I expect it’s pretty common in this sub for people to post about this book – but nevertheless I wanted to give a few of my thoughts after finishing the title with some use of guides (both written and through youtube) structured by each episode. I didn’t pre-read anything going in, and picked up relations to Homer’s Odyssey along the way in an attempt to understand more.
1+2: Really brings you into the book with strong characterization of Buck Mulligan, and people like Mr Deasy offer a grounded sense of the time period in contrast to the highly educated Stephen who’s very much an outsider in this Dublin.
On reflection this combination of episodes set me up for thinking the book would be a “nicer” read than it turned out to be, and they’re certainly the most conventional of all episodes in terms of their style, it’s safe here.
3: Scatterbrained. It’s all over the gaff, which makes a lot of sense when you consider that we’re in the head of a young man who’s just lost his mother. Other than that, it’s one i’d have to go back to to fully appreciate. Treated this one very much in isolation to the rest of the book – even though a more attentive reader is rewarded later on as it’s Stephen’s thoughts are referred back to.
4: Joyce brings us back to stability with the introduction of Bloom, it’s fantastic and his style is becoming addictive at this point in compliment to episodes 1+2.
5: Blends into the background for me, really just felt like an extended episode 4.
6: Good part, emotive in the sense of looking at how Bloom thinks back on Rudy, another section that blends into the background overall and in combination with 4 and 5 felt like an overall smooth read.
7: Chaotic (which is the point) but a bit bland for me.
8: Good, nice and thematic on food and cohesive with what we’ve come to expect of Bloom. Nothing up to this point as a reader (aside from bits of 3 and 7) has really “outstayed it’s welcome” at this stage.
9: ….Christ almighty I take it back, didn’t get a lot from this one at all. Ulysses is an excellent benchmark as to your own personal breadth and depth of reading, and I stumbled here with Joyce’s forensic application of Shakespeare.
10: Fun little part and back to material I could comprehend, this episode imparticular is clever in it’s relation to the odyssey and how the characters act as rocks/traps for the reader, but I did feel exhausted by 9 going through this on a first read.
11: Didn’t work for me – I can see why some people like it, but I didn’t enjoy this bit.
12: One of my favourites, love the inclusion of the Citizen and how this part plays out with the way the parodist bits interplay with the other common threads of how the novel is written. Great stuff and a big moment for Bloom.
By this point overall though, it’s a heavy read – kind of like how Bloom has had a long day. From episodes 9/10 the book has shifted in it’s feel and approach, we’re deep in experimental waters and it takes a toll on the reader.
13: Ok, sure, i’ll go with it.
14: Make it stop.
15: Best episode of the book for me, whilst a long section it’s style and absurdity was so refreshing at this stage of the read.
16: Passable, but too long in some places.
17: Great style, but also too long. The relationship between Stephen and Bloom is an anticlimax overall, which for me was the intention of Joyce. Some excellent lines in this episode too.
18: Excellent. Raw and unfiltered, puts a lot of the book in perspective with a much more down to earth feeling.
Overall, I had a good time reading the novel and studying parts that were required to get a level of enjoyment from it, the later sections felt like more of a slog but each episode’s overarching theme and intention carried me through. It’s a book I can see myself coming back to later in life.
If people are considering this book without any pre-reading – i’d go for it and learn/research as you go, I still got lots from it. I don’t think i’ll attempt Finnegan’s Wake.
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by Dave_The_Spade