[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 66 KB, 572x960, 49900352_278115879475357_3463232529643864064_n.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12426912 No.12426912 [Reply] [Original]

*sigh*, what am I in for?

>> No.12426951

>>12426912
some real gay shit

>> No.12426955

>>12426912
Best reading experience of your life, not memeing. Get hyped for the conclusion of The Dead and the hell sermon in Portrait.

>> No.12426991

>>12426955
>the conclusion of The Dead
Bland wank

> Boo hoo I'm sad and thinken bout sad I am isn't the world sad and beautiful ;(

>> No.12427009

>>12426912
First two books are normally written, with weird but understandable stuff happening in portrait. Read those first for a full understanding of Ulysses.

Ulysses isn’t as hard as people meme, a lot of people say it is hard because you don’t understand what is going on 24/7 - they are idiots, Ulysses is not meant to be read like that. Keep in mind Ulysses is the inner dialogue of two characters, but written in third person. The novel starts in an actual tower, just research the general structure of the physical journey if you need to. Characters such as ‘buck mulligan’ are imaginary friends of Stephan, aspects of his thoughts which he gives names to. Unless you fall for the stupid NPC meme, everyone experiences inner-dialogue even if they may not recognise it; read it like you are reading someone’s thoughts, because that is what it is but laid out in a specific way for artistic purposes.
There are two ways to read the novel the first time:
. Research it, look very deep into and get an annotated copy of you want to understand everything
. If you want to focus on the experience of reading Ulysses, the point is that it is more of a experience then a novel, then don’t worry about it. Just go with the flow. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand what is going on, read it like a normal novel (focusing on the artistic meaning of what is written), notice the ideas that are talked about because Ulysses has a fuck tone and you won’t remember them all so don’t try and casually enjoy it as a experience (think of how you would enjoy a painting or piece of music, of course you are going to be confused and disoriented but the point IS to be confused and disoriented). Basically don’t try to hard, enjoy it and keep in mind that you will read Ulysses several times over - there is no point in trying to understand everything the first time.

>> No.12427010

>>12426912
Nothing, because you aren't going to read them. You bought them to show /lit/. This board doesn't need more selfie threads.

People, just read the fucking books. The mystery of "what you're in for" is half the fun of starting a book.

>> No.12427020

>>12427009
Will I have to read Homer's Odyssey first in order to get the bigger picture?

>> No.12427128

>>12426955
This, two of the greatest passages in literature right there

>> No.12427633

>>12427010
I agree with the mystery part being great. Although with a book as big as Ulysses I'd like some general direction of what to expect

>> No.12427743

>>12427020
no, but it helps you understand the structure and make inter textual parallels which enriches your understanding of it (same with reading Paradise Lost for Frankenstien, it makes a difference but it isn't essential). It is highly recommended though if you want to spend time on it, the Odyssey being useful for a lot literature throughout history but it is also recommended you read the Iliad to fully understand the Odyssey (by that I mean if you are reading the Odyssey for Ulysses alone then there is no point in reading the Iliad beforehand, but if you read the Odyssey for the sake of the Odyssey as well then the Iliad is recommended). Same with Hamlet, though Hamlet is a very subtle play so you might not get a lot of things that relate to Ulysses simply by reading it

tl;dr - if you wanna read the Odyssey and Hamlet then you can, and it will 100% be useful, but it isn't essential.

I would argue reading Portrait and Dubliners is though, because you understand Joyce's project and what he is doing (which sadly never really got fully realised, as he died before he could publish anything after Finnegan's wake though Finnegan's Wake partially got there he was yet to write a novel that would fully escape the confines of Ireland, Finnegan's Wake was meant to be a river flowing out of Ireland). Ulysses is actually a sequel to portrait.

>> No.12427750

>>12426991
What do you look for in art if not emotion?

>> No.12427755

Dubliners is very readable, "The Dead" is one of my favorite short stories. Portrait is a little more obscure. Ulysses is extremely difficult, I havent had the courage to read it.

>> No.12428634

I've never seen those Dubliners/Portrait editions before but I really like them. I just got the cheap Barnes and Noble Classics with both of them since they aren't translated but if I ever want a nicer one or to give one as a gift those might be the best I've seen.

>> No.12428669

>>12427750
Reductionist arguments aren't even worth replying to anon, you can do that with literally any piece of media and it's devoid of meaning every time