false 338798 0679722769 9780679722762 7678 887 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173877044m/338798.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/338798.Ulysses 5144 James Joyce 42471 3418 2 37 false Mon Jan 14 09:26:56 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 15:25:26 -0800 2008
well, i may be in the minority when i say i didn't care for this book at all. i get that it's a complex book with innumerable references to greek mythology, heavy allegories, dense poetry wacky structures, and to some serves as a sort of mental masturbation. however, i think it's also pretty unreadable. maybe i'm old-fashioned, but i think books should be accessible and readable. it's something john steinbeck understood all too well. he most definitely wrote for the masses and the 'every man,' and it shows in his work. i prefer books that use simple language to expound on profound truths, not necessarily a book that requires me to constanty refer to other sources to help me understand what i've just read. this, of course, is just my opinion and should be taken as nothing more.

i'm hesitant to say that anyone who gives this book 'five stars' does so because 'ulysses' carries such a cachet amongt the academic elite and intelligentsia, but i think most of them probably do. sure, that's unfair, but i'm really kind of wondering how anyone ever finished it. it's a bit of bore, linguistical acrobatics or not.

if you do decide to read it, definitely get a copy with judge john m. woolsey's treatise on lifting the ban on 'ulysses.' it's a remarkable piece of writing and display's the judges thoughtfulness, eloquence, and fair-mindedness. it's the standard by which all judicial opinions should be judged [no pun intended!].

maybe you'll read 'ulysses,' maybe you won't. if you do and you don't care for it, that's ok. being a great reader doesn't mean you two the critical line.]]>