Welcome to Litsy!

I need your opinion! What would you do: I have a honeymoon ahead in august. We‘ll have a long distance journey there (~20h) and back (~28h) plus two shorter journeys (~4h) between locations. First week will be lots of sightseeing, second week will be spent mainly at the beach (lots of reading time). Would you take many short(er) books to get a dent in your TBR (and how many??) or one chunkster (I‘m thinking Ulysses) plus maybe two lighter reads?

My dear friend recently went to Ireland and Salem, MA, and she thoughtfully brought me a few keepsakes from those regions. Of course, they were book-related! 🥰 I love having friends who know me so well!

#SummerSouls
#bloom
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Working on a Saturday isn't great, but there are definitely great moments! I am wearing my Ulysses shirt today and have already had three conversations with patrons about the book! Did I read it? Is it good? Is it really THAT challenging? (Yes, twice! Yes, very good! ABSOLUTELY YES! 🤭)

Having fun conversations about books with strangers is definitely one of my favorite things about being a librarian! 💕📚

#SundayFunday Think this is the most of one title I own. The manga on top kinda counts!😁The interesting thing about the leather bound, that is a 7th printing of the Shakespeare & Company 1st edition. It was declared obscene. For Americans trying to bring in back into the states it was suggested they have them bound in Paris as the customs inspectors didn‘t remember the title or author, they were told to look for the distinctive blue paper cover.

Really enjoyed the narrator‘s accent but I have no idea what happened!

Guyyyssss, I tried SO hard to get through this book but I‘m 9hrs in out of 42 and I just can‘t do it 😭 it‘s on my scratch off poster so I was trying so hard to get it done but I‘m so lost, bored and just keep zoning out. And that‘s with a website guide for each book 🙃 You win some, you lose some 🤷🏻‍♀️

After 5 months of reading, I finished this one in June, which was otherwise a very disappointing reading month for me 😔, so despite being tricky to read and mostly bonkers, this one is my #12BooksOf2023 choice.

@Andrew65

Ok. I‘m done.

I have now read and listened to Ulysses in the same year. Not only that, but I have listened to Kevin Birmingham‘s The Most Dangerous Book which goes deep into the book‘s history. Plus scholarly lectures, other various resources, and reading The Odyssey.

I have officially had my fill. ⬇️

Two finishes on day 1 of the #20in4 Readathon; bit of a cheat, really, given that I‘ve been reading Ulysses since March and had literally one sentence left to read - this being Joyce, though, that sentence was 10 pages long… I needed to read the relevant section of Patrick Hastings‘ Guide before each section of Ulysses!

@Andrew65

(1/6) I cannot possibly give Ulysses an official rating. Truthfully, I hated nearly every minute of it. Often, while reading, or mulling over what I just read, I was struck by the idea that Joyce was a troll. If Joyce was brought back to life, he would be in hysterics about the mythical status that Ulysses has achieved. The entire novel is a joke played on its readers; Ulysses is the definition of pretentious.

(2/6) Joyce can‘t help but jump out on every page with “See what I did there? Admire my intellectual prowess.” If not for the help of supplemental resources I would have been unable to appreciate Joyce‘s efforts in the least.

To those who are more perceptible to subtext, I applaud your dedication and ability—as I read a chapter then sought assistance decoding it, I was amazed by the layers revealed by people who truly love this book.

(3/6) It becomes apparent that there is, in fact, some form of enjoyment here, and in its own right I can see why it‘s considered a staple of literature. But does it have to be written so damn badly? And when I say written, I do simply mean the text. Say as much as you want to about the specific goal Joyce was trying to achieve, about some style he was imitating, or some statement he was making about language:

(4/6) At the end of the day Joyce‘s prose is dull and just plain bad. It‘s a good thing that what's on the page isn‘t the end of Ulysses because if it weren‘t for what‘s beneath the page, that would‘ve been the end of Ulysses.

What‘s funny about the whole thing? I will reread it. Not right away but in the near future. In fact I‘ve already downloaded an audiobook version because I am curious how the hell anyone could read this thing out loud.

(5/6) And I am curious if it does improve on a second reading, as most people claim. In fact, as much as I hated reading this book, I am in awe of its scope and what Joyce did. Honestly, I‘m a bit pissed off about that.

So yeah, I can‘t rate this. I couldn‘t possibly recommend reading it for enjoyment — it‘s the type of book you read to simply say “I read it,” then toss in a shoulder shrug like, “No big thing.”

(6/6) Or the type of book you read in the name of some scholarly pursuit. So was Joyce a troll or was he a genius? I still don‘t know. But regardless, he manages to achieve some form of dark magic with Ulysses. Like dark magic the book takes advantage of you, tricks you, then makes you servile. As also with dark magic you typically know the consequences from the outset; those who continue down that path, do so at their own risk.

