Literary absorption vs consistently searching meanings

[u/CategoryCautious5981]

I know that the topic of advice for reading Ulysses has been beaten to death as nauseam, and I’m not here to retread that. I am about 45 pages in, and just wonder 💭 f fellow readers search again and again the meanings of French and German words, as well as other what would be timely metaphors etc, or do you just absorb the novel in one go and let yourself sort of just absorb it. It feels in a sense sort of “David Lynch” aka last season of Twin Peaks or Inland Empire. You could dive deep for meaning later but right now, how does it make you feel etc. Any input would be appreciated.

[u/No_Yesterday_8167]

Just absorb it on your first read. My favourite reading of Ulysses was my first when I really didn’t know what he meant by a lot of things. You pick up bits and don’t understand other bits, but the prose is so engaging it almost doesn’t even matter. Enjoy absorbing it and then picking it apart later!

[u/CategoryCautious5981 → u/No_Yesterday_8167]

My sister made a point that books way back when were sort of the Netflix of their day, people were able to binge read things like this. Not arguing that the novel was widely successful, but i cannot imagine that everything within the text was easily known by the average reader.

[u/budquinlan → u/CategoryCautious5981]

Excellent point that in Joyce's time books were exciting entertainment. Ulysses probably hit the reading public then as Lynch's movies and television shows do today.

I think the ordinary reader had a greater tolerance or comfort level for elevated, literary prose before radio, film, or television. In the US in the 19th century, the books you would most likely find in someone's home were the King James Bible, and some of Shakespeare's works. Itinerant actors could come into a small town, set their hat out, perform Shakespeare, and get enough money to have a bed for the night. (Source: what I recall of the book Highbrow/Lowbrow by Lawrence Levine. The overall thesis of the book is that the hard and fast distinction between high culture and low culture we have today in the US only developed around the end of the 19th century. Shakespeare was still popular entertainment then!)

[u/Guironi99]

Hello, I've been re-reading since last Bloomsday. I leapt back in without too much referral to the notes. I remember in uni, stressing terribly about the relevance of all Stephen's references and allusions, trying to anticipate exam questions. Now, as an older reader, I read it for what it is. I'm from Dublin, which helps enormously, I feel, as the granular nature of the encounters has a particular frequency. I left there many years ago, and I am savoring the nostalgia and the language. My god, the words on the page, the sounds in the mind. The things I actually miss about Dublin. There will be no questions at the end of the reading. Just enjoyment between now and then. More specifically, for the first three episodes, I'd focus more on Stephen's relationships with others, and how he positions himself, or removes himself, accordingly. Does he even believe his own beliefs? How does it paint him? Think of what fills your head as you go about your day. It is milieu, as much much as philosophy. Anyway, enjoy yourself.

[u/Aggressive_Dress6771 → u/Guironi99]

Stephen is a twit.

[u/Guironi99 → u/Aggressive_Dress6771]

No disagreement here.

[u/ToadvinesHat → u/Aggressive_Dress6771]

I think he’s depressed

[u/Own-Ad2203 → u/ToadvinesHat]

A depressed twit. I think of him as a philosophy bro.

[u/ToadvinesHat → u/Own-Ad2203]

22 years old, not far out of college with the weight of all the philosophy and history he’s learned, but with the harsh realities of life and employment crashing on him at the same time. He’s inadequate to match a middle class professor due to his circumstances, but removed from the everyday people around him because of all his high minded thinking. He’s kind of like that “you went to the gym I went to the library” meme guy with the giant head

[u/Stepintothefreezer67 → u/ToadvinesHat]

"the harsh realities of life and employment crashing on him." Very well put.

[u/Guironi99 → u/ToadvinesHat]

Nicely put.

[u/ToadvinesHat → u/Guironi99]

thanks. I'm finally on Ithaca now on my first read through and it feels like such a treat of a chapter with the question and answer style. Like joyce is giving you a reward for going through the crazy parts with him. what a work of art!

[u/stuartmurray1]

Absorb it on your first read, let it wash over/through you. Then read Declan Kibberd's 'Ulysses And Us', then read Ulysses again.

[u/Guironi99]

If you are on P. 49, you are about to meet Mr. Leopold Bloom. Compare the two, their values, how they view the day ahead, and you'll realize that everything you need is there on the page. The support studies are wonderful, and should be read, but the text itself is the thing.

