I fell for the meme and I feel like there is a lot of stuff I'm

>>8668404
you need to read the western canon and know late 19th/early 20th century irish politics.

>>8668404
how far through it are you?

File: throwaway.png (443KB, 599x676px) Image search: [Google]

443KB, 599x676px

>>8668404
Eh, a lot of the Irish culture stuff you're just not gonna understand unless you're Irish yourself(or at least Celtic), but that's fine.

There's stuff in Ulysses you're just not gonna get. Like there's a joke in an early chapter that relies on you knowing that the name of the horse that won the ascot gold cup in 1904 was called throwaway, so don't sweat it if a lot of stuff is going over your head, especially the less academic, common knowledge for Irish people type stuff.

Buy a good book of annotations, and above all enjoy it. It's not a stuffy academic book, and the really great stuff in Ulysses is the stuff a child could understand

>>8668420
I actually disagree. A lot of people say this, but honestly you can get a lot out of the book without knowing much other than Hamlet and The Odyssey. Even the Odyssey you can just look up the Homeric parallels and you won't be too badly off. Irish politics also helps but that can be done in a few google/wiki sessions.

I don't see Ulysses as a book to be 'decoded', however there's definitely a style barrier that makes it seem this way at first. Taking it in a classroom setting with a great professor makes it much easier to get into the human drama of the book and see it less as a puzzle.

I'm at Nausicaa right now, although I've skipped ahead to read Penelope as well. I'd love to chat more because I've been loving it.

>>8668422
171 pages in, familia
Just finished Aeolus

>>8668420
is this the biggest meme in the literary world?

>>8668451
keep reading. oxen of the sun and circe are my favourite episodes.

>>8668420
>you need to be James Joyce to understand James Joyce's work
damn..

>>8668459

>is this the biggest meme in the literary world?

No you fucking faggot. For the last fucking time, say it with me...

Start. With. The. Greeks.

>>8668471
nice meme

so far, Sirens has been one of my favorites. The music and intoxication of the bar that ensnares everyone except Bloom, who's basically at his most miserable/vulnerable/self-pitying in this episode. It's cool to compare Bloom, the 'unconquered hero', to Odysseus who is seduced by the Sirens. The language in this episode is obviously brilliant too.

>>8668449
>not spending a lifetime delving into the most obscure of Joyce's memes

Never gonna make it.

>>8668404
Nobody understands Ulysses in full upon just reading through it.

Way too many references/metaphors/historicisms that you need to look up.

It's a gigantic chore to read the book.

>>8668404
You just have to accept only us Irish people can be true literary patricians

>>8668777
Trips confirm.

>>8668755
again, you don't NEED to look up 98% of them, as they contribute little to the core of what's happening. It's an added layer that both provides details to give it more academic credibility/throw in additional little ideas. Get the Bloomsday book to help if you're struggling to follow the actual plot events. Do a close reading to understand the characters-- they're the most important part of the book.

I agree many episodes can be a chore at first but I think once you have an idea of what's going on, it becomes much more enjoyable if you re-read it. You get out of it what you put in.

>>8668404
>I feel like there is a lot of stuff I'm not getting

There's probably more that you're not getting than what you are getting

There's nothing wrong with that, though, the book's companion is thicker than the book itself

>>8668404
>Do I need to study irish culture or something?
*scottish

This is now a Ulysses quotes thread.

Post your favourite quotes from Joyce

>Society invents a spurious convoluted logic tae absorb and change people whae's behaviour is outside its mainstream. Suppose that ah ken aw the pros and cons, know that ah'm gaunnae huv a short life, am ah sound mind, ectetera, ectetera, but still want tae use smack? They won't let ye dae it. They won't let ye dae it, because it's seen as a sign ay thir ain failure. The fact that ye jist simply choose tae reject whut they huv tae offer. Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarrassment tae the selfish, fucked-up brats ye've produced. Choose life. Well, ah choose no tae choose life. If the cunts cannae handle that, it's thair fuckin problem.

>>8668404
I don't understand this kind of thinking. What is valuable in Ulysses is the psychological characterisation and brilliant use of form. People get hung up on the allusions in Ulysses when they're just window-dressing.

>>8669094
Sorry

>>8668404
Watch the movie and read the penguin student addition.

>>8668443
Good post, you summed it up very well. It's not that unreadable monster /lit/ makes it out to be. You don't need to be a genius. Have fun with the pretty prose.

>>8668443
explain the joke pls

>>8669014
Dont be retarded

>>8670188


It would probably help with passages like >>8669065, though.

>>8668443
Uhh it's stated explicitly later that Throwaway wins the race. It's a major plot point; it's the foundation for the cyclops chapter. The book explains that, though the joke is more obvious on a reread.

>>8669491
For what books do you actually need to be a genius?

>>8670294
The Bible

>>8669065
This is not from Ulysses you dumbass. It's Irvine Welsh.

Television wasen't invented during Ulysses....

>>8668404
I've found Weldon Thorton's Allusions in Ulysses to be indispensable for understanding and enjoying Ulysses.

I usually read one chapter from the Allusions book, then read the corresponding chapter in Ulysses

>>8668443
>>8670283

—Who won, Mr Lenehan? says Terry.
—Throwaway, says he, at twenty to one. A rank outsider. And the rest nowhere.