Ulysses

I tried so hard to like this book, I really did. it seems to crack every "critic's" top 10 all-time novels. but I... I just couldn't. I found it to be one of the most self-indulgent books i've ever read, packed with arbitary, erudite references that seemed to serve no practical purpose but to alienate readers that hadn't come from a similar academic, elitist background.

This book is to the art of literature what a Picasso is to the art of painting. A "masterpiece" only in the dead end of Modernism. It can only become real provided you can switch off your senses and accept the opinions of some peculiar academics who seem to decide public taste. It has no centre or purpose. There is no point to it all, it is not an education of the senses and neither does it increase anyone's artistic vocabulary. My background is in Greek literature and I'm telling you, this work has nothing whatsoever to do with the Odyssey by Homer, other than the fact that Joyce stole the name in order to sound clever.

'Ulysses' is widely regarded by the literati as Joyce's masterpiece. To those of us less well- (and perhaps less expensively) educated, while unquestionably mesmerisingly clever, it's a medley of impenetrable, discursive, highbrow allusions glued to a linear narrative so obfuscated by esoteric symbolism, grammatical mischief and wordplays that the storyline becomes incidental. (Before each episode I read Wikipedia's overview and found doing so invaluable). The paragraph in my photograph beginning, "O, look we are so!" perhaps tells you all you need to know.

OK, so the book's reputation is deserved. Joyce's writing is spectacular. You can see how so many other writers have been influenced by his numerous revolutionary techniques. Some of it is pure poetry – a novel to change all novels.But reading it isn't much fun. There are sections (the first featuring Bloom) that are a delight. Even the last chapter with no punctuation is readable. But in between, you have to tolerate Joyce's tedious showing off. For example, the section written in the style of popular newspapers. It's amusing for a few paragraphs, but when it goes on for pages and pages and pages, you think; "OK. I get it. You've used that technique. Let's move on."And that's the story of pretty much every chapter. Wouldn't it be fun to write in a sort of Middle English? Sure! Why not! For fifteen pages? NO. What about a section in the form of a play? Great. Let's try it. For twenty pages . . . Now I want to die.Joyce is that guy in the pub who likes the sound of his own voice. He's amusing for the first five minutes, but then he won't shut up. Ever. EVER!This book could have been fifty per cent shorter and still been history's greatest novel. It's really no fun to read. He wasn't writing for a reader. He was writing to be part of literary history.

With just one well-thumbed copy of a James Joyce book on my shelf (that of Dubliners- which I thoroughly adored), I thought it time to finally attempt Ulysses! After much deliberation, I've decided to devour it by taking it slowly. Yes, I agree with many who find it at times overwritten, but I put that down to the extremely modern world/society we find ourselves living in. To me, it's more a challenging read (yet still an invigorating one) which I feel you often need when working that grey matter!