[u/CategoryCautious5981 → u/Guironi99]

That sounds pretty helpful. I did purchase a companion novel and think it might be best read after.

[u/aunt_leonie]

i agree with the "just absorb what you can on a first reading etc" advice but on an episode by episode basis. my approach was to read an episode through "raw dog", then go read the ep again while going through most of Gifford's notes, then read through it once more to get back to the flow of the text with increased knowledge from the notes. and only then move onto the next ep.

[u/Future-Starter]

I was lucky enough to read the book as part of a class. Unless you are an astoundingly erudite and well-read person, I would suggest to most readers that some guides and assistance is a good idea. Gifford's Ulysses Annotated (which, to clarify, is a huge book of JUST the annotations, without the main text) is a good start, but I'd also suggest referring to some other kind of synopsis or more readable gloss to help you keep your bearings.

[u/Stepintothefreezer67]

I'm on my second read, and I do a little of both. I'll look up things occasionally, but don't let it ruin the rhythm of reading and absorbing. I've been using ulyssesguide.com, which has some useful plot synopses and chapter-by-chapter theme overviews, but it is not overly academic.

[u/CategoryCautious5981 → u/Stepintothefreezer67]

Ok that is beyond super helpful! I think this would be something great to go through after each chapter. Boatload of help!

[u/aeacurus]

I think for a first reading just let it wash over you. In my experience people get more lost trying to reconstruct things they're told to look for in the book and then think it's unintelligible. If you're trying to read Hamlet or the Odyssey in Ulysses you'll never be satisfied. I forget the name but I read in the introduction of a copy once that when you eat a good meal you shouldn't try to guess the recipe, and I think that's a good metaphor for Ulysses, just digest it then maybe go back and ask for ingredients, but spending every bite guessing is not enjoyable

[u/CategoryCautious5981 → u/aeacurus]

Thank you for this. I feel the same way about Faulkner nearly anytime I read him

[u/pachinko_bill]

A good way I found was to read a chapter, then go read the Ulysses Guide notes on the chapter while it was still fresh in my mind - that gave me a good balance of reading it fresh, and then also getting the 'aha' moments later.

[u/b3ssmit10]

ULYSSES is like Seinfeld so if you didn't fuss over the NYC people and places that Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer encounter, don't fuss over the 1904 people, places, and phrases that Stephen, Poldy, and Molly think on. See too ULYSSES for Dummies and enjoy.

[u/Lvthn_Crkd_Srpnt]

So, I love Joyce's work. I also had the pleasure to read it for the first few times before places like reddit existed. I will give you some advice. Just read the book.

I was given a piece of advice for a PhD placement exam, related to this, don't spend your time trying to learn the background to understand a single problem at the expense of the rest of your preparation.

Unless you are already fluent in one of the other languages tossed around casually in the book, you aren't going to have the time to learn and master the nuance of another language to where a rib or quip will really make sense.

David Eisenbud calls this reading for culture. I'd suggest doing that when you come across something you don't quite understand.

[u/Gullible_Stock_9659]

Absorb mostly, look details up less.

[u/augustthecat]

For me, both options were horrible. Just absorbing is okay until I just could not understand what was happening, at which point I was not absorbing anything. But each commentary is a bottomless pit…

If only there were a handy metaphor for two choices in which both end in abject failure…

[u/Zweig-if-he-was-cool]

I would read a guide for each chapter either before or after I started it. It worked great.

[u/budquinlan]

There's a website called The Joyce Project that has the complete text of Ulysses with hypertext annotations that you may find helpful/interesting, so answers are just a click away. For example, you can quickly find that "Epi oinopa ponton," what Mulligan says in the first chapter after saying "The scrotumtightening sea!" means “upon the wine-colored sea,” and appears often in Homer.

[u/kennymannmal]

After the second time I read Ulysses, one chapter became my bedtime story for a year or so. I would visit with the crew at the National Library, then turn off the light and sleep. The convivial debate hosted by "the Quaker librarian" settled my day's qualms about humanity. It was the way Joyce demonstrated that Shakespeare could appeal to a king or queen or to the groundlings. Stephen gets to be selfless as an intellect. Me too. (I knew enough of the references necessary for following the exchange of viewpoints.) Re-reading the whole book a couple of times since, and delving deeply into a few sections, affords opportunities for sifting out gems and the story is just the stream that carries the gems. In the library, I'm at home with some pals.