About to start Ulysses, first time

IMO, you can do the annotated reading if you wish to study the work; however, Ulysses is more of an impressionistic work. It's the reading that turns on the aesthetic effect. Just be aware that the first nine episodes are in a typical Joycean "naturalistic" style that you've come to be familiar with having read Portrait. The following nine episodes each tackle one of the tenets of narrative art (in Aristotelian order: locale, song, oratory, fiction {in Greek terms, aka "pornography," or "paid-writing"}, literature, drama, story-telling {the art of Homer}, dialectic, and finally, Episode 18, also called "Penelope" develops a narrative without a narrator...you're basically parroting a women's defense of her own choices in life).

That's where many readers get lost. For instance, Episode Ten ("Wandering Rocks") appears to offer a visual map of Dublin, but one delivered as if the separate and scattered pieces of a puzzle before it has been put together. Normally, the narrator would be responsible for providing consistency of locale in satisfying one of the so-called Aristotelian "unities"; but, here, you--the reader--must reconstruct Dublin from the pieces {hint, using your memory...and all that Bruno of Nola stuff people talk about--which is really Giambattista Vico stuff}. And, the episodes get increasingly difficult to follow as more of the responsibility of making sense is thrust upon the reader.

But, honestly, most of the fun of the book just comes from getting washed in the text. If it ever gets dull or difficult...try reading it out loud. The music in Joyce's prose is brilliant.

Also, have fun, and if you have any questions or confusions, this Reddit can usually help answer them.

I'd recommend reading it while listening to RTE's production of it, it's essentially an audiobook version but it helps separate who is who as you go along.

I found this to be helpful: https://genius.com/albums/James-joyce/Ulysses

joyceproject.com RTE podcast (analysis & dramatisation), this sub, I found 'The New blooms day book' by Harry Blamires very helpful. I was surprised at just how funny and filthy the book was. I'm now on re-read and taking things slower, but first time round I just immersed myself and let it just happen. Enjoy.

my first reading i also just read the chapters start to finish, then read the corrosponding Cliff Notes to make sure id gotten the gist of it correctly, i recommend this method for sure, especially since so much is stream of consciousness and about the flow. after my first reading though (after a break of course!) i went nuts on all the notes and found them super helpful.

I agree with skipping the annotated part If you have trouble understanding some chapters, the bloomsday book is great As for audiobook, I highly recommend the one read by Jim Norton on audible

Seconding Jim Norton audiobook, read and listen at the same time, really helps distinguish the purpose of different lines

If you're looking for the best "coles notes" to summarize what you're about to read, or what you just read, try Ulyssesguide.com He's clear, succinctly road-mappy, and doesn't hold your hand. I read each episode with a mix of "just reading", delving into a summary pre-reading, following notes as I went, reading the summary as I went, and reading along to a podcast (for the final, stream of consciousness Penelope episode) Have fun!

Good luck. That was one rough read for me.

I would absolutely say just dive in and go with it. Don’t worry if you get lost, just enjoy the sounds and play of the language the first time through. I would actually recommend going relatively fast and just let it all wash over you. There will be bits you love, bits which bore you, bits which make you laugh, bits which seem completely nonsensical. If you have a vague sense of what he is doing and where it is all going, which you probably have already, that should be enough of a thread. Remember the original readers had no notes, and a lot of the stuff they explain really don’t matter that much (and especially not the first time through!) Just have fun!

The New Bloomsday Book by Harry Blamires is helpful. As is joyceproject.com.

This is the most helpful resource for a first time reader and I have experience with pretty much everything else suggest here. It’s approachable, without a critical angle, and immensely readable: https://www.ulyssesguide.com/

Check out the Re:Joyce podcast. It's superb. Each episode looks at a line or paragraph from the book. You realise how much thought went into every word. Podcasts are roughly 5 mins and a great source to better appreciate the novel.

Took me 20 years to read Ulysses. Kept giving up and then coming back to it. Well worth the wait!

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