HAPPY BLOOMSDAY!

Bloomsday is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce, observed annually in Dublin and elsewhere on 16 June, the day his novel Ulysses takes place in 1904, the date of his first outing with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle, and named after its protagonist Leopold Bloom.

Me: *tries to be intellectual by reading Ulysses”

Also me: “I carried a watermelon!”

One of my favorite perks of Audible Premium is the inclusion of many of The Great Courses lectures, which are wonderful and I recommend checking them out…
Well, last week I started Ulysses, and honestly, it‘s way over my head. So, I thought I‘d look for one of the many companion guides to help me make sense of this literary enigma, and what did I come across? A Great Course. I‘m excited to supplement my Ulysses experience with this.

Yes. I have finished Ulysses! Feel very accomplished and proud. I will never read it again, though 😂 I am fascinated by it as a piece of art (when art is doing things with words). But it‘s not a story.

Thought I‘d challenge myself this year by reading a chunkster Boxall or two, and Ulysses is one of them. I don‘t know really know anything about James Joyce.

Was he as much of a misogynist as this paragraph would suggest?

#MarchMagic #IrishAuthor playing catch up!I have other copies of this book , but this #ModernLibrary edition has character & a wonderful typeface!

Happy St Patrick's Day! 💚🍀💚🍀💚 Or, as I like to think of it...HAPPY JAMES JOYCE HERITAGE DAY! 😂💚💚💚

I am sorry to say that was the worst book I have ever read from cover to cover. Never again will I reread this monstrosity. This novel does not deserve the acclaim that it receives. Disjointed in perpetuity whereby the common tongue throughout the book was gibberish. Reading this novel according to literary reviews can be life or mind changing, the only thing that this novel has changed was my opinion of the author.

Can‘t think of a better thing to do tonight…

HAPPY 2023! Here we go with the New Year‘s Resolution.

I really like this cover, but it‘s a special edition with essays and maps. So it‘s a big bitter than the other edition and costs more.

I‘ve also been thinking about the Penguin Clothbound Edition.

All I know is that I want a hardback since I hate cracked spins and this is quite the chunkster.

Does anyone own a good edition of Ulysses or have any thoughts?

Enjoying some remnants of summer after a rainy August. Dillon is off on a motorcycle ride and I am attempting Ulysses which I‘ve been putting off all summer.

#AlphabetGame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Letter U

Slim pickings for my U choices, since I have more U-titled books on my TBR than I have read 🙈

I'm going with Ulysses, which I surprisingly loved and had a lot of fun reading. It's wild and it's a trip!!

June #BookSpinBingo! I completed 11 books this month, and I was most satisfied to make it through Ulysses on schedule for the #SandCoUlysses centenary read. I also truly appreciated the message of Tenant of Wildfell Hall (with #PemberLittens) although it was kind of a tough read in places as well. I also stayed on track with the #BibleBuddyRead so we‘re now officially halfway through our yearlong Bible read!

#ReadingStats #MonthlyStats

Well, I did it! Today I finished Penelope, the last chapter of Ulysses, and thus concluded my reread of the book on the best day possible - Bloomsday! ??? I had to scramble to finish the previous two chapters earlier in the week since I fell behind, but it was all worth it to get to that final chapter, which is my favorite!

"...yes I said yes I will Yes."

#ulysses

HAPPY BLOOMSDAY! 🎉💚🎉💚🎉💚🎉💚🎉💚🎉

June 16th, 1904 is the date on which Ulysses by James Joyce takes place! Because of this, the date has long been known and celebrated as Bloomsday! 💕📚 This year is even more special than most because it is the 100th anniversary of the publication on Ulysses! #ulysses

✅ Completed! June 16 is the day on which Ulysses is set & I did manage to read it between February 2 (date of publication & Joyce‘s birthday) & today along with the Friends of Shakespeare & Co centenary read! I won‘t say I completely enjoyed it, but I believe it is well worth the effort of reading. I found all the writing styles fascinating, was amazed by the allusions, and truly enjoyed parts of it. Happy #Bloomsday!

#SandCoUlysses #1001books

#OnThisDay in (fictional) 1904 "Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead…" and the following Chronicle of a day in the life of Leopold Bloom left an indelible mark on the literary world. The first mention of a Bloomsday celebration comes from a letter written in 1924, and it has evolved into a global celebration of Joyce's work. One famous literary couple got married on 16 June 1956 to honour the day (any guesses who?) #HistoryGetsLIT

#BloomsburyDay

#bookmoods #dnf
I rarely if ever bail but in the year of its publication I have to confess tried twice, failed twice. One day !!!!!!