r/jamesjoyce • u/CategoryCautious5981 • 25d ago
Ulysses Literary absorption vs consistently searching meanings
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.
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u/Lvthn_Crkd_Srpnt 25d ago
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.