Ulysses
by James Joyce · first published 1914
21% recommend70% neutral10% critical
Why HN recommends it
Dense, demanding novel prized for Joyce's command of language and its interlinked imagery and myth. Rewards rereading, and companion audio like the Re:Joyce podcast or a full-cast recording makes it easier to follow.
Common criticism: Hard to follow and a slog in places
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Written over a seven-year period, from 1914 to 1921, this book has survived bowdlerization, legal action and controversy. The novel deals with the events of one day in Dublin, 16th June 1904, now known as "Bloomsday". The principal characters are Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom and his wife Molly. Ulysses has been labelled dirty, blasphemous and unreadable. In a famous 1933 court decision, Judge John M. Woolsey declared it an emetic book-although he found it not quite obscene enough to disallow its importation into the United States-and Virginia Woolf was moved to decry James Joyce's "cloacal o
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Ulysses, by James Joyce. It will change your whole conception of what language is and how it can be used. It’s not about the characters or plots; they are recycled from antiquity. It’s about the absolute mastery…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗Ulysses by James Joyce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_%28novel%29 For most of my life, I focused on the logical, external, left-brain side of life. I saw little value in art (and even spurned it as something…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?” ↗…about audio books? I've read more in the last few years than the decade before, since I switched almost entirely to audio books. In many cases they are much better than the printed version. Case in point, Ulysses by James Joyce. The audible.com spoken version is a masterpiece, and this is definitely a book that's meant to be listened to.
on “Did technology kill the book or give it new life?” ↗…literature this year. The books that stood the test of time. I started with Brothers Karamazov by F.Dostoyevsky Middlemarch by G.Eliot After that I plan to continue with East of Eden by J.Steinbeck Ulysses by J.Joyce They all have incredible characters, deep thoughts, delicious language. Sure, not an easy read after contemporary fiction, but I noticed that the more classic literature I read the better…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗Two resources I always recommend for anyone daunted by Ulysses: - The RTÉ dramatization[1]. It's essentially unabridged: The entire novel as a well-produced, well-acted radio play. Just amazing. - Frank Delaney's Re: Joyce podcast[2]. Sadly interrupted halfway…
on “Joyce Project” ↗It's possible. My English teacher in junior year absolutely was. I went in the first day, tried to pick a snarky fight with him over James Joyce, and then stayed after class to talk to him about Ulysses and Nabakov's Lolita. (Ulysses is one of my favorite novels.) By the end of the week, he'd recommended two bands to me that I fell in love with; before winter, he lent me his copy of 69 Love Songs, which…
on “Ask HN: My 13 year-old cousin hacked into his school's system. What advice would you give?” ↗Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie Ulysses - James Joyce (keep going back to it - to understand it better)
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗Anyone interested in tackling Ulysses in 2014 would benefit greatly from Frank Delaney's ongoing Re:Joyce podcast, in which he "unpacks" the book a paragraph or so at a time. He's been at it for three and a half years and is almost through…
on “The Best Books I Read in 2013” ↗…Road by Jack Kerouac The Heart is A Lonely Hunter by Carson Mccullers The Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934) Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf Ulysses by James Joyce
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2013” ↗…read Portrait of the Artist, but I don't recall that being in the book, nor does it sound like something Joyce would say. At any rate, even if that really was the goal he set for himself, he failed. Ulysses elicited a wide range of responses from me.
on “Stephen King: “Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully”” ↗If you want to try tackling Ulysses again, I have two recommendations: First, Frank Delaney is doing a wonderful podcast, "Re: Joyce"[1], unpacking the novel in short segments. The original episodes cover just a few sentences each; lately…
on “What to Make of Finnegans Wake? (2012)” ↗Not a book but an essay (There Is No Speed Limit): https://sive.rs/kimo Really exposed me to the idea that you were in control of your learning. If we really need a book… Ulysses by James Joyce. It was a model of pure creativity and artistry that really inspired me.
on “Ask HN: Are there any books that changed your life during college or school?” ↗It took Joyce seven years to write Ulysses at a page per day. It's not an easy read. It is a great book. On the other hand Ken Kesey wrote Sometimes a Great Notion in three months, and to my mind it compares favorably to Ulysses in many ways.…
on “James Joyce's "Ulysses": Why you should read this book” ↗I read Ulysses 3 years ago. After initial skepticism, I discovered that it is truly a great work of literature. One example that impressed me was the chapter Wandering Rocks, where Joyce implements a virtual Dublin…
on “James Joyce's "Ulysses": Why you should read this book” ↗Some favorites: Pale Fire by Nabokov Ulysses by Joyce Et Tu, Babe by Leyner Metamorphosis by Kafka (more a long story) Things Fall Apart by Achebe Hamlet and Coriolanus by Shakespeare The Code of the Woosters by Wodehouse The Doorbell Rang…
on “Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read? ” ↗