities, and it features much of what Dubliners experienced in 1904 –particular streets, buildings, occupations, food and drink, animals, sights, weather, music, etc. – and especially ideas and opinions.
Joyce prided himself as being crafty; he incorporated many puzzles and riddles, and most things in Ulysses are presented in an ironic light. Multifaceted humor is the fuel on which Ulysses runs. ENJOY!
