The Odyssey of Style in Ulysses

by Karen Lawrence

In this study Karen Lawrence presents Joyce's Ulysses as it evolves through radical changes of style. She traces the abandonment of a narrative norm for a series of rhetorical masks, regarded as conscious aesthetic experiments, and considers the theoretical implication of this process, for both the writing and reading of novels.

Originally published in 1982.

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Hardcover

First published January 21, 1982

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a different kind of commentary than the others that I read. Instead of focusing on the narrative and content of Ulysses, Karen Lawrence specifically analyzes the style Joyce chose for each chapter of Ulysses and attempts to puzzle out how it fits into the themes of the book.

I picked this up when I was about half way through Ulysses, which ended up being good timing. The first half of the book is written in a relatively constant style that Lawrence calls "the narrative norm." She has a section of the commentary addressing that style, but it works more as a baseline against which to judge the deviations.

The latter half of the book, starting around chapter 10, is where Joyce starts dramatically changing style every chapter. That gives Lawrence a lot of material on which to comment, and she has really insightful and interesting things to say on just about every chapter.

I was shocked to learn that this started as a PhD dissertation before being published. Not to underestimate dissertations, but Ulysses is one of the most widely commented-on book of the 20th century. It is incredible to me that a mere PhD student was able to find so many unique things to say after 60 years of English departments across the world dissecting Joyce.

The book is 200 pages with pretty generous margins, so it is a fast read. I would not rely on it as a primary commentary, because it doesn't do much explaining, but it was very enjoyable as a supplement (especially for chapters 10-17). The very first section addresses Joyce's prior works, particularly Dubliners, which I think would be helpful as background before starting Ulysses.

My only minor disappointment was Lawrence's treatment of the very last chapter ("Penelope"). She brushes through it in 5 pages (no other chapter is shorter than 15), and her comments are mostly dismissive, even to the point of acknowledging that she doesn't quite know how to fit Penelope into her theses about the rest of the novel. It was a letdown at the end of an otherwise well-considered and presented discussion of a very challenging book.

[Jeff Lacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful and interesting reference for getting insight into Joyce’s style of writing in Ulysses. Written clearly on a subject most attractive to creative writers, those studying Joyce’s writing, and those desiring a firmer grasp of Ulysses.

[Josh Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books about Ulysses I've read. It's extremely humbling to know this was originally written as a dissertation. Lawrence both finds a way to read insightfully the style of almost all the episodes (some which are basically similar to others are glossed over) AND, she findss a way to render that exploration of difference into a coherent whole, one that bears interestingly on both the plot and the point of Ulysses - two things which she suggests, at the start anyway, that she is less interested in. A favorite moment was her reading of "Circe" and its refusal to acknowledge itself as either dream or reality, as demonstrated by Bloom's later hesitance to repeat the phrase "university of life", since he is not sure whether he's already said it.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique view on Ulysses with great insight