Name: Why should you read James Joyce's "Ulysses"? - Sam Slote
Uploaded: 2019-01-25T09:11:10.000Z
Duration: 5 min 59 s
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James Joyce's "Ulysses" is widely considered to be both a literary masterpiece

and one of the hardest works of literature to read.

It inspires such devotion that once a year on a day called Bloomsday,

thousands of people all over the world dress up like the characters,

And some even make a pilgrimage to Dublin

just to visit the places so vividly depicted in Joyce's opus.

So what is it about this famously difficult novel

There's no one simple answer to that question,

but there are a few remarkable things about the book

The plot, which transpires over the course of a single day,

Stephen Dedalus, reprised from  Joyce's earlier novel,

"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man";

Leopold Bloom, a half-Jewish advertising canvasser for a Dublin newspaper;

and Bloom's wife Molly, who is about to embark on an affair.

Stephen is depressed because of his mother's recent death.

Meanwhile, Bloom wanders  throughout the city.

avoiding going home because Molly is about to begin her affair.

Where it really starts  to get interesting, though,

Each chapter is written  in a different style.

12 is a story with bizarre, exaggerated interruptions,

11 uses techniques, like onomatopoeia, repetitions, and alliteration

and 14 reproduces the evolution of English literary prose style,

from its beginnings in Anglo-Saxon right up to the 20th century.

which follows Molly's  stream of consciousness

as it spools out in just  eight long paragraphs

The range of styles Joyce uses in "Ulysses"

is one of the things  that makes it so difficult,

And it's one of the reasons that the book is held up

as one of the key texts  of literary modernism,

a movement characterized by overturning traditional modes of writing.

Joyce fills his narrative  gymnastic routines

with some of the most imaginative  use of language you'll find anywhere.

"The figure seated on a large boulder  at the foot of a round tower

was that of a broadshouldered deepchested  stronglimbed frankeyed redhaired

freelyfreckled shaggybearded widemouthed  largenosed longheaded deepvoiced

barekneed brawnyhanded hairlegged ruddyfaced sinewyarmed hero."

Here, Joyce exaggerates the description of a mangy old man in a pub

to make him seem like an improbably gigantesque hero.

It's true that some sections  are impenetrably dense at first glance,

but it's up to the reader  to let their eyes skim over them

you'll find the book to be an encyclopedic treasure trove.

It's filled with all manner of references and allusions

from medieval philosophy to the symbolism of tattoos,

As suggested by the title, some of these allusions revolve around Homer's "Odyssey."

Each chapter is named after a character or episode from the "Odyssey,"

but the literary references are often coy, debatable, sarcastic, or disguised.

For example, Homer's Odysseus, after an epic 20-year-long journey,

returns home to Ithaca and reunites with his faithful wife.

In contrast, Joyce's Bloom wanders around Dublin for a day

if you have the patience to track down Joyce's references,

Those, and other sexual references, were too much for some.

In the U.S., the book was put on trial, banned, and censored

because it was originally published as a serial novel.

Readers of "Ulysses" aren't just led through a variety of literary styles.

They're also given a rich  and shockingly accurate tour

Joyce claimed that if Dublin were to be destroyed,

it could be recreated from the pages of this book.

it does show the great care that Joyce took in precisely representing details,

No small feat considering he wrote the entire novel

while living outside  of his native Ireland.

It's a testament to Joyce's genius that "Ulysses" is a difficult book.

Some people find it impenetrable without a full book of annotations

to help them understand what Joyce is even talking about.

But there's a lot of joy to be found in reading it,

more than just unpacking allusions and solving puzzles.

And if it's difficult,  or frustrating, or funny,

that's because life is all that, and more.

Responding to some criticism of "Ulysses,"

and there was a lot  when it was first published,

Joyce said that if "Ulysses" isn't worth reading,

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Why should you read James Joyce's "Ulysses"? - Sam Slote

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