Recommend a resource?

[Brady]

I was wondering if anyone could help me find something to help me reading this book.. I have been using this:

http://www.columbia.edu/~fms5/ulys.htm

But I've noticed it isn't complete.. Is there anything similar? I love the notes and the marked up help I get there, identifying the conventions Joyce uses for his writing. Any help would be appreciated greatly.

[Jan C]

I used a combination of The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses and Ulysses Annotated.

Bloomsday explains every chapter in easy to understand English. As I got to the last few chapters of Ulysses I didn't need to rely on it quite so much.

Cliff NOtes is also supposed to be pretty good.

I read it with a library group last year.

[Jan C]

In addition, Frank Delaney has a blog at (possibly) frankdelaney.com called Re-Joyce. It is not completed. I think he adds a 5-minute podcast every Wednesday so it is supposed to go through 2022.

[Brady]

What I should state about the website I posted in my first post, is that I find the different coloured text for different literary conventions extremely helpful. I am not an advanced reader, and I need all the help I can get!

[Jan C]

In the group Bright Young Things (http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/2...) we are reading Ulysses and discussing it.

Actually we have had discussion of the first 5 episodes and, I guess, kind of lost our way for a while. In March we are going to get back to our discussion (hopefully) and discuss episode 6 Hades.

Why don't you check us out?

[Richard]

just read it and worry about what it all means later, it's such a wonderfull waterfall to ride over that checking on details and meanings removes the fun of it all

[Luke]

This site: http://www.robotwisdom.com/jaj/ulysses/ - while not updated any longer, I think, is good.

Best advice I can give as someone who studied the book and come back to it regularly for fun is that a copy of the Schema is very handy, as it allows you to work out the correspondences on your own.

The most important thing with unlocking Ulysses (I recall a book with that title that was quite useful when I was studying?) is to remember you won't get everything there is to get on one read. It's impossible. The joy is seeing what you missed last time when you REread it.

This book encourages revisiting - and more often than not, to be read out loud in a bad Irish accent; lots of its secrets are only given up with a little oral help. Seriously, give it a try - you won't believe the depth it gains.

[Luke]

"Schemata", sorry. And though the versions I've read have included it, it's here: http://www.robotwisdom.com/jaj/ulysse...

[Jan C]

That looks like a pretty good site.

I have found that dipping back into the book, now that I've actually finished reading it, that it is kind of enjoyable.

Now that I've read it, I can relax and read it. It doesn't feel like pulling teeth anymore.

[Oscar]

Don't try to understand it, just enjoy it...

[R]

I found listening to this audio version of the novel to be the best way of understanding the flow of the text and the novel's structure - http://www.naxosaudiobooks.com/30912.htm

It's a book that benefits from being read aloud by someone who understands it.

[Luke]

I think it's a mistake to assume you need to understand it to read it, or to read it aloud. Read it aloud and it'll *reveal* itself to you, which is kinda the point.

Audiobooks are great but assuming that someone recording one *understands* the text is a bit ropey.

[Pat]

Brady wrote: "I was wondering if anyone could help me find something to help me reading this book.. I have been using this:

http://www.columbia.edu/~fms5/ulys.htm

But I've noticed it isn't complete.. Is there ..."

Ulysses on the Liffey by Richard Ellmann is a great trot. It outlines the structure and metaphors of each chapter. It is a very small book so it does not interfere with your reading. It helped me find my way to the life of the book. Also reading each chapter several times worked for me too.

Also Joyce used the Oxford English Dictionary when he was writing it so if you have one, use it.

[Tom]

For the thirty-thousand-foot companion, I found William York Tindall's guide to Joyce very useful some years ago. For a page-by-page analysis, Weldon Thornton's Allusions in Ulysses is truly excellent.

[Sulima]

Ulysses Annotated is awesome. But also, don't stress about understanding everything on the first read. It's truly a silly, fun, enjoyable work. Depending on how you're brain works you might enjoy listening to it more than reading it. It's very musical. Reading aloud also helps.

[Donna]

Jan C, thanks for the heads-up on Frank Delaney's site. I enjoyed his Ireland and Tipperary so much, surely if anyone can rekindle my dwindling relationship with Joyce, it is he.